Cannot unlock Freelander 1 / 1.8 with a flat battery

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Mine is a 2004 SE 1.8, when I rescued him he had a totally flat battery and I was able to unlock the drivers door only by turning the key in the lock. Once you get in you can pop the bonnet and take it from there battery wise.

Will.
 
Never had any problems unlocking doors on new FL's with flat batteries using the key when I worked at a LR dealers in the 90's.
 
Have you tried the emergency access code - details in yer handbook of how to enter it with the key - might work with a dead battery I dont know.
 
Tried to start mine today flat battery,
Whilst messing about trying to push it backwards down the drive I managed to depress the door lock button on the inside of the drivers door then SLAMMED the door:eek:
SO then doors all locked with the keys in the ignition:mad:
Anyway the spare key opened the door even with the flat battery.
Don't know if this helps or not?
 
edge said:
Tried to start mine today flat battery,
Whilst messing about trying to push it backwards down the drive I managed to depress the door lock button on the inside of the drivers door then SLAMMED the door:eek:
SO then doors all locked with the keys in the ignition:mad:
Anyway the spare key opened the door even with the flat battery.
Don't know if this helps or not?
Click to expand...
When closing the drivers door with the button pressed down it should "slam lock" which means the button auto jumps up, if all is working ok. Bad luck that.
 
goffretus said:
Well, Teddy was wrong, the key did not open the door which must be rather obvious from the question. Perhaps he did not take account of it being a series 1, the series 2 apparently corrected the issue with some kind of additional keylock, hidden maybe? Thank you Disco_Mikey and Hippo for your sensible responses, there is, however, a brilliantly easy way into the engine compartment that I was unaware of when I asked the question.... I'm really much too old to be messing around under a vehicle parked in a very narrow and busy street with irresponsible French youngsters ready to run over my legs.... all at minus 3 centigrade.
Click to expand...

if your key turns the lock and it dont open it looks like the linkage between the barrel and latch has come loose,superlocked or not it should still open manually even with flat battery.looks like undertray off and jump leads or break window:eek:
 
goffretus said:
Well, Teddy was wrong, the key did not open the door which must be rather obvious from the question. Perhaps he did not take account of it being a series 1, the series 2 apparently corrected the issue with some kind of additional keylock, hidden maybe? Thank you Disco_Mikey and Hippo for your sensible responses, there is, however, a brilliantly easy way into the engine compartment that I was unaware of when I asked the question.... I'm really much too old to be messing around under a vehicle parked in a very narrow and busy street with irresponsible French youngsters ready to run over my legs.... all at minus 3 centigrade.
Click to expand...

Sounds more like a knackered lock or linkage off to me. I've not had any problems unlocking freelanders with flat batteries.

englishbullterrier said:
I had a 5 series (E34) once locked with a totally flay battery. Method to unlock was to hold the handle in the unlock position with one hand and to turn the key, multiple times until it unlocked. Just sayin'.....
Click to expand...

On the older 5 series BMW's you open up the boot using the key and then power up the interior light feed. You can then unlock the doors and get to the battery or jump spikes to jump start it.
 
Well the answer to the puzzle is that the door lock simply does not turn, even when unlocked by the remote, so either its a different key or something is broken inside. I've only used the car a few times as it is kept for ski trips to the mountains so I must assume I've always used the remote. When I bought the car it had been immaculately kept except it had a broken window and someone had messed up the back door a bit trying to open it with a jemmy, so I guess the previous owner had the same problem.

To get power to the battery from a spare just open the bonnet.
Tools required -
2 x rubber door wedges
1 x large shifting spanner used as lever
1 x 10 mm open spanner
plus about an hour fiddling around in the cold.
No damage to the bonnet.

Thanks for all the useful input
g
 
goffretus said:
Well, Teddy was wrong, the key did not open the door which must be rather obvious from the question. Perhaps he did not take account of it being a series 1, the series 2 apparently corrected the issue with some kind of additional keylock, hidden maybe? Thank you Disco_Mikey and Hippo for your sensible responses, there is, however, a brilliantly easy way into the engine compartment that I was unaware of when I asked the question.... I'm really much too old to be messing around under a vehicle parked in a very narrow and busy street with irresponsible French youngsters ready to run over my legs.... all at minus 3 centigrade.
Click to expand...
well every body else seems able to unlock the doors with the key as i did on my wifes freelander last winter in the deep cold when the battery went flat after being left for a week
 
goffretus said:
Well the answer to the puzzle is that the door lock simply does not turn, even when unlocked by the remote, so either its a different key or something is broken inside. I've only used the car a few times as it is kept for ski trips to the mountains so I must assume I've always used the remote. When I bought the car it had been immaculately kept except it had a broken window and someone had messed up the back door a bit trying to open it with a jemmy, so I guess the previous owner had the same problem.

