2004 Land Rover Discovery II, recent purchase. It came with only one dumb key; no remote, "smart" key. When I use the key to try to lock the doors, and activate the security alarm, it locks only the driver's door, and sometimes one of the other doors, but often none of the other doors, while it does turn on the alarm system, with blinking red dash light. When I use key to unlock doors and turn off alarm system, it works as it should, turning off alarm and unlocking doors. What is wrong with this system, do I need new door lock actuators, or what? What should I check ?

 

I'm by no means an expert, but I can try to give you some help with the troubleshooting and relay my experience. The actuator and lock/latch mechanism are all integrated into one unit.

Try the door lock button on the right side of the climate control panel. Also, when you start driving they should all lock. Once you've determined which of the doors aren't locking you can start by checking the integrity of the connections. The actuators have a very puny internal spring that is prone to failure. Several threads on this improvement can be found with search function (try: "door lock spring"). There are kits available on eBay from time to time.

Here's what I've done. My cargo door failed first. I went to U-Pull & Pay in Denver and grabbed the mechanism off a junker for $15. Three things that accomplishes:

1) You learn how to remove and install the unit without f-ing up your own car.
2) You (hopefully) fix the problem.
3) You now have a spare that you can dissect and possibly fix for when the replacement inevitably goes Tango Uniform.

The next time I was there I proactively pulled two rears and a driver's. Sure enough, a month later one of my rears stopped working. 45 minutes later, all fixed! I'll probably go about the overhaul sooner than later on my spares, so that as they fail I can put upgraded units in and maybe never have to deal with it again.

 

My cargo door will not open no matter what I try. I have tried all the locks and even partially removed the door panel to gain access to open the door manually. No luck at all. The local Indy wants $500 to replace the lock assembly. Can you give me any guidance on how to get the door open so I can at least work on it standing up?

 

When trying to unlock all your doors using a key, turn the key to the unlock position 2 times and let us know if anything changes.

As for the rear door, you can buy a good guaranteed used lock actuator from Paul Grant, his number is below, and follow the directions in the Rave CD and you will be out less then $100.

 

Thanks Mike. I forgot to mention that I tried turning
the key twice rapidly to the unlock position. No effect. I'll order the part you recommended and use the Rave to install. I appreciate the help.

 

Mine did this a couple years ago. At first it was difficult to open, then got so it would not open unless I pulled the handle up smartly.

I got it open and found the problem. There is a lever attached to the out side handle that attaches to the lock mechanism by a small bolt or screw. That bolt had come loose and allowed the mechanism to get out of adjustment (got so you couldn't pull the handle high enough to release the latch)

Adjusted the lever and tightened the bolt and all is fine again.

HTH

 

@004 Discovery: After working on my none functioning door locks, three out of the five, were worn out from extensive use through the years---the small internal motors were worn out, so new actuators were needed. I chose to install new actuators, since they are so difficult to remove/install (it simply is foolish to install used ones that will last only so long, depending on an unknown factor, depending on how much use has been put on them since they were new). It is much wiser to install new ones, in my viewpoint. Further, if your vehicle is programmed to lock all doors as soon as vehicle moves, and unlocks them again when key is turned to shut off engine (which is most vehicles, I think), it would be wise to have vehicle re-programmed to eliminate the locking of doors when vehicle moves, as that puts undue wear on actuators, wear that can best be avoided, so actuators last longer before they wear out. In my view, using used actuators is a foolish move.

 

Are actuators aka door latches ??

 

Actuators -= door latches - all the same thing.
Comes as a unit.
They go bad at about 90,000 miles.
As when you drive forward, the doors all lock automatically and unlock when the key is removed.

All 5 of mine - replaced!

 

Front drivers side door finally bit the bullet. The lock has been broke forever and I was relying on the superlock to lock the car - and that just busted. When I put my key in to unlock the car it just turns loosely and doesn't do anything. I ordred a front drivers side door lock actuator and hopefully this will fix the regular lock. My question is what do need to get to get all the superlocks back in working order. is this a different actuator that needs to be purchased?

thanks dudes