If central locking suddenly decides to stop functioning on only one rear door then the likely culprit is the solenoid/door mech. The deadlock on these car door locks is absolutely solid and there’s no way you can shift it. That’s great for stopping a thief of course but a swine if you want to replace the door mech! And there is no “quick release” pin to activate within the mech itself so you can avoid having to bash it off. It’s all devised of course in such a way that only the dealer can fix it.
Firstly remove backseat to access door card which is only possible from inside car. Use extension bar with socket to unscrew the various seat securing nuts. Screw nuts back on temporarily so as not to lose them. 10mm spanner may be necessary on less accessible lower squab securing nuts.
Cut away sufficient insulation membrane (with razor blade) to access whole of internal handle – do this with some care so as to preserve and re-use membrane (God knows how much a new one is!). The internal door handle is held in place with 3 rivets. There are 2 rods running from here– the lower one to actually open door and the upper one for the internal lock. Carefully drill the 3 rivets out using a bit slightly bigger than the hole but not so big that it might damage the surrounding plastic housing – I used three sixteenths drill bit (about 5mm)? Most likely the remnants will be left in the hole. Change to a thinner gauge bit to carefully extract these. They will drop down inside the door but can be retrieved by cutting back the insulation membrane at the bottom left hand corner only of the door so you can get your hand inside. Don’t bother cutting away at the bottom right hand side because there is only solid metal behind.
Note the way the rods are fastened to the handle before removing them - the upper one is straight with a threaded end and clips in to the handle whereas the lower one has a slightly bent end which fits differently into its corresponding hole in the handle plastic assembly. Remember these positions so you can successfully re-fit the rods. Now carefully completely remove the rods. Removing the exterior door handle helps - there are 2 by 10mm securing nuts – one accessible from outside door and the other from the inside. Remove the access plastic plug near the 3 mech securing screws. Put grease or Vaseline on the end of the socket so the nut sticks to it – to stop it falling down inside the door. NB Make sure you remove the tiny white plastic sleeve which fits in the “swivel” hole in the external handle inside the door - it did not come with my second hand replacement mech and I had to request the scrappie to send me one - which they did.
Working through the door window is the only way to access this job which is b****y painful on the back! I used an extra long drill bit 220 mm long and 4 mm diameter (off ebay). I drilled in at the point where the metal link to the external door handle sits on its’ pivot. Then used a heavy thick bladed screwdriver (preferably with a metal top to handle) to bash off the link from its seating there – this is the quickest way to trigger the opening of the door. Gradually degrade door mech through the combined application of drill and hammer/screwdriver concentrating on the area around the pivot post. Eventually the screwdriver blade will penetrate to the bottom of the mech plastic casing. At this point push blade between black plastic around the pivot post and the white plastic section at the top of the mech (where the electrical bayonet connector is located). Door should start to move and with further twisting of screwdriver should then open. With door now open remove the 3 external securing screws and extract the door mech.
Photograph the old door mech and email the pic to the parts supplier to reduce the risk of getting the wrong part (that’s what happened to me!). NB a NSR rear door mech does not fit an OSR.
Now comes the most fiddly part of this job. Both rods have hooks at the end and your replacement mech should have corresponding plastic holes (and plastic clips) for these hooks to fit into. Fully wind up window so the new mech can be manoeuvred under the window guide into position and then pushed upwards as far as you possibly can. Then hold each rod vertical to the mech so you can get the hook end into each mech corresponding hole and then push it into the adjoining clip. The upper rod's corresponding plastic hole and clip in the mech can be better accessed by levering the linkage outwards from the mech. The rods can now be swivelled horizontal (i.e. towards the internal door handle). Reinstate the mech with the 3 screws. Check the adjacent wiring to ensure it lays stress free on the correct side of the rods as you link up the rods to the internal handle. Having done this, refit the internal and external door handles. NB I used screws instead of rivets to refit the internal handle. The advantage is that you avoid having to buy/borrow a rivet gun. Also if you find you need to take everything apart again for any reason then it is obviously easier to undo screws than drill the b****y rivets out again!
The door should now lock and unlock correctly via the central locking. Now reinstate membrane carefully (I used duck tape all round the edges) and replace door card. Before fastening the door card, push the wiring plug for the window electric winder control through the gap in the card and ditto for the courtesy light wiring plug. Clip in the top of the card very close to the bottom of the window. Screw back the 2 holding screws - tricky esp. the screw to the handle where you need to hold the torx driver pretty much vertically to avoid cross-threading the screw. Both screws have a fair amount of travel. Plastic handle surround has to be put back. Reinstate rear seat. Job done. Peugeot wanted £150 for a new door mech plus £200 labour for this job. I got a scrappie door mech for £25 from Partsgateway. So £325 saved. My door has worked fine now for several weeks. Hope this advice is of value to you.
Replace rear door mech - here's how
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