BlackDogZulu
Active Member
Newish (to me) 1996 Defender 90, 300Tdi. Passenger door lock was working perfectly until, one night, it wouldn't latch closed. Just bounced open again, no matter how hard you slammed it. There is a semicircular latching piece visible in the lock edge, and this should be knocked over by the door striker and latch into place, holding the door closed until you press the button or pull the handle. That's what it does on the driver's door; on the pass door it won't lock into place and allows the door to open again.
Took the door card off, gave everything a good wash in WD-40, wiggled all the connectors, made sure nothing was obviously wrong. Lo and behold, it worked again! I opened and closed the door several times to be sure - felt normal. In the morning, I put the door card and winder, handles etc back in place and ... b@gger me sideways it had stopped working again. It's now held closed by bungees until this run of 12-hr shifts is over. As it *can* be made to work properly, I am assuming the issue is wear or adjustment rather than something broken.
I'm happy to fix anything (and usually successful) if I know how it's meant to work in the first place. But door locks always baffle me. Can anyone give me a step-by-step guide to how to check it over and get it working again?
Lock first open, then closed (but won't stay this way):
Took the door card off, gave everything a good wash in WD-40, wiggled all the connectors, made sure nothing was obviously wrong. Lo and behold, it worked again! I opened and closed the door several times to be sure - felt normal. In the morning, I put the door card and winder, handles etc back in place and ... b@gger me sideways it had stopped working again. It's now held closed by bungees until this run of 12-hr shifts is over. As it *can* be made to work properly, I am assuming the issue is wear or adjustment rather than something broken.
I'm happy to fix anything (and usually successful) if I know how it's meant to work in the first place. But door locks always baffle me. Can anyone give me a step-by-step guide to how to check it over and get it working again?
Lock first open, then closed (but won't stay this way):