My 3 door 300Tdi is on 144000 miles and within the last few thousand miles the driver and passengerdoor locks have started tomisbehave. The remote unlock doesn't seem to quite lift the button inside the door enough to unlock it and I sometimes have to resort to using the key to give it an extra bit of turn/lift.. Having done this at the start of a journey, it seems to settle down over a journey and then require an upwards pull on the button to be able to open the door again. This is no big hardship, butoccasionally with the keys in the car, and thedoor shut, I havehad to resort to the boot to get in!

At first I thought it was somewhat of a coincidence, this starting to happen on both front door locks simultaneously, as the car is used 99% of the time by me alone, but I realise that the front locks both experience the same number of lock/unlock cycles...

Apologies if the subject is an old one, I had a brief search and didn't see any similar threads.

 

Sounds like your lock actuator units are starting to fail, kind of common and easy to replace.
Mike

 

Thanks for reply, Mike. I have tried the door locking system with the actuators out of the loop mechanically and still have the same symptoms. The actuators seem to motor overpretty well, and I can't believe that the system would rely on them exerting residual force after the initial actuation (but then I have been wrong before). I am still left wondering if the door locks themselves are worn in some way.

As you say, the actuators are easily replaced but ~£100 each (so I am told)... It would be annoying to change them and still have the same symptoms!!

Thanks again

 

Solved by adjustment on the passenger side, and replacement of a small spring on the driver's side. The latter is not available from LR, I guess they would prefer to sell youthe whole mechanism. I searched on eBay for "Discovery Lock" and found a UK supplier for the springs which arrived the next day.
Fiddly job, and I nowlook as if I have been self-harming after having my arm inside the door for an hour or two, but satisfying....

 

Smigel,

Glad you got it fixed. I have a 96 Disco and replaced the door actuators. I got them at www.partsexpress.com Part Number 330-010. $5 US. They work great.

Kyle

 

Did the worn locks affect your alarm system at all?? I've got the same problem with my locks but I also have an issue where the alarm randomly arms and is very difficult to disarm with the key. I've never been able to get my remotes to work (they probably need reprogramming). Just wondering if you had the same trouble. Thanks!

 

There was no effect on my alarm system at all during the crisis... I have been using the key only for a while since the remote got crushed in the tailgate and I am paranoid about locking/alarming/immobilising with the one good remote and then mislaying it. I did wonder if my use of the key had precipitated my original problem, but looking at the feedback on eBay for the guy selling the magic springs, it seems to be a very widespread problem.

Good luck with the alarm issue, I wouldn't be surprised if the electrical switchery at the rear of the assembly rotated by the key was implicated in some way.

 

sounds like this is a common fault, ive got the same trouble.

where do the springs go in the mechanism? did you need any special tools?