Hi I have a 4.6 HSE 1997 which is up for sale at the moment and is not being used due to no tax. For some unknown reason the passenger front door has decided not to open. The central locking won't open the lock and the door cannot be opened from either inside or out! Does anyone know how I go about taking off the inside door panel when the door is shut to access the internals in order to get the door open and sort the problem? Please help as I can't sell the car with a knackered door!

Sally

try opening the door with the key if not you will probably need to remove the passenger seat to get the door panel off, but even then it might not come. the other option is to rip it off, fix the door then get a new door panel

ask lenny, hes a scouser. he can get in it within 3 seconds.

take his matches off him first though.

now this might sound confusing but stick with it -------

they normally stop working due to them seizing up. so with the window down you can see into the inside of th door between the waist seals, you will see the latch assembly and as you look at it from the top you will see the gold coloured mechanism and pull cable, under the gold part of the inkage there is a white section of linkage(this part is plastic) if you pull on the handle you will see this moving, now this normally stops traveling as far as it should so as you are operating door from both door handles-try one at a time, you will need a long screw driver to push the white linkage down, it can be a little awkward this will then give the travel req to open the door,

if this does not work you will need to break open the top of the latch which takes a bit of butchery with hammer and long chisel,

either way you will need to replace the latch.

try this before wrecking your door casing, i have had to get into about 5-6 cars this way but they normally the drivers door latch

Thanks very much will try your sugestions and let you know how i got on!

hello everyone. well as you would guess,,,, you start something and create havoc. i replaced the lhs door latch in my p38 today. and the key fob still doesnt work. then i just pressed down the snib and locked the doors with the normal key.of i went to see my brother and the left door wouldnt unlock. tried everything on the forums. finally. after one last try to open the door my brother gave a gentle herculean yank and there was a click. yay team.the door opened. so now dear reader im going to get another becm and ecu and key andlock etc. and see what does. yes im sipping on a whisky now praying to the english 4x4 god in the sky.

Urban Assult Vehicle said:

hello everyone. well as you would guess,,,, you start something and create havoc. i replaced the lhs door latch in my p38 today. and the key fob still doesnt work. then i just pressed down the snib and locked the doors with the normal key.of i went to see my brother and the left door wouldnt unlock. tried everything on the forums. finally. after one last try to open the door my brother gave a gentle herculean yank and there was a click. yay team.the door opened. so now dear reader im going to get another becm and ecu and key andlock etc. and see what does. yes im sipping on a whisky now praying to the english 4x4 god in the sky.

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Try the connector blocks behind the A post's kick panels, they may be corroded, I had to cut mine out and solder the wires together.

wow. thats something ive never heard of. thank you muchly.

i inherited the car from my brother. he bought a $32000 aud 2.7 diesel beast. 2007. whit 120 kms. the 1997 hse v8 monster has 235k on it and on single point lpg. he went for a spin. today. and was greener than that nice light green duco.
thanks so much for your help.

thanks tomcat. i will have a look tommorow. i have had the water pouring in the footwell.like a swimming pool. i removed and cleared the plenum grill and replaced the foam filter and the pollen filters. yippeee. its been raining like the end of the world in melbourne australia. now . i must be the only guy with a new pollen filter and bone dry carpets. yay.

Where are you? If someone close by has nanocom you can force the locks open in the BECM settings, it might open then.

im in Melbourne Australia. i was thinking about buying the rsw software for my car.its 300 aud. its version 4/ i will looka the wiring next to the a pillar in the morning. thanks so much for your help. much appreciated.

i will let you know what i find. regards richard.

Urban Assult Vehicle said:

im in Melbourne Australia. i was thinking about buying the rsw software for my car.its 300 aud. its version 4/ i will looka the wiring next to the a pillar in the morning. thanks so much for your help. much appreciated.

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Both pillars mate, hope it helps.

