I washed my wife's 2006 XK8 this afternoon and noticed that the two black rubber-type gaskets that surround the exterior door handles (drivers side and passenger side) have completely worn away after 20 years. Sure hope that water cannot run down the interior door panels because those gaskets are long gone....

Does anyone know the name of that part, its part number, and whether or not they are still available? My guess is if they are, they will be an aftermarket part....

 

Update:

I found an aftermarket gasket kit on eBay. Costs about $30 and includes two gaskets, one for each door. It also comes with RTV sealant which is optional. The company in the UK producing these kits is X8R. The seller here in the US is LRNJ Autoparts Inc. in Lutz, Florida. They have a YouTube video showing you exactly how to do the repair. The door card must be removed so the door handle assembly (held in place by two bolts) can be removed from the outside of the door. You then pry away what is left of the old gasket, clean up the area, and install the new gasket. Their aftermarket part number for this kit appears to be X8R0214....

 

I bought the original ebay parts from the UK but it now says the listing has ENDED.

 

and it looks like I got the last one available on the US site. Thank you for the tip, @Jon89 !

 

Hopefully that eBay seller will replenish his supply in the near future. Every one of these cars will eventually see those gaskets crumble away....

 

I just sent a CONTACT SELLER message to see if they are available.
The original seller has NOTHING for sale on ebay so I guess they are OUT.

leylandlabels

 

Google a company called x8r in the uk. They have them.

 

By coincidence, I ordered some gaskets from X8R yesterday. I'll report back on how the fitting goes.

 

Just arrived. Kit includes RTV and some wipes but I'll reserve judgement on the quality of the important bits - the gaskets themselves - until I've had chance to compare them with the old items I'll remove from the car.

 

My X8R gasket kit supposedly arrives in today's mail. We shall see....

 

My gasket kit indeed showed up in yesterday's mail. Not sure how well the closed-cell foam gasket material will hold up over time. Using the optional RTV sealant that comes with the kit is probably a good idea in order to ensure a more substantial seal around the door handle assembly. Too busy with other things right now to do the install, but when I do I will post back on how well I think this kit will hold up....

 

Yes , please let us know.

 

OEM look like these, but are almost unobtainium:




Mine are also crumbling where the light gets to them. Given that X8R wants the equivalent of $54 to ship across the English channel, my fix will be to clean up the gap and dress with a bead of black RTV.

I suspect that the RTV will be the most useful part of the kit...

 

I put in the new gaskets yesterday. It's a bit of a buggar to get to the 7mm bolts if you have hands larger than those of a child, and the drivers side door handle is tricky to get in and out because of the door lock but I got there in the end.

First impression is that the new gaskets are significantly less substantial than the originals and it's hard to imagine that they'll last as long. Nevertheless, I tested them with a strong jet of water 24 hours after I've fitted them and there were no leaks or dampness around the inside of the handle. Things I learned:

• Wind the windows right up and then disconnect the battery so they don't start dropping as soon as you mess around with the handle (mine is a convertible so the windows automatically drop when you open the door - not sure if it's the same on the coupe)
• Pop a rag or something similar inside the door to catch the small 7mm bolts when, inevitably, you drop them
• I attached the gaskets to the handle with the supplied sealant and left it to harden - the flimsiness of the gaskets means that it's otherwise hard to keep them in place when you wrestle the handles back in
• I found it much easier to get the drivers side handle back in by disconnecting the rod between the handle and the door mechanism at the bottom end. No need to do that on the passenger side - it pops back in easily
• It's easy to rotate the rod out of position and end up with badly adjusted handles - I had to adjust back which would have been a pain if I hadn't noticed before I put the door card back in. Again, it was easier to adjust at the bottom than the top

Despite my concerns about the longevity of the new gaskets, I do think they look better than the old one - seems a bit of a cleaner finish.

Original gasket, fresh out of the car:



New gasket positioned and sealed in place.



Drivers side handle installed. Looks nice and clean without the original plastic gasket, I think.

 

Thanks for your update and tutorial. I was afraid that small hands would be required for this job. Mine are monster-sized, so I will get my small-handed neighbor to help me with this job....

 

Bought the units from the same provider on EBay.

 

Not sure closed-cell foam gasket material is a good substitute for the original, but good luck.

 

Oh, now you are just showing off

I bought gaskets a few years ago off of Amazon and have yet to install them, but they are substantial and solid 1/16" plastic and seem well built. Maybe this will motivate me to swap mine out soon.

 

i checked the Amazon link and they are still available.

 

thank you for checking !

Z