No access
A friend has a Land Rover Freelander 2 that has been standing for three months and now he cannot unlock it. We managed to charge the battery by working through the bonnet gap at the windscreen and it is supplying 13.5 volts. The key fob has been reconditioned by Fobfix. The workshop manual is, needless to say, inside the vehicle, the manual lock opener on the passenger door will not work, and the vehicle is parked nose-first in a tight garage. Land Rover has suggested breaking a window, but is there anything else we can try?
Mike Oakes
As you have mentioned that the manual lock on the passenger side will not operate, I’m assuming that you have removed the plastic cover and placed the key from inside the fob into the lock. If this is turning but not releasing the lock, it's possible the linkage has become detached.
However, if the lock is not turning, this may be due to the barrel being gummed up through lack of use. I have always found the best way to free off a sticking lock is to spray carb cleaner into the lock. This should wash off and free the tumblers. After inserting and removing the key a few times, the lock should hopefully free off sufficiently to allow it to turn.
Unfortunately, there are no other manual locks fitted to the Freelander and I am unsure how breaking a window will help you. Once the window has been broken you will still have a vehicle that is deadlocked. Having said that, you would be able to access the ignition which would be needed to reprogramme the remote.
I believe the root of the problem could be the refurbished key, which may now be out of sync, or it may need to be reprogrammed to the vehicle. The remote control should resynchronise itself after the engine has run for six minutes, but if it requires reprogramming this will need specialist equipment.