Grr. Installed cheap ebay cable. Worked great for a couple of weeks then nothing.

​​​​​Pulled door panel again. Grommet thing at end of cable, on lock side is gone. Must have pulled off the cable.

Like Chinese tires, it looked as good as original on the surface. Right up until the moment it got stressed and failed. Original lasted 20 years.

 

Suggestion: when doing this operation do not pull on the handle to test function before installing the bezel. The bezel works as a stop to prevent hyperextending the hinge. I broke TWO handle hinges and learned the hard way.

jeffxj8

 

YES! front and rear are the same. Rears are easy to find and actually cheaper since suppliers put premium on fronts and cant sell rears...lol.
I had the F/R cable break, repaired and then the actual inside handler plastic structure broke a week later. Had to go thru process all over again.
Harbor Freight tool is a must and cheap to buy. Used it everywhere in the car. Had the hood release cable pop on driver side, so drilled the necessary
hole to open hood. Found the plastic collar was the culprit, not the cable end. Surprising what Plastic Weld will fix.
Unbelievably GREAT step-by-step thread posted. Many, many thanks!
Dave in AZ

 

I just finished the drivers door. Some notes to add;
The old cable end was stuck in the bronze colored pull part. I pushed it out with a screw driver. It is now lost in the door somewhere.
I ordered a Uro cable, the grommet is white plastic, and not easy to push into the latch pull
I also had the spring clamp that covers the cable gate at the end of the sheath. I lost it trying to put it back on. It is now also lost in the door somewhere.

I also think that the cracks in my wood panel are from someone removing the wood panels before. i have a single crack in mine, and it is just rearward of the forwards tab. I bet someone tried to push the panel back in at the rear, flexing the panel at the forward tab causing a stress fracture.



This pic shows the grommet in its final resting place.

 

Im next with this repair. Got a drivers side cabke from Welsh, and a couple of gaskets.

 

I am following your procedure for cable replacement, and have a couple of questions, wonder if you can help.
1. I have replaced the cable ok after fighting to get the latch mechanism past the window channel ( I did remove the bottom bolt )......and I am ready to reconnect wiring. I am worried if I close the door it might get stuck if the cable issue is not fully resolved. Can you explain how to open a door ( XJ* '98 ) if I have that situation.....thanks in advance, Chris Elley

 

I think you can test the latch with the door open. Push the outside latch down, and open it with the handle. It should pop up.

 

hi studeb........thx for getting back to me. I think you are right.i was thinking the latch was spring loaded, but what I found is ithe outside lever merely "frees it up" to open ".........I'm learning as I go....phew!!
I have also found the the wimpy little plastic on the latch end is pitiful and I haha to improvise. If it works I will add to the thread. Thanks again, stay tuned. Chris elley

 

Two tips from my experience:
1. You may need to use a knife to shave down the white plastic grommet on the latch end. Mine would not go into the brass latch no matter how hard I tried, it simply was too big. Finally I took out my pocket knife and shaved off a few thin shavings of the plastic and voila! It snapped into place. Two hours of fiddling with it and scouring the web with no luck to finally figure this out.
2. My old cable was not broken and looked fine when I took it out. But it must have been stretched because the new one now works.

 

I was able to replace the cable on a 95 XJ6 (x300) with these instructions also. Thanks! No need to remove the lock/latch but it takes some blind finger guesswork trying to fit the plastic grommet in. I hope it lasts. ($50 on ebay, search Jaguar XJ6 (1995-1997) Front Door Handle Repair Cable - GNA1101BFCBL)

 

I was struggling with the cable replacement, mainly inside the door near the latch as shown here, and this photo was extremely helpful. Once I was able to see the actual linkage hardware, it only took a few minutes to complete the job.

No more rolling down the window to the open the door from the outside!

Many thanks!
Joseph
2003 XJ8

 

Wow thank you for such an in depth instructions. I had a similar thing happen with my car and have been worrying about fixing it but looking at your pictures makes it look easy. THANK YOU!!!

 

I was able to get the URO replacement cable with the hard white plastic fitting in place by squeezing it with pliers. I squeezed the fitting and quickly put it in place allowing it to return to its normal shape in the slot in the locking mechanism. Worked great, no modifications necessary. Of course, I discovered this after trying to push it in place for about 45 mins!