To get power to the battery from a spare just open the bonnet.
Tools required -
2 x rubber door wedges
1 x large shifting spanner used as lever
1 x 10 mm open spanner
plus about an hour fiddling around in the cold.


No damage to the bonnet.

Thanks for all the useful input
g
Click to expand...

So what about thanks for all the input useful or not! we were all just trying to help you - your very first post was a problem (no hello or introduction), in your second post you had a go at Teddywood and your third was inconclusive as you still dont know whether you have the wrong key or if the lock is broke - hope you get to the mountains!
 
goffretus said:
Well the answer to the puzzle is that the door lock simply does not turn, even when unlocked by the remote, so either its a different key or something is broken inside. I've only used the car a few times as it is kept for ski trips to the mountains so I must assume I've always used the remote. When I bought the car it had been immaculately kept except it had a broken window and someone had messed up the back door a bit trying to open it with a jemmy, so I guess the previous owner had the same problem.

To get power to the battery from a spare just open the bonnet.
Tools required -
2 x rubber door wedges
1 x large shifting spanner used as lever
1 x 10 mm open spanner
plus about an hour fiddling around in the cold.
No damage to the bonnet.

Thanks for all the useful input
g
Click to expand...

no mention of key not turning the lock,only said key dont work?:( forgot about the 10mm spanner job for the bonnet but not every body can remember everything,i suppose a search of how to open bonnet would have sorted things out earlier.
 
goffretus said:
To get power to the battery from a spare just open the bonnet.
Tools required -
2 x rubber door wedges
1 x large shifting spanner used as lever
1 x 10 mm open spanner
plus about an hour fiddling around in the cold.
No damage to the bonnet.
Click to expand...

Think I still would have got the jump leads out, and saved myself 59 mins and 30 secs of fannying around...

At least you got it open in the end
 
"Thanks for all the useful input" can be interpreted 2 ways, yours is exclusive, mine was intended to be inclusive.
Also keep in mind some of the 'greetings' were scarcely friendly.
And yes I did get to the mountains, but in a very old and battered VW Polo which has never broken down and has 212,000 kms on the clock. Fortunately the resort was just off an m'way, the roads between were well salted and there was a bus service to the slopes.
Oh yes, and I only discovered the blocked key as a result of the many responses asserting that it *should* have unlocked the door anyway, so I have not yet had time to get it fixed and not sure if I ever will, too many other things have gone wrong within relatively few miles of usage and it will soon require a new VCU (or whatever it is called). Pity, a very enjoyable drive!
Thanks again to all those who responded.
g
 
I've always wondered what would happen if ma heap chose to flatten his battery and lock me out, so I tested the process to see what would happen. Mines a 2001 v6 Freelander.

  • Lift bonnet and supportted it.
  • Put a block of wood near the bonnet lock just in case the bonnet fell and closed.
  • Put a tie wrap round the bonnet switch so he thinks the bonnet is closed.
  • Lock the car with the remote (doors locked, doors superlocked, alarm on and volumetrics on).
  • Waited for the red alarm LED on the dash to change to slow flashing.
  • Disconnected the black 0volt wire from the battery.
  • Saw the red alarm LED on the dash had stopped flashing.
  • Waited 1 minute.
  • Put the key in the driver's door and turned it. The door unlocked and the thing inside popped up. I then used the drivers outside handle to open the driver's door and it opened. I then shut the door. None of the other doors would open.
  • Reconnected the black 0volt wire to the battery - note the tailgate window didn't drop.
  • I looked at the red alarm LED on the dash and it had started flashing slowly as normal.
  • I then opened the driver's door which was closed but still unlocked from before, and the door opened. The alarm also went oft - horn sounding and hazards flashing.
  • I pressed the remote fob button several times to re-synchronise the fob and then switch off the alarm/unlock ma heap proper.
  • The tailgate window then dropped so I raised it to recalibrate it with the internal tailgate window button.
  • Removed the tie wrap from the bonnet switch and closed bonnet.
  • All back to normal so I took it for a drive.
The above confirms the key will open the drivers door even if there's no battery power and the doors were previously superlocked before power was removed. Hence the key must manually undo the superlocking on the drivers door.
 
Last edited:
goffretus said:
Well, Teddy was wrong, the key did not open the door which must be rather obvious from the question. Perhaps he did not take account of it being a series 1, the series 2 apparently corrected the issue with some kind of additional keylock, hidden maybe? Thank you Disco_Mikey and Hippo for your sensible responses, there is, however, a brilliantly easy way into the engine compartment that I was unaware of when I asked the question.... I'm really much too old to be messing around under a vehicle parked in a very narrow and busy street with irresponsible French youngsters ready to run over my legs.... all at minus 3 centigrade.
Click to expand...
 
Hello I have a freelander 2 59 plate the battery died so I managed to open the door with the key I put a new battery on and parked it up I’ve been away a few weeks and the same has happened my fault I was going to disconnect the battery while it was just standing I now can’t get in even with the key any help would be appreciated
 
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