Hi,
Today, the driver side window came loose when I rolled it down to check the mail in the mailbox.

I heard a pop from inside the door panel and the window is out of aline. I can pull up on the glass a little bit and the window glass closes enough to keep out the rain, so I'm OK for now.

Wheer do I start to pull off the inside door panel and what should I be carefull with?

Thanks.

 

What vehicle and what year matters most. But if you are gonna work on this vehicle I suggest you get directions before attempting any repair.

 

It's a 1998 Range Rover 4.0

 

I think you pry up the rubber om the inside of the Window, then remove all screws you can find... Definitely at door handle and lever. The. Use something thin and wide to pop the panel from the door. There are plastic rivets. You want to apply pressure as close as possible to the rivets to avoid damaging the panel. When those are piped out, lift it up. It is good to have an extra set of hands to disconnect the switches. Move the panel away. Peel the inner dust cover... Plastic... As carefully as possible but you can use duct tape if you tear it.

Good luck.

 

Check this link out before you start. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Pay close attention to the holes for the door panel clips. I found popping the clips out near the speakers and lower door first works best for me. It would be worth it to spend a few dollars at your auto store on a door panel removal tool. If not, protect your paint and use either a very stiff putty knife or a large screw driver to pry with. Be slow and careful, you don't want to break a plastic clip, nor rip a clip out of the door panel.

Land Rover How-to | Repair / Replace a Window Regulator or Window Motor on a 2000 Land Rover Range Rover P38

 

I got the panel off Friday!

And I've got the Window regulator off and a new one is due here next Thursday.

I found the bottom or lowest rivet was broken off and the large part of the regulator metal tore about two inches from the top left.

I believe the botom rivet broke causing the metal to tear. I remember hearing a "POP" sound when I rolled the window down last week.

The bottom most rivet probably came apart on it's own due to the pressure of the motor. The other three rivets had to be drilled out and they were very tough.
I think the rivet just came apart from wear and tear.

I think after I get it back together next week I'll stop letting the window go down all the way by pushing the window button twice. I think the overall pressure over the years cause the lower rivet to fail.

Now I want to find out why the two front door handels don't retrack all the way back. I have gotten in the habit of tapping them in when ever I exit the RR.

If I don't tap them, after I lock the RR the door sticks and doesn't want to open. Everytime I tap the handel prior to locking, the doors open fine.

While I've got the panel off, does anyone else have this same issue with the front door handels?
Rod

 

You can buy the pop rivets from a couple of good internet sources. Pop rivet guns prices are cheap in my neck of the woods. I bought new plastic guides while I was at it and used silicon grease in the tracks because it should not dry out. When regular grease dries it becomes gummy, soft wax like making the mechanism work harder. I found using a c-clamp was the easiest way to put the blue plastic slides on the ball joints of the regulator.

The door handle problem is very common. My Land Rover Mech buddy has told me working on this part is PITA in a Chinese puzzle sort of way. Some people have rebuilt theirs, others buy new door handles. This topic has been given a lot of cover. I'm working my need to list and door handles are on my want to list.

 

This was the problem, the upper left part of the regulator failed.

 

The new window regulator came by Fedex this evening at 4:30.

The RR has been setting in my barn for almost a week waiting for the new part. My barn has AC so the RR has been kept in a good place.

I started the install about 6pm with the help from my wife.

The only trouble I have was installing the old blue window slides on the new regulator ball joints.

The ball joints on the new part was not exactly the same as the old ball and the blue slides would not go on correctly, even with a C clamp.

I took some extremely fine sandpaper and rounded the ball better to match the old ball joint. It wasn't much metal to remove but it worked. It took about 60 minutes to make the ball round. The new ball was not machined as well as the original ball part, and after the fine sanding it snapped into place.

The window rolls up great and tomorrow we will be back on the road again.

Thanks to all on this board for the help

I wouldn't have tried this alone.

Rod