Replace faulty rear door mech - Part 2

[panadero]

Please see my earlier posting JAMMED REAR DOOR.
Having obtained the correct part (i.e. the complete door mechanism which incorporates the solenoid) from the scrappy I now set about installing it - a very fiddly job. You really need more than one pair of hands but I managed to do it on my own. I would strongly recommend taking pics of various stages of the job as this will assist you if it happens again on a different door. Start by carefully cutting away the insulation membrane so that the whole of the internal handle can be accessed. I used a razor blade for this. The idea is to retain the integrity of the membrane so it can be stuck down again after the job is done. Not easy I know as it is quite flimsy.

With the benefit of hindsight I would strongly suggest getting the internal handle off first (even before getting off the old door mech). This is what Haynes advises and I would not disagree. I tried to be clever and avoid messing with the rivets but sadly it didn’t work. The handle is held in place with 3 rivets (i.e. on a 2004 hdi 110 estate). Set in the handle are 2 rods – the lower one is for the internal handle to open the door and the upper one is for the internal locking mechanism. You have to drill the 3 rivets off. Use a drill bit a bit bigger than the hole but not so big that it might possibly damage the surrounding plastic housing. I used a three sixteenths drill bit which I think in new money is about 5mm. You need to take care with the drilling and it takes a while. I found that one rivet came out very easily but the other 2 took longer. I found that when the handle came away from the door the damaged rivets were left in place. I then used a thinner gauge drill bit to carefully remove the remnants. They will then drop down inside the door but can be retrieved by cutting back the insulation membrane at the bottom left hand corner of the door so you can get your hand inside. (Don’t bother cutting away at the bottom right hand side because there is no space behind the membrane at that point - just metal. )

Carefully note the way the rods are fastened to the internal handle before removing the rods. The upper one is straight with a threaded end and kind of clips in whereas the lower one has a slightly bent end which fits into its corresponding hole in the handle plastic assembly. The reason for checking these positions is so you can get fit the rods back correctly. Both these rods have hooks at the door mech end and the replacement mech should have corresponding plastic holes and plastic clips for the hooks to fit into. This is where it gets fiddly. You need to push the mech up as far as possible once you have it got it in the door (don’t screw it in yet) so these holes can be better accessed. The window has to be fully up so the mech can be manoeuvred under the window guide and into position. The trick here is to hold each rod vertical to the mech so you can get the hook end into each corresponding hole and then push it into the adjoining clip. (I think the upper rod's corresponding plastic hole and clip in the mech can be better accessed by levering the linkage outwards from the mech). You then find that the rods will swivel easily horizontal (i.e. towards the internal door handle). Next fasten 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 the rods to the internal handle. Having linked up the rods to the handle (in the positions you found them – see above) it just remains to refasten the internal handle and external door handle. An important component in the external door handle is the small white plastic sleeve which sits on the end of the wire linking the external door handle to the metal swivel on the door mech. Unfortunately I damaged my original when I destroyed the old mech and the replacement mech came without the it so I had to ask the scrappy for another one. (So get this off before you destroy your old mech.) You should find that all is now working as it should in terms of the overall door opening mechanism. You will have to get a garage or someone with a rivet gun to fasten the internal handle back into position – there are only 3 rivets in question. Consider buying a rivet gun and doing it yourself because it is very useful for the future and at £20 or so for a reasonable quality one it is probably less even than what a garage would charge to to do those 3 rivets. Hope all this has been of assistance.
PS In the event decided to use three self-tapping screws for the re-instatement of the internal handle because firstly it is cheaper than getting a rivet gun and secondly if there is any further problem with the door mech you can easily remove it without having to drill off the rivets again.