Freelander Faulty Lock - how can I get the door open?

The only thing you can do is to remove the lock unit by the sounds of it. Are you sure that there are no visble operating rods that you can see or feel?

Here's a picture of the passengers door unit I found on eBay. The long thin rod connects the door button, the large oval eye socket with the blue grommet connects the outside door the cable connects the inside handle.

I can move them all but they don't release the lock, which leads me to think something has broken inside the mechanism.

I spoke to a mechanic this morning who thought my only option is to cut off the door and get a new one! I don't really want to take such extreme and expensive measures but I don't seem to have too many options and need to get it fixed ASAP

Anybody know if it's possible to get the door off while it's locked shut without destroying it? I thought that if I could somehow brace a bottle jack against the inside of the door I could jack it open to burst the lock. How tough are the locks and is it likely to give way?

As someone on another forum suggested I've given the door a good kicking from the inside to see if it loosens anything up but no joy. I suppose I could just keep doing that until either the door caves in or pops open. If nothing else it's satisfying to give the bugger a good booting!

How tough are the locks and is it likely to give way?

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They don't burst open in an accident do they so I think using a jack will just wreck the door.

The lock assembly in the photo seem to be at least part plastic so if you have break something i'd start there if it's accessible, then maybe you'll see a way to release it.

You may of thought of this but have you tried to ease the pressure on the catch by pushing the door closed against the seal while trying to release it?

I rekon it's time to break out the drill and/or angle grinder on the lock assembly then. It might take time but it will be less damaging and costly than cutting your doors off.

i have access to a tool that will have your door open in a few seconds

convertable sir ?

Sean said:

i have access to a tool that will have your door open in a few seconds

convertable sir ?

View attachment 8205

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:hysterically_laughi :hysterically_laughi
soon as i saw that fred on lz-live sledge hammer popped into my head
i'll get me coat

Lee F Rander said:

I spoke to a mechanic this morning who thought my only option is to cut off the door and get a new one! I don't really want to take such extreme and expensive measures but I don't seem to have too many options and need to get it fixed ASAP

Anybody know if it's possible to get the door off while it's locked shut without destroying it? I thought that if I could somehow brace a bottle jack against the inside of the door I could jack it open to burst the lock. How tough are the locks and is it likely to give way?

As someone on another forum suggested I've given the door a good kicking from the inside to see if it loosens anything up but no joy. I suppose I could just keep doing that until either the door caves in or pops open. If nothing else it's satisfying to give the bugger a good booting!

Click to expand...

er not much elp really.......but ave ter tried gettin the door wet..i thort they were sposed to fall orft then .........:decision: ........sorry mate i'm in a silly mood tonite, too many sherry's at the airdressers

Thanks for the, erm, helpful suggestions

I've eventually managed to get the door open by destroying the lock assembly with the help of a 50mm hole saw, a screwdriver and my trusty hammer, without doing too much damage. There wasn't enough room to get a drill or grinder through the existing holes in the inside of the door so I had to make a new one!

(in case it isn't obvious, I'd already removed the internal panel/trim)



Here's how the procedure went

I took a measurement from the open front passenger door to find how far down the catch is relative to the inside window seal (about 24cm)

I then measured to the same point on the locked drivers door and drilled a pilot hole 30mm from the internal door seal to allow for the 50mm hole saw

Then I got stuck in! When the saw had cut through the metal of the door it had already partially cut into the lock assembly, which is pretty much flush with the inside of the door

I was then able to drill out a bolt which was exposed in the lock assembly and generally bash around with a big screwdriver and hammer. It took about 10 minutes of mashing into the lock and removing the motors, gears and levers until I was able to pull open the latch and release the door

As a bonus, which is good luck rather than good management, there was enough of the latch left to allow me to lock the door from the inside by hand. Now I can still drive without having to tie the door shut while I wait for replacement parts to arrive

However, the central locking system no longer works. And the control system thinks the front drivers door is open (a fair assumption on its part!) so the internal lights stayed on until I pulled the fuse. I'll hopefully get that sorted when I fit the new lock

So all in all, it wasn't too bad to get the door open. Took about 15 minutes and hopefully, the only damage will be the 50mm hole in the inside of the door which will be covered by the trim anyway ( the hole will actually come in quite handy for fitting the new lock!)

