Freelander 1 Breaking and entering ...???

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digby

Active Member
Posts
502
Location
France
Hi guys

Over the weekend i had the pleasure of my Td4 being "visited" by scumbags (probably very sun tanned).
Luckily i leave nothing of value in the car so i'm not over concerned about that aspect
However i am interested in knowing how the car can be opened without leaving any visible trace and without setting off the alarm...............
I guess it happened overnight because we were around the house the rest of the time and where the car is parked it is in full view

Any ideas without giving the scumbags info on how to do more of this ??

thanks

John
 
Have you checked the spare keys are still where ever you keep them? They might have rummaged through the house even though you were in, had some friends that that happened to.

Since moving here we hardly ever lock our cars..... Only had 1 nicked !

Actually it wasn't nicked, it was in the process of being nicked when we disturbed the scumbags. One of them ended up with a nice bite in his arse from the German Shepard police sniffer dog :) :) :) One did time, the other will do if he's in trouble again.

Ironically that was one of the times the Starlet was locked... the result being that I had to buy replacement glass and we still have a bent door. Wouldn't have happened if it wasn't locked.
 
Dont know if its still the case or not.
Early Freelanders had a relay that operated the locks and alarm, it was in a possible to get hold of this relay and pull it out from out side the locked car.
Soon as it was pulled out, the doors unlocked.
Never thought to look if its still in the same place.
 
hi guys thanks for the replies

no chance that i sat on the key and the spare is in the wifes handbag :)

Niffty - can you tell me where this famous relay is located (by pm if needed) ?? Mine is a 2003 4 door model

thanks again

John
 
I'm not aware of any such relay on the Freelander. All locking functions are controlled by the CCU which is behind the internal fuse box. As far as I can remember, even the impact switch is disabled while the ignition is off.
It's puzzle how they gained entry without leaving a trace? Are you 100% sure you locked it?
 
Simple really and quite aptly demonstrated by a RAC rescue when mine was lock by this 6 foot 3 ape. I observed his technique very well and adapted a emergency method myself. A prising tool similar to the door card remover to gain access to the rubber seal. Next a long thin stiff rod with a hook fed into the gap to hook onto the inner door handle a hey presto he yanked open my drivers door. If your resident car thief can do this easily then the next problem is the ignition.
 
At the time I never had a remote control when bought and my key when I tried lock the door didn't work either. My only option was to lock by pushing the door lever rod down to lock out as security. As a consequence I found out in the morning the key still didn't work so I rang my RAC to open my door. Let just say no alarms went off and access was achieved. I later bought a new remote and bought a new lock mechanism for the good garage mechanic informed me that the barrel shaft + was broken. Long story yep.
 
At the time I never had a remote control when bought and my key when I tried lock the door didn't work either. My only option was to lock by pushing the door lever rod down to lock out as security. As a consequence I found out in the morning the key still didn't work so I rang my RAC to open my door. Let just say no alarms went off and access was achieved. I later bought a new remote and bought a new lock mechanism for the good garage mechanic informed me that the barrel shaft + was broken. Long story yep.
Locking it as you say will only lock it. If you use the key once it will only lock it + apply perimeter alarm. If you use the key and turn twice it will super lock which locks, super locks and perimeter alarm. Super lock disconnects the inner handle from the mechanism so yer can't pull it to unlock. If yer use the remote fob it will super lock and full alarm with perimeter and volumetric (interior scanning). If yer lock it with key or remote fob it should unlock if yer put the key in the ignition and unlock.
 
OP, what condition did you find the car in?
1 door open
window smashed
battery connection lose
door not closed
alarm not on when returning
alarm not advising it had been set oft when unlocking
 
Hi hippo and others
Been away for a few days and only just saw the discussion

So ..., I always lock the car with the remote - never with just the key
No broken windows, bent doors or similar
If I remember well the drivers door was unlocked and the front passenger door was half shut but with the plastic button thingy down - as were the rears

Didn't look under the bonnet but guess nothing was disconnected because I could start the car ok

Did take a few presses of the remote to get all the door buttons going up and down together but maybe that was because the passenger door was not fully shut ??

How to know if the alarm is indicating it was set off ??? Maybe too late to know now ?

Thanks again for the comments

John
 
It's very difficult to open a Freelander once it's been locked with the remote as supper locking is set. As Hippo said, this disconnects the internal handle.
 
To get the inertia switch to unlock the car yer need to have the key in the ignition and turned. So that rules the switch out. Alarm and immobiliser needs to be oft at this point anorl which need the key turned in the ignition.
It's late so can't remember but it should bleep when next unlocking if the alarm has been triggered.
If a door is not fully shut then only shut doors will be alarmed/monitored and will set oft the alarm if they're opened.
When the open door is finally shut the alarm process will complete.
When yer ses yer needed to press the remote buttons several times... this makes me think the remotes became "disconnected" from the car which happens when the battery is disconnected then reconnected. Normally the tailgate window will drop when this happens.
It's easy to catch the remote buttons when turning the key in yer front door if yer hippo key is on the same key ring.
 
Hi hippo

Thanks again for help

Car key and remote are not with house keys and main way into house is by remote controlled garage door (which doesn't open the car)
Back to square one maybe - when I get time I will check out the relay in the wing idea and have a general scout for anything tampered with
 
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