Freelander 1 Keys locked inside :(

A friend of mine gave me a 55 plate Freelander TD4 yesterday for my son to learn to drive in. It has been standing a couple of years so needs work but worth putting some time and money into as it's not had a bad life apart from being neglected recently. Got it home, parked it, put keys on dash and got out. The only car I regret doing that in is a VW Passat i had years ago, didn't expect Freelander to auto lock but that's what happened. Lad was looking around it and admiring it etc, shut the driver's door and clunk, lock went down. Its a 3 door. I can see the two keys and remote fob on the dash but doesn't seem too easy to 'break' into these. If anyone has any brainwaves or neat tricks please shout. I really don't want to bend the door to get a wire in, as it seems like it really will need bending.
Current ideas are to break something, but choose the cheapest bit to replace, like a sunroof (hoping to break catch, not glass), or one of the side windows which clip shut in similar way.
Grateful for any advice. thanks

There is a trick that has been mentioned before for lifting the bonnet when the pull cable has snapped, you might be able to do a search to find it. (Google may find it better then the forum search).

Once the bonnet is up, you could disconnect the battery, wait a bit then reconnect it.

This will cause the rear window to lower and you can climb in.

I believe the rear window lowers without having to put the key in first. You will then have to recalibrate the window, which is just a case of raising it using the button on the dash.

There may be easier options others may suggest.

I dunno why it would auto lock, not heard that before.

PS - Of COURSE only last year I cancelled AA membership after what must be 20+ years of membership without a call out, hard times forced me to pull the plug. Someone told me they can break in somehow, IF I was still a member of course!

GrumpyGel said:

There is a trick that has been mentioned before for lifting the bonnet when the pull cable has snapped, you might be able to do a search to find it. (Google may find it better then the forum search).

Once the bonnet is up, you could disconnect the battery, wait a bit then reconnect it.

This will cause the rear window to lower and you can climb in.

I believe the rear window lowers without having to put the key in first. You will then have to recalibrate the window, which is just a case of raising it using the button on the dash.

There may be easier options others may suggest.

I dunno why it would auto lock, not heard that before.

Click to expand...

That's a good start thanks! However I think the rear window motor is rusted out or faulty. There's a bit more to the story...

The friend who gave me it gave me another FL key and fob which he found at home (he has had tons of landys). he wasn't sure if its for this vehicle or not. The key works in the boot perfectly, it turns 90 degrees clockwise and i can hear a motor/actuator buzzing inside the rear door. I assumed that's the window trying to come down. The window was actually popped out of the guide at the top so we forced it down and got it back inside the top lip. Still nothing happens when I hold the key to the right causing that buzz. This key won't open the drivers door and fob buttons do nothing (tried new battery). My friend said all keys work in the boot of all freelanders, as all the key lock on boot does is open the window 1cm or whatever, but won't open the door.

Anyway, back to your great idea. We actually have the bonnet open, I should have mentioned that in the original post. It was open while my son was looking over the car, shut driver's door and it locked. My mate said they shouldn't do that (not by factory anyway) so maybe one of the little ones got in and accidentally pushed the lock all doors button BEFORE the door was shut. They thought they heard a clunk though, but that could be just imagination.

So I have an open bonnet, the battery was also very very dead, had to jump it to run it to mine. Wondered if that was anything to do with it. I have a better battery on it now. So you reckon IF the rear window motor works, it should drop the window if i disconnect and reconnect battery? I will go and find out, thanks again! Any more ideas appreciated. I know there will be tricks to 'breaking in', as i have found them with other vehicles i have locked keys in over the years, but this seems pretty secure and hard to get even a wire in.

PS I did try coat hanger to lift lock catch (slid down outside of driver's window) but that doesn't seem like it will work so far.

I'm out of suggestions at the mo. But don't close the bonnet, having access to the engine bay may come in useful.

john snoo said:

I can see the two keys and remote fob on the dash but doesn't seem too easy to 'break' into these. If anyone has any brainwaves or neat tricks please shout.

Click to expand...

First off, the FL1 doesn't have an auto lock feature. However if the battery dies, then it can confuse the CCU, which could well lock the doors.

If you have the bonnet open, then you have a chance to pop the locks.

Fit a charged battery first off. Then once fitted, give the impact sensor behind the fuse box a sharp tap with a screwdriver handle. This should then kill the fuel pump, and pop the door locks.

If you have a correct fob, but with a flat battery, then it'll need synchronisation to the vehicle.
The vehicle battery needs to have power, and the fob a new battery, obviously, after which the fob needs synchronisation. This as simple as pressing the unlock button 5 times in short succession, at which point the doors should unlock.

Nodge you're a star thank you. I was doing your procedure when my son managed to pop the sunroof up without breaking anything so we are in. Phew! Great tip re crash sensor, will store that idea for next time! Thanks very much everyone.

john snoo said:

I know there will be tricks to 'breaking in', as i have found them with other vehicles i have locked keys in over the years

Click to expand...

Glad youre in.
how many keys have you locked in?

john snoo said:

Great tip re crash sensor, will store that idea for next time! Thanks very much everyone.

Click to expand...

I've just had a thought. I don't think the impact sensor is active while the ignition is off, so it wouldn't have helped in this instance. Sorry my bad.

J_D said:

Glad youre in.
how many keys have you locked in?

Click to expand...

Two keys one fob

Nodge68 said:

I've just had a thought. I don't think the impact sensor is active while the ignition is off, so it wouldn't have helped in this instance. Sorry my bad.

Click to expand...

Ah, no worries, grateful for the attempts to help! Turns out if very careful the sunroof is a lot more insecure than it looks. Worth knowing for future!

john snoo said:

Ah, no worries, grateful for the attempts to help!

Click to expand...

It is possible to "jump" the ignition on at the engine bay fuse box, so it would still be possible to get the impact sensor to trigger the door locks.

john snoo said:

Turns out if very careful the sunroof is a lot more insecure than it looks. Worth knowing for future!

Click to expand...

That's not good to know, and wouldn't help at all, if the door was locked with the remote fob, as that would apply the deadlocks, which disables both outside and inside door handles.

Nodge68 said:

It is possible to "jump" the ignition on at the engine bay fuse box, so it would still be possible to get the impact sensor to trigger the door locks.

That's not good to know, and wouldn't help at all, if the door was locked with the remote fob, as that would apply the deadlocks, which disables both outside and inside door handles.

Click to expand...

Neat trick re jumping the ignition.
Re the deadlocks. didn't know that but in my case it would still be useful as the keys and fob were inside, and you can climb in the sunroof

O my
This brings back memories
I bought my first Freelander 04 sport brand new
Got it home and not used to the press twice button must have locked it
Went to the back still lock came to drivers door all so locked!
Both set of keys in the car
AA Came out put a air bag in door ( also 3 door ) and hooked the door handle
With a long thin wire