Major problem

Can anyone help??

If you fancy a laugh, then read on....

The freelander has not gone anywhere for a while and the battery is dead. I cannot get into the car using the key fob, and for some reason the key itself will not open the car. Therefore, I cannot get into the car to use the bonnet release to jump-start the car

Any suggestions

Thanks!!!!!

wire coat hanger. dunnoa about teh lay out of the gaylander doors or locks but i've used a coat hanger and sometimes some mig welding wire to open car doors.
try pulling the top of the door out a bit, you might have to wedge something in there to hold it out fer the next bit, but be careful yer dint cause damage.

then fashion a hook or loop in yer wire , depending on the lock type and go fishing.

sometimes a slip knot thingy is best, others require a hook

should only take yer 30secs to do

use your breakdown cover...

they should be able to get in it

i assume you have it with a freelander?!


why cant you use key?

Have you tried a brick???

The DJ said:

Have you tried a brick???

Click to expand...

or maybe a match.....i hear they luvly ta watch wen they burn

can normally open wiff a key if battery is fooked or is both yer door locks knackered ? or don't you know how to open a car wiff out a remote ? or are you just plane thick? in that case join the tratter club , slob can give you the membership rules , its not written fer obvious reasons , but yer get a pet pig to talk too un put in the back er yer vehicle . . . .oh but yer gotta git rid er the gaylander and buy er proper tratter. . . . . .parp!!!!. . . . .who did thet?

ffs spacetwat!!! you over dosed on the brave pills tonight?

you can only use the "fishing" method of entry if the deadlocks aint on

deadlocks....sounds too technical to be on any of my cars... on me escort you can pull the top of teh door out far enough to get a passing kid to stick their arm in and pull the handle

yup, you can do it on any car if you got a hook and a couple o wedges, but some o these modern motors have a deadlock on the fob

why would yer have a jamacian haircut on yer keyring?

slob said:

why would yer have a jamacian haircut on yer keyring?

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cos its the only hair he has????

Have ya tried WD40 into door locks, wont open car but give ya something to do without the neighbours noticing what ya done

Never know key might work in lock then

Thanks for the help! Tried a little of everything in the end including various suggestions from the forum...

In case anyone else gets in to this mess:

If you have a flat battery there are only three key holes to try. Drivers door, petrol cap (clearly useless for entry) and rear door. The rear door requires the glass to move down to open which it can't do if battery is flat so that's also useless...

Yes, locks are deadlocked which means you can't open the doors even if you get a wire in and pull on the door handles.

There is no easy way to pop the catch for the bonnet from outside the car. Tried taking off the front bumper/grill section but could not make enough difference to be able to get at the catch. Maybe if you take all the trays off the bottom of the engine and then rummage around for the cable? Didn't try this.

WD40 made the key turn in the lock much smoother but it didn't unlock the door - something is broken within the mechanism. (We had the unlock solenoid replaced a little while before all this - maybe the garage didn't reconnect something?)

Door hanger, hmmm. They make it look so easy on those cctv films. Tried it but was really a long shot and didn't help. Probably deadlocks a problem as well?

Was starting to think about the brick suggestion but went with "call insurance company". They sent a breakdown guy over - his usual fix is to power up the electrics via the starter motor but guess what - in a Freelander you can't get at the starter motor either...

Breakdown chap was able to prise open the door a little, put in a long wire hook and pull the door handle but the deadlocks stopped the door opening.

Everyone about ready to give in but gave one last try. We were able to get the wire in further round the door (moving towards the front of the car) and it was just about long enough to reach the bonnet release lever. It's hard to get a good purchase on it and it's a long way down into the car but eventually the breakdown guy got a hold of it and popped the bonnet.

Was then just a case of jumping it and recharging the battery. The electrics are now up and running but still cannot use the key to lock/unlock manually. That's tomorrow's problem to deal with. Have not closed bonnet down all the way in case battery is knackered and doesn't work tomorrow...


Thanks for the replies - even the useless suggestions at least cheered us up through a frustrating afternoon!

Shoulda parked it in European City of Culture.(Car Crime)...Some thievin scousa would have it open in seconds

ok heres a thought,i never tried it but i think it should work ,,

1, remove the cover under the engine,,,
2, find the starter motor main electrical connection(large cable )
3, attach battery charger (+)to main connetion
4, attach (-) to earth point , and charge battery

give it a try and let us know

think they already thought of that

"They sent a breakdown guy over - his usual fix is to power up the electrics via the starter motor but guess what - in a Freelander you can't get at the starter motor either..."

opps too late

a good idea though

john t said:

ok heres a thought,i never tried it but i think it should work ,,

1, remove the cover under the engine,,,
2, find the starter motor main electrical connection(large cable )
3, attach battery charger (+)to main connetion
4, attach (-) to earth point , and charge battery

give it a try and let us know

Click to expand...

Excellent solution - I had to do this with an XJ a couple of years back as the battery is in the boot and the bootlid operated by solenoid. Battery went dead flat due to handsfreekit and 2 week park up. Connected small test leads whcih gave enough power to operate remote and open doors and boot. Then attached jump leads to get home and replaced battery.