Discovery front drivers door issues

Hi everyone,
i was hoping for some advice on some possible issues with the door on my discovery, the issue first arose when i bought the car and the outside handle did not work, i fixed this issue by shortening the little rod that connects to the lever/arm that pulls up when the handle is pulled out, so now i can open and close the door with the interior and exterior handles. But the problem is, is that the interior lock and can be a little tricky to push down and when it is locked then unlocked the door will no longer open using either handles, so i have to manually open it myself. when the door is opened for some reason it will work again if i disconnect the rod from the door handle arm and put it on but still the lock won't work without having to go through and open it manually again. I have found that the central locking unit needs replacing but I'm pretty sure that this is not the problem.
I hope i am outlining the problem well enough for some advice and if needs be i can further explain myself with pictures if that helps, thanks for any advice, as i love this machine very very much

I realise this is an old post but having had the same problem myself I thought I would post a solution to this problem. My drivers door outside latch was only working if you pulled and yanked the latch so I adjusted the rod that connects the outside latch by in clipping it at the top (very fiddly especially with door locked shut). This worked and the door opened with the slightest of pulls of the outside latch. HOWEVER a few days later when I accidentally leant on the lock, the door would no longer open at all with either latch after lots of messing about and a appropriate amount of swearing I came to realise that I had adjusted the rod just a bit too much and was pulling on the latch inside the door ever so slightly when the latch was closed. So when you unlocked the door the door wouldn't actually in lock. As in most cars when someone has the handle open and you unlock the door it remains locked. So after an even longer period of messing about and swearing trying to remove the outside latch wire inside the door with the door shut I got the door open again and re adjusted it. So I hope this reaches anyone attempting to adjust the latch on their door before it's too late! I almost run out of swear words... A tip may be if your adjusting the latch leave the door card/liner off and shut and lock the door to check it unlocks before putting door card/liner back on. Good luck. H.spud

Revived this one again.

Is there a trick for opening the door when neither inside or outside handles work? I changed the outer door handle (and adjusted the rod) a couple of weeks ago. Tested it thoroughly, popped the door card and trundled of to the kebab shop to celebrate. I couldn't get out. Or back in again.

I've been ticking off other jobs since but this is getting really quite annoying now.

No tricks even on the simple D1 door mechanism and if it’s a later vehicle with “dead locking” known also as (super locking) then the best of luck with that.
Once u have access, a workshop manual will give the measurements that should be used for the rods that are adjustable, and also how the exact way the rod links are fitted, assuming u have a D1.
But as you have been interfering with the locking mechanism I’d check it all over again.

Many thanks discool. It is a D1. I have a workshop manual at home and a new latch to throw in there once I get the dratted door open that is. Can't figure out how to get at it with neither handle working.

DiscoBoy101 said:

Many thanks discool. It is a D1. I have a workshop manual at home and a new latch to throw in there once I get the dratted door open that is. Can't figure out how to get at it with neither handle working.

Click to expand...

Removing the door card carefully has been done before to gain access, I believe it’s not easy but can be done from info I gained many years ago, then it maybe just lifting or pulling a rod.
RAC AA and the like are good at getting into a vehicle when owners have lost their keys.

I have an answer for a D2 as I had exactly this two days ago. You have probably over tightened the external handle rod that goes into the white nylon clip on the lock.
If you can get the door card off sufficiently to get your arm in (you probably can’t reach all the screws on the bottom) you can unclip/open and the white nylon clip. It’s a clam shell design if that makes sense?
Once the rod pressure is released, the internal handle will open the door.
Hopefully this makes sense, and will work on a D1

So it took a while to pluck up the nerve to get after fixing the door...

In the end it was:

1. Back seat folded down
2. Driver's hooked out over the back
3. Door card off all bar the blue plug where the dash was in the way
4. Saw through that last plug
5. Door card out
6. Unclip the rod from the outer handle
7. Pop it open using the inside handle

Left the door card off and slackened the the offending rod enough to be able to use the inside handle for now. I have a new latch but not the tools to fit it. So I'll be calling in reinforcements.

Thanks for all the advice here guys.