Door Lock Change -- Help please with glass guide rail

My passenger door lock has stopped working properly (not the cylinder, the actual lock/catch mechanism).

I have a replacement, and I am most of the way through removing the old one, but have got a bit stuck...

Two problems:
(i) Exterior door handle screws are knackered. Removing it will require a new handle, which I don't have (yet). Can I remove the lock/catch without removing the door handle, or will it get in the way?

(ii) The head of the screw holding the 'window glass guide rail' has rusted away (see picture).



In context:


The rubber channel is free, but the aluminium strip below it is not, and this is stopping me remove the lock assembly.

Anyone had the same problem with the guide rail screws? Suggestions for how to proceed, please?

(There's not enough screw head left to use a mole wrench, so I guess the drill will have to come out tomorrow... Is the screw threaded or self-tap?)

Im in the same boat........both doors are knackered and I'm trying to shift as much as possible, but the channels are rotten.

For reference, the second picture shows the repaired door bottom (mentioned in another thread)...after 5+ years.

It was primed after repair, as agreed (included in price), but I never got round to over-painting it. Will be treating and painting it before putting it back together!

You've probably done this by now. I've just done the same. Had to drill out the bottom rusted screw. There is a bar, about 3mm diameter that clips to the door handle from the actual latch. You can unclip this and get the latch out without taking the handle off. The Screws in to the handle rust and seize in the handle, If you try to force them out usually the captive nut inside the handle rips out A new handle is about £5 from Paddocks, but the screws don't come with it.

Thank you. I part-drilled the bottom screw, then (out of frustration) managed to get a small mole wrench on it and it undid 'normally'.
To answer my own question above, it is a No.6 self-tap screw, countersunk, half-inch long.

Now the glass guide is flapping loose at the bottom, and the hole is too large to take just a screw to re-fix it.
Do I need to secure the glass guide?
(Edit: No matter -- similar question answered in this thread: http://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/front-door-refurb-ideas-please.286121/)

Regarding the catch...
It is a lot easier to remove the catch with the handle removed. But I also discovered what you described after I had tried to remove the handle...
I now have a new handle, but no screws yet. (I managed to fabricate a new thread on one side using filler and an M4 nut. Not super-strong, but enough to hold the old handle on to test the new catch!)

One remaining problem: the new catch is a slightly different design. Everything else works, but the operating rod to the interior door handle is now TOO LONG, so I cannot refit the inner handle correctly.
Is a new (shorter) operating rod available separately? Can anyone help with the part number please?

Are you sure its too long? Those rods swing about and rotate a bit when off and it's sometimes not straightforward to get them back the right way.
My doors are off, so I can easily take a pic and post it if you need.

Well, another picture might be helpful, but I'm pretty certain it's correctly fitted.
The new catch was very slightly different (for this rod) so the attachment at the catch end was not identical.
I can fix the inner handle on with the top screw, but have to leave the other one off to allow it to work (with the handle then at a slight angle!)
It's also now fouling the vertical rod to the inner lock, but I might have a solution for that.
(Mechanic at Dunsfold LR agreed with me, but wasn't aware of a change to the design.)

Does this help?

Not really, no. (But thank you, anyway!)
You'll see from this picture that the two catches are subtly different, but it still doesn't really explain why the door handle rod doesn't work.

Most of the attachments work the same -- eg the lever sticking up on the right is for the inner door lock (the original catch has the operating rod still attached). The green clip is where the inner door handle attaches: you will see it is further away from the pivot, but closer the body of the catch, compared with the original. It is more different than is apparent from this photo! The original clip is also cranked, helping to keep the rod away from the lock rod.

As you say, hard to tell from the pics and with plastic on original.
Are you sure it's the correct lock? I think the original part number was MWC1476 superseded by FQJ103160
http://www.paddockspares.com/fqj103160-front-door-latch-rh-push-button-type.html

Is the lock mechanism britpart? Best throw it away now to save time fitting a proper one if it is.

Al2O3 said:

Are you sure it's the correct lock? I think the original part number was MWC1476 superseded by FQJ103160

Click to expand...

I have to trust Dunsfold Land Rovers, who supplied it, as I couldn't work out which I needed.
It would help considerably if Land Rover didn't keep changing the part numbers!
The part supplied is FQJ500250 -- original Land Rover (made in Switzerland) and three times the price of the Britpart part
Two online suppliers show FQJ500250 as superseding FQJ103170 (the left-hand equivalent of the part you mention).
So, yes, it is the 'correct' part, it's just that there are subtle differences that they've forgotten about!

What reg is yours? FQJ500250 is for a 2007 plate onwards. Left hand door.

1993 - K
That's what the LRDirect page says, but Island4x4 reckon its for 1987-on!
Dunsfold LR have access to an online parts catalogue which they demonstrated while trying to find some different parts for me. Following the chain of part number changes is a nightmare.
The rest of the catch works fine, so I may have to modify the offending rod or its connections slightly.

Yeah, part numbers can be a giggle.
You may have the wrong part, I wonder if LR actually do replacement parts that old? If not, you're best bet would have been an aftermarket replacement to OEM spec.
Doubt they'll take it back, I think modifying the rod is the way to go. Should be straightforward.