Rear Door Latch Replacement

Introduction

Following up and extending Iain G's excellent thread (with additions from ridgeback_moor) regarding changing the front door latch, here is a guide for doing the same for the rear doors.

This should be read in conjunction with Iain's guide and ridgeback_moor's additions linked to above.

I carried out this work on the rear left hand door (passenger's side in UK).

Parts Used

As of October 2011 the part numbers for the rear door latches for a UK specification car are :

• Rear Left - LR011303
• Rear Right - LR011304

Both retail at £61.50 + VAT before any discount (October 2011). Mine came from Yeovil Land Rover with a 20% DISCO3 discount :)

You will also require a small cable tie.

Tools Required

• 10mm socket and ratchet
• T30 Torx bit and ratchet or Torx tool
• Medium sized cross point screwdriver
• Penknife and/or small and medium flat blade screwdrivers are very helpful for releasing clips.
  • Small flat blade jeweller's screwdriver would be very handy.
• Wire cutters, scissors or knife to trim cable tie
• Parcel or duct tape
• Something to prevent tape sticking to bodywork, like a sheet of newspaper or plastic carrier bag
• An assistant makes it easier to release the glass from the regulator

Door card removal

See also the official Land Rover service procedure for rear door card removal (up to Step 5).

Door card removal is similar to for the front door.

1. Wind the window down to about 1/4 open (i.e. gap of about 4"/10cm above the glass)
2. Unclip and remove the top part of the internal door grab handle by freeing the clips underneath it with a medium sized flat blade screwdriver. The plastic is soft and cracks/tears easily so take care.
3. Using the penknife blade lever out the round plastic cover behind the door lock handle, it is captive to the door card by a plastic strip so won't drop out.
4. Remove the 7 screws from the door card
   • 1 from behind the door lock handle
   • 4 from the grab handle
   • 2 from the bottom of the door (loooong screws!)
5. The door card is now loose and can be pulled gently from the door. I could release mine at the bottom quite easily, and the remaining clips (plastic sides/bottom, metal at the top) released easily without breaking. Be careful removing the door card as there is wiring and the door lock cable attached to the door card.
6. Remove the electrical plugs - I had the three below but there may be more or fewer depending on your spec (e.g. no puddle lights or rear headphone controls)
   • 1 for electric window switch
   • 1 for speaker
   • 1 for puddle light
7. Release the door lock handle cable from the door card.
   • With a small flat bladed screwdriver release the clip on the curved black plastic cap from the door lock handle part. Lift the clip end of the plastic cap and unhook the other end.
8. Remove the curved black plastic cap from the door lock handle cable by pushing the white cable collar out of the plastic cap and rotate the metal cable end out of the slots in the cap.
   
   For information the curved cap looks like this:
   
   
9. Remove the door card and put somewhere warm and cosy.

Regulator Removal

You should now have a view similar to this:

1. Unplug the door speaker (green arrow), remove the 4 speaker screws (circled in purple) and remove the speaker, gently levering the speaker from the door if necessary and taking care not to drop it. Put speaker in a safe place.
2. Apply two strips of tape up and over the door frame with plenty of length on each side of the glass. Put the newspaper or carrier bag under over the top of the door frame to prevent the tape sticking to the paintwork:
   
   
3. Through the speaker hole you will be able to see (with the help of a torch) and be able to get your hand to the window glass clip. Unlike the front door there is only a single clip which makes releasing the glass easier. Take a look at the clip to see how it comes apart, you will need to release the "bridge" shaped clip at the top which holds in a round stud attached to the glass - the round stud sits in the curved part below:
   
   
4. Open up the window glass clip, and use either your spare hand or the help of glamorous (or otherwise) helper lift the glass out of the clip. Peel back the ends of the tape on the inside, tension the tape and stick back to the glass to hold it in place at the top of its travel:
   
   
5. The regulator can now be disconnected and unbolted.
   1. Remove electrical connector (orange arrow) by squeezing the clips and pulling free.
   2. Then remove the 4 bolts (circled in red above) and the 2 nuts (circled in green), all require a 10mm socket.
6. Using the handy handle on the regulator to stop it dropping into the bottom of the door, push the top of the regulator unit to free the two top bolts from the mounting holes. I couldn't get the regulator out of the hole so I lowered it into the bottom of the door frame and it gave enough room to get to the latch.

