Hi friends...Well I have a '94 XJ6 Vanden Plas..A few years ago the passenger side handle outside broke and then today at the store the drivers side broke the same way...so had to get a tow company to open up my door for me...so my question is if I buy a handle off ebay or somewhere, do i also need the original key that came with that handle or can i swap locks from the old original handle to the new one? i dont want to buy them if i cant use them without their key..any help is much appreciated..thank you!

 

Yeah, no problem, just take out the old lock barrels and swap them over. Just be careful to keep the lock barrel tumbler assembly together, sometimes the tumblers can slip out.

I did the same job on the passenger side last fall. Best tip was to protect the paintwork with some heavy rags while you fiddle with the reassembly of the new handle. Lots of good advice out there on doing door handle replacement and for sure, yes, you can use your old locks.
I got a nice clean passenger side handle for $50 at a local wrecker but I think it might have been my lucky day

good luck!

 

Sweet!! cool thats good to know...i might go to the junk yard tomorrow and check a few out and see if they are in good working condition...if not, online i guess...I take it these cars have a history of the handles breaking off lol..its bad because the back handles work but the actuators on both doors are sticky i think and want to open but just dont pop all the way up so another reason why i couldn't get into the car...thanks for the help i really appreciate it and i think ill need the luck haha, better than paying a load of cash to have it done tho...Thanks again!!

 

The locks will interchange. The door handles for this model do break off at the mechanism fairly often. A little tricky to get to but can be done - nothing too complicated but just not much room to work. Be sure to recognize that the woodwork slides to the front to get it off (there is a little clip that prevents it from coming straight off). I found replacement handles at my closest pull your part, but the door handles go pretty quickly as they are a LOT cheaper there than on fleabay.

 

yea i noticed ebay prices are way out of hand....i was online looking at the local junk yard and they do have a few Jags out there..im probably going to go out there first thing tomorrow and check it out...hopefully they have them and are still there and not broken haha..

 

Translator had an awesome suggestion that we should source a RHD left door handle as in theory it should have less wear and tear. I just purchased one on Ebay UK for £19.99 plus £12 shipping so about $42.

I might be able to find one at a local yard but at say $15 plus $2 entrance and $15 gas and 2 hours of driving and 1-2 hours roaming in a cold junk yard or click click click with a mouse and it shows up at my door a week later. I think I go with Ebay on this one and just go have a beer.

FMIW here is the link for the one I bought and he still has another.

jaguar daimler xj6 xj40 front passenger door handle | eBay

 

Hi Jeh, I hope it works out for you.

In the picture of your purchase, it is the tang showing on the top right that shears off.

ie the attachment pivot for the latch pull rods. Rendering the handle useless.

(reason I can't find my camera, apparently my daughter has 'borrowed' it!)

The electrical actuators can be removed from their support brackets and turned LH/RH. My RHD XJ has LHD actuator in the RH door.

 

That's the one. I think in my case the hardest part is figuring out where the keys unlock rod hooks back to as it fell off and I can't see it

 

Jeh, it's not really that difficult to figure out.

Whip off the opposing door panel and have a look. (10mins).

(ps be careful with the wires on the micro switch they are awfully thin).

 

Well i went to the local junk yard and found a working passenger side outside handle...$10 but all the drivers side ones were already taken, bummer! but I installed the passenger side with no problems at all...swapping the lock assembly and everything....I also got the rear door locks to work again...thought it was the actuators but the assembly inside just needed lubing and they are working again...now, to find the drivers side and it will be good to go...but its much better taking some time and doing the work yourself..it just makes sense to save a lot of cash you would otherwise spend on labor and such...but once you do one side, its a piece of cake to do again if u ever have to haha

 

I don't like to pull panels off if I don't absolutely have to. The S/W heat and dry wont rust the metal but plastic and trim just explode like chips if you look at them wrong.

I received my replacement handle and popped that in, but it looks like I am going to need to get the car on a lift and start taking the window run and latch out to get that rod back in. I ordered a plastic bushing from the local dealer so the door lock rod will stay in place and I am hoping that will be in soon.

 

Jeh, on the 3 occasions that I've had to change my handles, I've always managed to do the job without removing the window or runners.