Only problem is, I'll never know what caused the problem in the first place as I destroyed all the evidence. Hey ho!

Cheers again for all your suggestions folk

top job, thanks for the write up, might help someone else.

I resolved the problem by purchasing a new lock mechanism from LRdirect.com (great service guys - got it to New Zealand in 3 days) at 64.40 UK Pounds, and some cheap plastic panel removers (I couldn't get my big screwdriver into the edge of the door to remove the door panel). I removed the panel and spent half a day trying all the solutions listed here. Then I got a 12mm drill and drilled into the lock through the two existing holes. At this point I didn't think I had achieved much other than two holes, but I tried the inner handle and the door opened. Fitted the new lock (hardest part was clipping the door lock button onto the lock) replaced the door panel and its fixed. Time to fix less than 1 hour, time to curse and swear before starting 2 days !!

Well done guys, thanks for sharing the solutions, might come in useful some day.

HI Guys,

Having just done this - I had a few improvements to note. But first do check the child lock is off It might help someone - You can just about access it with the door closed.

The easiest way to get access to the rear lock is to remove the interior panel ( take the seat out first with 4 x T40 bolts). And don't forget the circlip on the window winder if you have one.
Then undo the one 9mm bolt you can get at to loosen the plastic exterior door handle.
Then gently bend the door handle outwards so you can see the second 9mm bolt holding the exterior door handle on. If you are careful you should avoid cracking the paint as the metal tab holding the door handle bends.

Now you can see the flaming lock - which is great after 10minutes of dismantling...

Next thing to do is to pull the plastic cover off the door lock mechanism - it is 1mm thick - just hook something round it and yank.
Now you can see the levers of the door lock mechanism - I am not completely sure but I think the plastic lever that runs horizontally at the top is the superlock mechanism. Give it a poke with a screw driver and heh presto.
Now bend the metal tab supporting your door handle back and fit a new lock - or the old one if you are game for a laugh.

Another option which might work is a 12-13mm drill in the top of the two holes in the inside of the door - that would just graze the lever and may knock it over.

Good luck - it is not that bad once you get started.

- Paul

Lee F Rander said:

Hi folks, my first post....

I'm having the same problem as 'aesmith' (had any luck mate?)

My driver's door is locked and I can't get it open to investigate/repair the problem.

Hadn't noticed any wrong with the lock until one day it just wouldn't unlock/open. Tried the inside and outside handles with fob, key and central console button to no avail. Took off the trim (very fiddly when the door is locked) and had a feel around and a look with an inspection mirror but can't find a way to release the lock.

There's electrical power getting to the mechanism, and using the key from the outside locks the other doors, as it should, so I'm assuming it's a mechanical failure in the lock assembly.

I had a mechanic look at it and called my local Land Rover dealer, but they both said it wasn't a problem they'd encountered before and it could be very expensive for them to fix due to the amount of time required to fiddle about inside the door (they reckon I'd be better off doing it myself as I had more idea about the problem than they did).

I've tried everything mentioned in this thread (various fob pressing/ handle pulling combinations) but I'm thinking the only alternative I have is to, as 'aesmith' suggested, break the lock from the inside of the door somehow.

Any more suggestions folks? They'd be very much appreciated!!

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Ive just had the same problem...make sure that the little locking peg that sticks out of top of door card, is all the way up. Sounds obvious , I know, but it worked for me.

My current td4 auto was bought with the doors locked , front passenger window smashed . I removed the CCU from back of fusebox , disconnected the battery and backfed from a 12v source the wires that operate the locking on the doors , IIRC the drivers door is seperate this unlocked all the doors apart from the tailgate . The fault was in the CCU , some of the CCU are interchangeable if you cant get the one that fitted the part number supersession preceding or after the one you have will usually work HTSH