Thanks, I've now put it all back together and all seems well. Door locks and unlocks with key and fob as it should, with no obvious issue. Let's call it solved.

So, after fixing her tailgate latch issue last week, I'm now onto fixing my niece's drivers door. She never could unlock using the fob, and now she could not even insert the key, let alone turn it to unlock the door. I got the lock mechanism out (ready to replace with a 2nd hand unit), then...

You would have to come at it from above actually, but yes, I was in the boot space poking my bent screwdriver around, and my niece was outside peeking down the gap in the window rubber guiding me.. Luckily somehow we prevailed. Anyway, the joy was short-lived as once the tailgate was back in...

The one that had failed is on the left, you can see the rod had completely skipped the teeth and therefore couldn't activate the latch. As mentioned before I'm unsure if this is due to my "tugging" or whether it was like this before I even accessed it behind the door card. Once the assembly...

So this is the lever at the top you have to raise if the latch rod can't be used to open the door. My thin, bent screwdriver is under it on this pic, but had to go through the hole, then under it to release the latch.

Last night I looked again at the new latch, and found that indeed the part at the top that you arrowed above could be raised and it did release the latch irrespective of the rod at the bottom. First thing I did once my niece arrived with the car this morning was to remove the upper part of the...

The only back story was that it hadn't opened since Christmas time. And no mention of slamming etc. Anyway, there's been an update today, the door has been opened, the new latch assembly fitted, and all now working as it was before. More below...

I found a YouTube video showing someone dismantling the latch. His problem was that his rear door would not stay shut. It shows the internals of the latch, springs and all. I'm posting it for reference, and in case anyone else has this problem....

And thanks for the wd40 for the driver's door barrel tip, she said she's already soaked it so I'll find out tomorrow if it's done the trick.

Then the side I will see..... Close up.... Then some from around the sides..... No "quick release" that I can make out.

Thanks again for the help and pointers, I appreciate any contribution. I've taken some pics of the latch itself, one shows the side. I won't have access to, the rest are facing the way I will see tomorrow.... 1st, the "wrong" side... Close up...

Another thought.... Does anyone know what the microswitch inside the latch does? On the plastic casing as shown above, there is a connection at the bottom which is for the actuator, but there's a second connection which goes off inside the metal casing of the latch. I just wonder if it's...

Thanks, yes I tried that already. With the window right down I pulled on the door to try and release some pressure, but no joy. The new assembly has arrived, exactly the one GrumpyGel shows in his pic above, and I've removed the plastic to see the latch a little better. There's no obvious sign...

Hi, and thanks for your input. Yes, the rod does seem to extend down further than it should. Once inside the door, and after seeing the rod was disconnected, I did pull on it to try and release the door, but to no avail. I'm not sure of it's position before I pulled, and I'm not sure if my...

Nobody? Then power tools and big hammer is all I can think of.

Once you've got the door panel off there's a plastic cover which houses the actuator and latch. There's 2 visible and accessible torx screws to remove, but the cover still won't come off, I had to bend ours up to gain access to the actuator.

4 screws along the bottom edge all nearer to the latch side. You have to feel for them, and they are angled downwards. Once unscrewed pull the bottom of the card until it's free, then lift up and over the hooks on the top of the door.

Hi all, A family owned FL1 for the past 20+ years, now owned by my niece, I've got the job of fixing the tailgate which has been jammed shut since Christmas time. I had a look at the problem the other day and got as far as finding out the latch lever had disconnected from the actuator within...