It is a bit of a pig, much cursing, scrapped knuckles, and blind forcing your hand into a small space with some very sharp bits, but it can be done.

The first time I did the job, I read the manual, when I got to the bit about removing all the window gubbins, I closed the book. Of course the writers have to be a little Health and Safety conscious. (They can't say 'cut your hand in 4 or 5 places').

I could do with some of your heat right now. Even my mains water supply is 'frozen'!

 

Jeh,

I've done my drivers door handle three times, the passenger twice and each rear once, never have I removed the window or latch components. It's a blind-by-feel job, but you can do a few things to help with the lack of visual benefits of "seeing" what you're doing.

Don't secure the handle to the door with the bracket until you have the rod into the bushing, just that little bit of room will help. Yes, you will be holding the door handle from the exterior with one hand while lining up the rod with the bushing with the other hand.

Before you slid the handle in, use a little dab of some sort of adhesive to hold the new bushing in a vertical position to make it easier to get the rod into the slot. It's not a must, but it sure beats having to not only line up the rod/bushing, but to also deal with having the bushing rotating around on you while you're trying to accomplish the rod/bushing connection, you're going to have to get them lined up properly to get the secure click of the rod seated in the bushing.

Once you get the rod to sink into the bushing and you hear/feel the distinct "click" , then put your bracket in place with nuts, but only turn the nuts about one single rotation because........

you will then want to slid the exterior rubber gasket around the exterior door handle and line it up so it will seat properly, then apply pressure against the exterior handle to keep it and the gasket in place while tightening the nuts on the bracket.

I'm right-handed, so I had to adapt to technique depending on the door I'm working on, but I have never removed the window or latch components . I will add, that I would crouch at the end of the door (facing the latch) while I do the rod/bushing connection, kneel/sit on ground when securing the bracket, crouch (facing latch) when when tightening the bracket (holding the door handle/gasket securely against the door).

Good luck

 

Thanks for the input. Its not where the rod hooks into the lock cyl thats an issue, though it might be later. Its i cant seem to figure how that rod hooks back on to the latch thats the issue.

Any thoughts there? Im just not seeing it. If its a blind by feel it might feel better once the car is off the ground and I get get a better look in there.

 

Jeh, as the lads say above it's a fiddly job and as you say the hardest part is figuring out where the rod goes. The first time I did it, I was confused too, as the rod had fallen off and was lying in the bottom of the door panel.

The hook end goes to the door handle and the slight jog bend end goes at the bottom. The bottom end passes through a nylon bushing and will only stay in place if there's tension on it - it just slides through to the bend, so it has to be pretty vertical and supported at the top by the handle to keep it there.

It took me several tries to get it right and I was glad I'd taped a towel to the paintwork on the outside, around and below the door handle.

Once you figure it out, first locate the rod in the nylon bushing at the bottom. Holding it upright-ish, hook onto the handle and keeping the tension on, move the handle into position. If the rod doesn't fall out at the bottom, tighten up the new handle. If it falls out, try again!!

A very fiddly job, but believe me, it can be done!

It's more of a "by feel" job as you can't see what you're doing if your hand is in there doing the fitting so take a look where it goes and then try to get things in place.

With the door panel off, you can probably see as much sitting on the open door sill as you can on a lift - there's very little to see!

Good luck, most of us have had to do it!

 

Jeh,

Now I have a better understanding, I didn't interpret your post the other day as the latch/rod connection being the challenge.

I'm with Translator on removing the passenger panel. I know you don't like the idea, my car is from Central California, then it was in Arizona, now down here in the deep south. I hear you, but the fasteners are more resilient than one would think.

Based on the rendering on the JDHT site...

Door Latch - Parts for XJ6 & XJ12 from (V)667829 to (V)708757 | Jaguar Classic Parts UK

... you're not going to be able to see the connection anyway. But you could remove the passenger panel and "feel" the connection on the RH door.

Good luck.

 

Don't know if this helps.

I whipped off the trim and shoved a camera up inside the door to try to give you an idea.

Note that the cradle has been removed, otherwise you would see nothing.

Fix your rods before fitting the cradle.

 

You guys are great. Thanks for the extra efforts. I ended up putting the door back together as the bushing is still on order and may not show for a few weeks. It's considered an antique part and it has to be shipped from ????? So this will have to be looked at again