i was at the grocery today, came out to the XJ6 and attempted to insert the key into the driver's door and the tumbler fell into the door.

anyone experience this?

i dont have a key fob and no other way to open the door

i guess my next step is to remove the door panel and reinstall the tumbler

not sure how, but will work through it

 

no such experience, but I can tell you how easy/complicated removing door panel is
It's quite simple, yet there's rather a lot of steps to it.

Start at the door handle, there's little square of plastic, pop it off with small flathead screwdriver. There's a little philips screw. Whole handle surround should now come off. Now SLIDE the wooden panel towards the handle, don't pull it or you'll brake the clips. It'll come off on its own. That reveals another 2 screws. Then look under the bottom of round rubber tunnel for air vent, there's another screw. Now you can lift the top panel at the end of the door by the locking knob, but be careful, there's still a plastic clip not far from the vent, by the front of the door. When you have most of the panel off, it's easier to pop off the clip. And I believe taking this panel off should give you enough access to the lock.... But if not, there's one screw at the top of the armrest, then there are clips around rest of the panel, which should just pop off with a bit of gentle force, and there's another big clip in the lower section where you have to wiggle whole panel up and down to get it off. About 3 cable connectors and you're there. Now just use a sharp knife to gently separate the black foam from the door and you have access to the whole lot! I have a video of me taking that panel appart, if you're willing to wait until tomorrow for me to upload it!

 

wow ... thanks for that level of detail - much appreciated !!! i'll give it a go today ..

 

Okay, the instructions given to remove the door panel were spot-on !

The tumbler is held in with a single screw, which i found in the bottom of the door shell. Only thing i can figure is that it vibrated its way out.

Took me more time to get the screw started and tightened than it took to remove and reinstall the door panel - the angle of screwdriver [shaft] to screw is about 20* off. I used thread locker to ensure the screw wouldnt squirrel its way out for a long time.

 

Jolly good you've got it sorted then! And my memory served me well then I'll be posting video soon anyway, hopefully they'll put it in quick links