Driver's door lock cylinder spins - '99 DII

I had the same thing and what it more than likely is is the following: There is a arm inside the handle that has a star like end and it attached to the back of the lock and it breaks adn then your lock will spin. It is pretty common unfortunately. I just replaced the handle and took my old lock cylinder out and placed it in the new one so that I didn't have to have another key. If I recall correctly I went to Car cannibal to get one. http://www.carcannibal.com/rover/
Good Luck.

Thank you to both of you. The description above was enough for me to figure out how to fix the door lock. I went to the hardware store with broken rod in hand. Bought the minumum amount of 20d nails at 2.99 USD for a box. (The sales assistant looked at me odd when I said that I wanted to buy one nail, apparantly nobody goes to a hardware store to buy one nail.) Followed the brief procedure described above and it worked.

I am nervous that the four prongs on teh nail head will put more stress on the actuator than the original rod that had much larger fins, so I am concerned that if I continue to use the key in the door, that the actuator will fail too. So, I plan to use the remote instead of the key, only using the key in an emergency.

I bought the 2003 DII used in February 2006. At that time the radio in the vehicle that communicated with the remotes did not work so the previous owner must have been using the key in the door lock for an unknown period of time. (That was fixed under warranty.) I did not like the big bulky Land Rover key with remote so I had a metal key cut (Ilco RV4) and used that. It was still large but not as fragile and bulky. Thus the door lock key has seen constant use for over two years and possibly much longer.

Thank you again.

This is classic, the same thing just happened to me this week. Must be something in the air, or the planets aligned just right. :rofl: I just haven't had time to take it all apart, good to know that I don't need to replace the lock cylinder.

Slappy said:

This is classic, the same thing just happened to me this week. Must be something in the air, or the planets aligned just right. :rofl: I just haven't had time to take it all apart, good to know that I don't need to replace the lock cylinder.

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It's Nigel's Disease.

ReVoR.ca said:

It's Nigel's Disease.

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As long as it doesn't give me blisters or cause seepage. :smilelol:

Rave says "Release exterior handle control from latch." How do I do this without breaking something? There is kind of a plastic tab - do I push, pull, or what? Thanks ...

give it a good whack with your meaty man-fist

I'd whack it with the man fist if there was room, but it's a little tight. I'm sure there is a release tab or something on one side of the plastic piece attaching the rod to the latch, but I haven't felt it/seen it yet. Probably painfully obvious, but I'm willing to get flamed if I can get it loose without snapping something in two and move on with the repair ...

By the way, I did end up doing this repair, replacing the broken rod as others have done with a nail. However, I used a 40d nail instead of a 20d. The thickness and width of the nail head allowed for about as much surface area contact on the plastic lock actuator as the original piece, so it shouldn't stress the actuator any more than the OEM part. Some quick work with a dremel and the nail head was done. Also, the larger diameter of the nail allowed for more material on either side of the hole drilled for the retaining pin. It will never break again. Plus, you can buy 40d nails individually at HD for 5 cents each ...