Urban Assult Vehicle said:

hello everyone. well as you would guess,,,, you start something and create havoc. i replaced the lhs door latch in my p38 today. and the key fob still doesnt work. then i just pressed down the snib and locked the doors with the normal key.of i went to see my brother and the left door wouldnt unlock. tried everything on the forums. finally. after one last try to open the door my brother gave a gentle herculean yank and there was a click. yay team.the door opened. so now dear reader im going to get another becm and ecu and key andlock etc. and see what does. yes im sipping on a whisky now praying to the english 4x4 god in the sky.

Click to expand...

Sounds overkill.

Normally the central locking motor fails from RF interference. Can be swapped out easily enough. Some MGF locks from the same year use the same motors.

good afternoon everyone. ..... well to my surprise i managed to get the key fob to work on the rear doors. dident unlock the tailgate. sadly no response from the driver and passenger doors . i replaced both latches. so im sill flumixed.

maybe i need to buy genuine front door actuators and a new becm etc. grrrrr.

First step is to carefully test the door microswitches per Marty's guide here http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/7-range-rover-mark-ii-p38/131722-info-front-door-latch-tests.html Main issue is worn microswitches (the small button wears down), and burnt out motors.

Also check each latch for wear & tear on the plastic parts. You should be able to get them to function correctly on the bench, or in the door by simulating the latch bar with a screwdriver. AFAIK Right Front door microswitches enable the tailgate on all models.

The MGF latches are identical to the LR latches with the exception of the external metal levers. Various LR and MGF versions seem to have an extraneous extension on the levers that does nothing useful (which can be seen when the latch is inside the door with card removed).

Both LR & MGF latches have variations in the cables. Some have connector directly on the latch, and others have a short 6-8" fly lead, but both types are basically the same wiring, and with some fettling can be connected to either door loom. The only difference is you might need to extend the loom.

If the BECM is sending the right signals to the Door Outstations, and this is sending voltages to the latch motors, then the issue is generally the latches. Fix the latches first and then see what needs doing.

Mk1 & Mk2 RF FOB receivers do cause the BECM to falsely trigger the motors which causes them to burn out. Quick fix is to disconnect the Fob Receiver antenna, but then you need to use the Fob near to the rear window . . . . . . , but this is better than $hundreds on a Mk3 Receiver.

Pete

Yes, the boot latch is grounded through the driver's central locking. Given the rear door weren't working and then were I'd be looking at the microswitches at the bottom. @martyuk can provide refurbed locks with new switches or can probably tell you which switches to replace them with.

BECM rarely fails. That'd be the last port of call.

In locking situations, it is rarely the BECM if the vehicle will start and drive.

I've had a stupidly lone day at work, and up in 7 hours for another stupidly long day at work - so I won't write more now.. but in short, as the others have said...
Earlier BECM's had a habit of burning the motors out on the front door latches - which then means they won't do anything when the central locking is triggered, either by the key in the door, (though the drivers one will operate, as it's a mechanical linkage), the sill lock button on the door card (again, except the one you manually actuate, as it's a mechanical linkage) or the remote.

Later BECM's has some form of update in the firmware that stopped them from triggering the locks all the time, but being a '97, yours is probably previous to that.

Don't go buying a whole BECM lockset and all that - a) you're wasting your money as it's unlikely to be a BECM problem and b) randomly swapping a BECM/lockset usually ends up causing other sets of problems/headaches, either straight away or in the future.

Pete has already posted the link to my door latch tests... do them first, and then you know what you've actually working with. My best guess... both front door latches have burnt out motors, and probably the drivers CDL switch is faulty, as this will trigger when the drivers door is opened (either with the key and the BECM will recognise this and unlock the other doors or the remote). The tailgate locking is controlled via the drivers CDL switch too - so if the latch is even unlocked but the switch is faulty, the BECM won't necessarily recognise it's been unlocked, which can cause starting issues, and as a separate circuit, the tailgate won't open.

If your latches are burnt out - and you've already replaced them - then I would be disconnecting the RF receiver antenna as a start aswell - I've heard of people going through 3 or 4 sets of brand new latches because they haven't sorted the RF issue, which is the root cause of the problem. The best option is the MKIII receiver. For a '97, the second best option is probably a MKII receiver from a '99 (ish) onwards vehicle and disconnecting the antenna wire.

Hope this helps,

Marty