Little bit of an issue....

......1988 Ninety Truck Cab.....Passenger door refuses to open.....

Went to close it and it wouldn't latch, adjusted striker, still won't latch.....so pushed it too and used the key in the barrel to lock the door and the door then latched and locked.

Went to unlock it later and whilst the lock button raises and it 'feels' like it is unlocked, neither the exterior push button nor the interior handle will open the door.

Prised the door card away and used a rod to physically ensure the lock lever was fully up and tried both handles to no avail.

OBVIOUSLY, if you can offer any insight in getting it open, please PM me so we don't share such tips on a public forum.

I am a long standing member of the forum for the last 8 years, with what I hope have been 12,000 odd helpful posts so I hope it can be seen i am not just a 'Joe Public' looking for advice on how to break in.....but I understand if you wouldn't want to divulge any such security information, even to a long serving member.....I just need to get in!!

Get inside and see if you can remove the striker plate from the inside. I take it you can get in through a different door?

nobber said:

Get inside and see if you can remove the striker plate from the inside. I take it you can get in through a different door?

Click to expand...

Yep can get in through drivers side....

I'll give that a shot, but I think the striker plate nuts are captive mounted on a plate in the pillar...

This could be your problem.

http://forum.landrovernet.com/content.php/27-Defender-Doors-won-t-close-How-to-Fix

As you are able to access the inside of the vehicle, you can use a short hacksaw blade to cut the door catch on the door pillar -
Either that or remover the hinge bolts from the bulkhead ...

Get someone else to put their weight on the door (to push it closed and compress the seals), this may take the load of the lock mechanism while you try to open it.

Mine did this the other day... Infact my passenger door has been stuck a while up until the other day. I left it as I thought it was a great anti theft device lol..

I think in my case the bulkhead has cocked back slightly so I lifted the handle on the door as I have series door bottoms and I lifted the door as much as I could whilst pulling and it finally came open

Following on from Kwakerman's point, I've sometimes had this sort of trouble when the door is sitting a little too high or a little too low. The push button doesn't quite let you release it. So you could try yanking the door up or down as you press the button. Or from the inside using a screwdriver and hammer you can tap the striker up a little or down a little (or even out a little) and see if that makes a difference. I'd try that before sawing it off! If you do manage to get it moving, try opening and shutting the door with the seal off. If it behaves itself then it's the seal pushing the door out that's causing the problem. As you can tell, I've spent ages adjusting my doors, and those of other people, to try to get them to open and shut properly!

Saint.V8 said:

......1988 Ninety Truck Cab.....Passenger door refuses to open.....

Went to close it and it wouldn't latch, adjusted striker, still won't latch.....so pushed it too and used the key in the barrel to lock the door and the door then latched and locked.

Went to unlock it later and whilst the lock button raises and it 'feels' like it is unlocked, neither the exterior push button nor the interior handle will open the door.

Prised the door card away and used a rod to physically ensure the lock lever was fully up and tried both handles to no avail.

OBVIOUSLY, if you can offer any insight in getting it open, please PM me so we don't share such tips on a public forum.

I am a long standing member of the forum for the last 8 years, with what I hope have been 12,000 odd helpful posts so I hope it can be seen i am not just a 'Joe Public' looking for advice on how to break in.....but I understand if you wouldn't want to divulge any such security information, even to a long serving member.....I just need to get in!!

Click to expand...

presumably youve tried the key to unlock it

Saint.V8 said:

Prised the door card away and used a rod to physically ensure the lock lever was fully up and tried both handles to no avail.

OBVIOUSLY, if you can offer any insight in getting it open, please PM me so we don't share such tips on a public forum.

Click to expand...

I had this happen to me 3 or 4 years ago, luckily it happened about a week before she rolled into the workshop for the big rebuild. I just unbolted the striker so I could get the door open, then with the door open remove the card and remove the whole lock, striker still attached, I think I poked it about and managed to release the striker but it took some force as the normal methods even with coaxing were not working. Lock was scrap anyway and even if I had been able to open it and "fix" it - which is a bit of a grey area because sometimes there isn't really anything obviously wrong with them, they just wear out - I would have still replaced it with a new one.

In the end fitted a whole new take-off door complete with latch etc.

Thanks for all the replies....tried various methods as above in various orders and combinations!

Eventually managed to get in. Went in from drivers side, removed passenger seat, managed to get the door card far enough away from the door to really have a go at the linkages.....for a couple of hours....no avail.

In the end I resorted to cutting the striker from the inside using an angle grinder.....bit monstrous, but got the door open. (Obviously I ordered replacement parts before I took this rather extreme approach!)

Replaced the striker, removed the door handle and removed the latch. the linkage actually inside the latch had collapsed jamming the lock up.!!!

Replaced the exterior handle with a new one with a new lock barrel and weather seals, fitted new latch and reattached the linkages......and yes it would be easier to take the window regulator out, but I couldn't get the glass out of the regulator channel, through fear of shattering the glass I instead undid the bottom two bolts, the top bolt nearest the latch and the top centre....this gave enough wiggle room to *just* get hands up and under the regulator and get the latch in and out....with a bit of deft persuasion.

Need to adjust the linkage from the key lock to latch as it is a little sloppy, but that is for another day...the door now opens, closes and locks!