Latch Removal

1. Push out the internal door latch release cable grommet from the door (yellow arrow), it pushes into the door cavity.
2. Push the internal latch cable through the hole the grommet came from and into the door cavity.
3. Remove the lock wiring harness grommet, it removes outwards away from the door panel.
4. Reach through the hole the harness grommet came from and unplug the harness connector from the latch unit. Squeeze the connector longways to release the locking clip, remove the connector and bring the connector outside the door panel. You can see the clip here (but it is squeezed on the other sides to the ones I'm holding it on):
   
   
5. Remove the 3 Torx screws (T30) holding the latch to the door, it cannot fall as the external door handle cable keeps it in place.
   
   
6. Now comes the fiddly bit....
7. Put your arm through the regulator hole and grab hold of the latch, then manoeuvre it so you can see the door handle cable fitting:
   
   
8. With a small flatblade screwdriver you need to open up the two clips on the side marked the the pink arrow. Levering them part, away from the metal plate, should allow the clip to release. Take your time doing this as the clip appears fragile!
9. Release the metal fitting on the end of the cable from the latch (rotate the latch), and remove the latch from the door (left hand latch is old one):
   
   

Internal Release/Lock Cable Transfer

It's now time to put the old latch on a desk, bench or the grass alongside the new and swap the internal cable over to it.

1. You need to cut the old cable tie (blue arrow), and release the clips (orange arrows). These clips are similar to the ones used on the external handle clip above.
2. Rotate the cable slightly (in direction of green arrow until cable is aligned with purple dots) and lift cable out of the black lock/release arm.
3. Put old latch in the bin or on eBay :)
4. Install the cable onto the new latch in the reverse order of the above
   1. Align the cable so that the peg drops into the notch on the arm (highlighted in pink):
      
      
   2. Push the white clip part into the holder on the latch (orange arrowed in removal pic above).
   3. Take your new cable tie and put around cable collar, through holes in latch body and tie off tightly (blue arrow in removal pic above). Cut the excess off.

Installation of Latch

1. If you thought that removing the external door handle cable was fiddly, just you wait! ;)
2. Put the new latch roughly into position, and look through the latch hoop slot in the edge of the door to see the pig of a job which awaits you.. You need to reattach the external handle cable to the latch lever, which appears impossible with the room available. However...
   • Hold the latch "cupped" in your hand with your fingers free to manipulate the cable, looking through the slot to see what you
   • If you loose the cable, it will probably have slid towards the door skin, down the edge of the door and out of view, it's easy enough to find though.
   • I held the latch still and turned the cable to line the rectangular key up with the hole in the lever. It was fiddly but it eventually dropped into place.
   • A pair of small but very long nosed pliers would probably have helped, with access through the latch slot, but I didn't have one.
3. Once this is in, push home the black plastic clip into the grey metal bracket, it should click into place.
4. You can now bolt the latch back into place with the 3 Torx T30 screws.

Reassembly

1. Feed the internal handle cable back through its hole and push the grommet into place in the door panel (yellow arrow).
2. Connect the latch harness connector and push the grommet back into place in the door panel (dark pink arrow).
3. Refit the regulator by locating the top studs in the top holes (green circles), then secure with 2x nuts and 4x bolts (red circles), all are 10mm socket. Reconnect the regulator harness connector (orange arrow).
4. Untape the glass on the inside and carefully lower the glass into the regulator clip, check through the speaker hole that it is lined up. It should "click" into place. Remove the rest tape from the glass. Any tape or adhesive residue can removed with WD40 or Sticky Stuff Remover
5. Refit the speaker with 4x screws (purple circles) and refit harness connector (green arrow).