2004 Range Rover, locked out - driver's door lock broken, car not responding to aftermarket remote.
(I posted this at RangeRovers.net, but my old account was apparently disabled (I had not used it in years). I opened a new account but it's "awaiting moderation" - I'm leary of that as it took three weeks this summer to get a 1st post approved at SwedeSpeed.net, which is a much higher-volume site. Frankly I don't understand that; I'm a mod at a make forum and I think we average about four hours before approval. Anyway - Help pls. if you can!
Would appreciate some expert advice; we have a 2004 RR with a lock and remote problem. Yikes. The truck actually belongs to our neighbor (good friend). I actually had an account here 10 years ago when I was shopping/buying a P38 but haven't accessed it in a long time, so new account.
The truck is in very nice shape, well maintained, 135k total. This is not an "emergency" situation, the truck is parked in a covered car port on the property. I/we are just focused on repairing it thoroughly and correctly. Relevant details:
He tried prying the door slightly so we could depress the center locking button. No amount of pressing ever actuated it, though it was tricky to do with that distance and pinned by the small door entry angle/space. The assumption now is a dead/shorted battery.
I read here and on UK forums about the fender light option (no joy).
I jacked up the RF to get at the starter to apply power to the (+) per advice. When I did so, the alarm went off - I immediately tried the remote and the same result - no response what so ever. The alarm went off about 30 or 45 sec (?) and stopped, lights flashed a while longer and stopped. I repeated this and still no result from the remote.
I am wondering now if the battery is indeed fine and the remote has just lost the connectivity somehow?
Should I take off the heat shields and put 12v on the starter to try the remote again?
Should we just break a sidelight window or whatever my glass guy says is cheapest/easiest, and then go from there and get two working remotes and repair the door lock mechanism? I/my father have re-build many door locks and re-keyed cylinders over the years, so getting it all set back to original is not a problem, but I'm just not familiar with this system enough to know what the common failure points are and prefer to ask advice instead of reinventing the wheel.
(I posted this at RangeRovers.net, but my old account was apparently disabled (I had not used it in years). I opened a new account but it's "awaiting moderation" - I'm leary of that as it took three weeks this summer to get a 1st post approved at SwedeSpeed.net, which is a much higher-volume site. Frankly I don't understand that; I'm a mod at a make forum and I think we average about four hours before approval. Anyway - Help pls. if you can!
Would appreciate some expert advice; we have a 2004 RR with a lock and remote problem. Yikes. The truck actually belongs to our neighbor (good friend). I actually had an account here 10 years ago when I was shopping/buying a P38 but haven't accessed it in a long time, so new account.
The truck is in very nice shape, well maintained, 135k total. This is not an "emergency" situation, the truck is parked in a covered car port on the property. I/we are just focused on repairing it thoroughly and correctly. Relevant details:
- Driver's mechanical lock is broken. My dad actually fixed this for him a few years ago, apparently it broke again and he never mentioned it or I/we would have cautioned him to the risk he was running and sorted it out.
- He has only one remote, which he bought and had mated to the vehicle. The key blank on it isn't even cut, he was just relying on this to get into the vehicle.
- Remote stopped working and no way into vehicle now. The remote has a new battery and illuminates when you press it; but to no result.
- The remote is an aftermarket unit; I don't know how reliable they are (pic below)
He tried prying the door slightly so we could depress the center locking button. No amount of pressing ever actuated it, though it was tricky to do with that distance and pinned by the small door entry angle/space. The assumption now is a dead/shorted battery.
I read here and on UK forums about the fender light option (no joy).
I jacked up the RF to get at the starter to apply power to the (+) per advice. When I did so, the alarm went off - I immediately tried the remote and the same result - no response what so ever. The alarm went off about 30 or 45 sec (?) and stopped, lights flashed a while longer and stopped. I repeated this and still no result from the remote.
I am wondering now if the battery is indeed fine and the remote has just lost the connectivity somehow?
Should I take off the heat shields and put 12v on the starter to try the remote again?
Should we just break a sidelight window or whatever my glass guy says is cheapest/easiest, and then go from there and get two working remotes and repair the door lock mechanism? I/my father have re-build many door locks and re-keyed cylinders over the years, so getting it all set back to original is not a problem, but I'm just not familiar with this system enough to know what the common failure points are and prefer to ask advice instead of reinventing the wheel.