Barn door stuck
 

Gentlemen, I recently purchased a DII with 118xxx on the clock. There were a few small problems when I purchased it. The radio doesn't work, but there is already an amp on order through the dealership. The cruise didn't work but a quick search on these forums led to the replacement of the vac line that had split on each end. There was leakage past the valve covers but I've tightened up the accessible 8mm bolts and degreased so we'll see if that fixes it or if I need new valve cover gaskets. Beyond that, everything looks good and I have started ordering everything for the 60k service.

So, the one thing that I've not been able to fix is that the back door is stuck. I have removed the Land Rover emblem and repeatedly sprayed WD-40 and PB Blaster on both sides of the mechanism and, while definitely rusty/gungy in there, it hasn't helped. I cannot open the door from the inside or the outside. I can hear the mechanism moving and, if I hold the lock while I move the handle, I can feel it catching on the mechanism. At this point, I don't think WD-40 is really going to fix this.

At this point, I'm wondering if I can remove the driver's side rear light assembly and access the latching mechanism from there. Any other bright ideas?

Have you tried opening it from the inside? Is water leaking from the top when it rains?

If the WD-40/PB Blaster didn't work, then AFAIK, you could have one of a couple problems...the latch is still just too dirty, a failed actuator, or sagging hinges on the door causing it to hang up on the latch.

I don't think you'll be able to get to the latch assembly from behind the tail light. You would probably have better luck trying to access it by climbing into the back and carefully removing the trim panel from the inside of the rear hatch itself.

Since you mentioned the dealer, did you buy it from them, or is the truck covered under an extended warranty through them? If so, you might want to press them to look at it for free. Assuming this fails, search on here and some of the other forums...others have had and resolved similar problems...
For example: http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showt...ght=stuck+rear

Hello,
You say that the mechanism moves and you can hear it click? Maybe the door is 'sealed' on the rubber molding? You might try getting in the back and pushing / kicking the inside while someone holds the handle open.
If this doesn't work and you try to take the door's inner panel off you will see the cable that unlocks the door.
Good luck,

There's no way to access it through the rear lamp. Since you hear it locking and unlocking the the latch itself is most likely jammed so basically the door is unlocked but just wont release. First I'd get someone in the back to pull on hold the interior handle in the open position then from the outside push and pull, with force repededly. Usually that will get the latch to move enough to release (but it may take a lot of pushing and pulling). Sometimes the actuators can be saved by flushing the heck out of the latching mechanism, it usually takes a lot of flushing (even with a parts washer) so test it off the car first several times.

Guys, thanks for the responses. I'm a pretty big guy (so, naturally, I can't wait to tackle replacing the spark plug wires) and have really thrown my weight and muscle at this but haven't been able to get the door to move at all. I generally avoid forcing anything mechanical but, if that's the answer... that's the answer. I will go ahead and try to remove the interior panel and see if I can get to the mechanism that way.

For whatever it's worth, I'm coming from Saabs and always put a lot of effort into taking pictures and detailing anything I did on my Saab for the benefit of the community. So, whatever fixes this, I'll be back with a detailed write-up and pictures, if applicable.

These doors are very heavy, but shouldn't take too much force to open...don't forget to try the inside handle before going to the trouble of pulling the panel. If it works, you still need to take everything apart to figure out what's wrong, but obviously it's a lot easier to pull with the door open...

I'm totally with you there but when these stick it's the only way. Sometimes lifting up and down helps too but if you haven't already def get someone in the back to keep that andle inthe open position while you try. This also hardly ever works but once you get the back panel off spray lube from the bottom up on the edge where it meets the door frame, there's a little plastic tab on the bottom - get it up in there.

Another thing to check is if the plastic cover on the rear bumper is catching the bottom of the door.

I've had to tackle this a couple times now, though yours may be more complicated. On the underside of the license plate light mount to the far right there is a slot that exposes a metal lever. When I push that with a screw driver it releases the spring loaded latch to the door. Operate the door handle like you normally would while pushing the lever. If you get it opened load the hook latch up with lithium grease at the pivot and spring. Hope its that simple, sucks not to be able to use the door.

Thanks again guys. I'm in grad school, in addition to working full time, so I didn't have time to mess with it yesterday.

I am convinced that this is not going to open with brute force. There is absolutely NO wiggle at all when I push/pull/lift on it. I have tried from the interior as well. I actually put the third row down, braced my back against them, grabbed the interior handle with a bungee cord and pushed on the door with my legs and got nothing.

One thing I noticed is that there is almost no space between the door and the frame on the driver's side. I couldn't get a credit card in there. However, on the passenger's side, I can actually see a little air between the door and the frame. The Carfax was clean, so I don't think it has been wrecked but I've read about how these doors can sag and I wonder if a PO didn't just close the door after it sagged and learned to live without it. It doesn't look like it's catching on the bumper either.

Anyway, I hope to have a little time to mess with it tonight after class. I'll follow your suggestion DiscoDubs and try the lever beside the light. If that doesn't work, I'll remove the interior fascia and see what I can figure out from there.