I spent most of yesterday pling stuff in the back of the DiscoI to take to the electronics recycling event this morning. When I got there, the back door refused to open.... Worked fine all day yesterday but today it wouldn't budge. Tried the lock \ unlock multiple times, nothing. Got all the stuff out the back seat doors, Not to easily but it is empty.

Once I got home, same thing. Door won't open. I popped off the Land Rover emblem on the door handle and sprayed a bunch of WD-40 in there, waited a bit and it still didn't open. Another shot and a little longer wait, ... Door opens like nothing was ever wrong with it!! I followed up with some spray grease to help keep things lubricated. Second time this has happened. Strange that it worked fine, then just quit.

 

Went thur this a few weeks ago with a mates 91 disco, we pulled the trim off and checked all the levers and adjusted where we could and sprayed WD40 in there , it was still only opening intermittently so just out of chance i checked the catch and went to scrape out the gunk with a screwdriver when a small piece of plastic sheet came out and it worked perfectly after that.

 

Isn't that like most things on rovers though- they work until they don't. I originally thought I had the same issue as you and sprayed the latch with some grease to no avail. After staring at the door for a while with a beer, I figured out that the spring on the locking mechanism was basically toast. It locks just fine when using the key fob but won't fully unlock. I'm too lazy to fix it so I just use the key to unlock the door.

 

The back door handle gets stuck.. First thing I would try is pop out the Land Rover logo from the plastic over the handle. Then push the handle towards the door and then try to open.


This gets stuck over time, lube it up some and once it moves freely things will be back to "normal"

 

done this twice now. The key won't turn the lock from the outside, never has. I think the back door lock was replaced (Maybe) and I don't think I have the right key for it.

I pretty much stay on paved roads, no gravel or even off road. Not sure how it gets gunk in there but i guess it does..