Xantia rear door lock

[RichardW]

New one on me, not heard it discussed before. Went out to lock the car and it beeped at me - OSR door not properly closed. Tried to close it but no joy. It did this the other week when it was jacked up, but I put that down to the body being twisted - guess not then! A flick of the lock with a screwdriver gives not a hint of it hooking in the closed position Guess what I am doing in the morning then??? I've filled it full of Plusgas - maybe it's just a bit dry inside and can be freed off, otherwise I will be on the look out for another one. Any tips on getting the lock out? Typical, MOT is on Friday - it might be a bit difficult to explain why the rear doors are tied together..... Oh, and I haven't bought that trim removal tool yet either

On another note, I did a bit on a '99 Micra this afternoon - friend (her with the Xant with the missing exhaust!) has just bought it (v cheaply). The driver's door was sagging a bit (common apparently) so I put a couple of shims in behind he hinge which has fixed it. A quick look round revealed a shot TRE - I was surprised to find that many of the nuts on the suspension are secured by split pins!!

[Hell Razor5543]

You use Plus Gas for taking things apart, not for lubrication. I would oil it with 3 in 1 oil first (hopefully to get things moving again), work the latch a lot, and then, once they are moving, pack in a load of grease to keep them moving.

If you have to take the trim off (and you haven't got the removal tool) I would (very carefully) use the claw of a claw hammer to pop the plastic lugs out of their seats.

[RichardW]

Fixed it But I'm not sure exactly HOW

Stripped the lock out, and it wouldn't latch at all, even pulling on all the levers. With nothing to lose, decided I might as well open it - this involved drilling out the end of one of the shafts that is riveted over onto the lid. Took the top off and it worked. Put the top back on and it still worked Gave it a good lube with spray grease, put the lid back on (there are 3 screws holding it, and part of the edge bent over, so I ignored the end of the shaft I had drilled off. Put it all back together, and it works fine now. Broke the lock button, and then when struggling to put it back together, tried to get the other side lock button off to have a look, and broke that too so now I need 2 new lock buttons.....

Fought with the door panel trying to get it back on, before I realised that the lock button surround just pops out of the door panel, then it is easy to refit! The BOL says remove the outer handle before removing the lock, however, this is very difficult, and then when you try and refit you find it's actually impossible with the lock in place! Nonetheless the access hole it leaves in the door is useful for getting the lock in and out, so it's worth unbolting the lock and letting it drop down a couple of inches, then remove the outer handle, then get the lock out - it comes out easily if you get it under the outer handle bracket, rather than trying to squeeze it between the handle and the inner skin - which I only discovered when putting it back in....

[Mandrake]

The dreaded Xantia door lock buttons... I hate them with a passion.

They are a right pain and it takes patience and a certain technique to get them on correctly. The front passenger door button was missing from my V6 when I got it, well not missing, sitting in the glove box. (hi lexi )

Many months later I got around to trying to fit it and found the little locking tab was partially broken but managed to fit it successfully. I find the best technique is to fit it while the door is open so that you can push the button on without the metal rod pushing down, also its best to use a tiny screwdriver to lift the locking tab out of the bottom notch and slide the locking tab just slightly upwards, enough that it doesn't drop back into the notch.

Then get the button lined up properly and give it a good quick shove. With a bit of luck the teeth of the locking tab grab the teeth of the rod at the right point so that the button is level with the top of the door when the tab is slid fully upwards inside the button.

If the button ends up at the wrong height you need to release it and try again, sliding the starting position of the tab slightly further or slightly less... The further the tab is slid up the narrower the gap gets so the more easily it will grab the teeth on the rod, so the correct offset depends on how worn the teeth are on the tab...

With a bit of trial and error even a button with a badly worn or partially broken toothed tab can be successfully refitted with this method - the one I fitted had both badly worn teeth and the tab itself was coming close to snapping right off, but its working just fine once fitted...

Unless you've broken the locking tab completely off we might be able to get those buttons on again...

Good luck with the MOT on Friday, I'm sure I'll be hearing about the results on the weekend all going well

[RichardW]

Unless you've broken the locking tab completely off we might be able to get those buttons on again...

Got it in one - well two actually Never had a problem before, but I couldn't get them to release until snap.... Still available from Citroen for about £5 so not the end of the world - mind you I rarely use the back doors (presumably the origin of the door lock problem - although someone had been there before me, as the membrane was opened up) and never the lock buttons, so I suspect they will go the same way as the front fogs - ie MIA permanently!

[Mandrake]

Lets just hope that the rear lock buttons working isn't a requirement of the new tougher MOT this year!

You might also find you need to push a small cork or something similar over the rod - I don't know about the rear buttons but on the front ones if there is nothing to guide the rod to sit vertical it can sometimes lean to one side when locked and fall out of the vertical slot - thus jamming the door from unlocking! Had that happen on the V6 passenger door too... I don't remember exactly what I used as a quick fix, but it certainly motivated me to get the button fixed properly.

[Hell Razor5543]

I can confirm that the lock buttons are still available. Make sure to get the right ones, as the rear buttons are narrower than the front ones.

[harryp]

(Note to moderators - should this start a new thread?)
The o/s/r door on my sorned Xant XL will not unlock using various methods of key, central locking exercising, manual manipulation, combined with thumps etc. I am trying to sort it out and get it through its MOT this year. Not looking promising so far as I have no idea if it is possible to remove the door card with a closed door - looks as if it's not an option .
Anyone have any ideas as to where to attack the card if it is necessary and release and subsequently remove the lock.
I had noticed it has always been a little sluggish and thought I would remove and lubricate it during the refurb. Sadly beaten to it.
Grateful for any words of wisdom on the matter as usual.
Harryp

[Hell Razor5543]

Don't bother taking off the door card yet. A common reason for Xantia doors playing up is the wiring failing in the concertina grommet between the pillar and the door. You can get into these with the front doors open. I had this happen on my second Xantia, where one door was deadlocked and not responding, and the other door would not lock from the central locking. I got into the concertina, found the failed wires, and added in about 6" extra wiring (soldering and heat-sleeving each join), and both doors then worked properly.

[RichardW]

Wow thread resurrection! I can't remember doing that at all, which is unusual for me....

It might be possible to remove the door card in place, but it's not going to be easy!!

[CitroJim]

It might be possible to remove the door card in place, but it's not going to be easy!!

I have a belief it is, just... Can't recall precisely but I believe I have on a scrapper. It might be necessary/helpful to remove the rear seat squab to give a bit more wriggle room.

James's suggestion is a good first one to go for.

[harryp]

James,
My heart lifted considerably to hope that your fix might work! I will certainly give that a try as soon as I get a few minutes.
Have to say I imagined it impossible to remove door card without opening the door! Seems I may have been wrong on that score too...
Thanks for all the suggestions chaps; will report back.
Battery died after an unknown power cut shut off the "smart" charger for an unspecified period but may have been a month or two and wouldn't recover so hope it will operate the locks, but guess the voltage may be a tad unstable... perhaps jump leads to the rescue?
Regards, Harry

[Hell Razor5543]

Be aware that the wires may all be of the same colour, which would make things difficult except for the fact that there will be a unique code printed on each wire every few inches. You might need a good magnifying glass to read it though. Do NOT clean the wires, in case you wash off the codes!!!