On my truck if I pull up on the lock the door unlocks, same with my wifes car, and my work van, and my sons truck, and my moms car, and every other single car in the world that has the pull tab locks.
That is a safety thing, think about it, your locked inside your car with no battery because you got in a accident and your battery is crushed, how the hell are you going to get out if you cant unlock the door?

 

what screws are you describing? On my door panel they were plastic tabs that I used a panel popper to remove. I did change my actuator as well, I could not lock the door. you'll have to remove the window trim when you get the door open.

 

In a D2? By pulling on the inside door handle once to unlock, and a second time to open.

 

Yes, I thought about it and I am positive this is not how it works on a D2. You can't simply pull up on the lock **** to unlock the door. You can only lock it by pushing down. The only way to unlock the door is:

* With the key
* With the remote
* By pulling the door handle on the inside(with super lock OFF)
* With the lock button on the dash

If super lock is enabled, you can only get in the car using the key or the remote. If you bust out the window, using the door handle from the inside WILL not work. It is a designed feature called super lock

 

I've had several mechanics look at it. Even took it to the land rover dealership and paid to have them look at it. Their diagnosis is they have to drill a hole in the door to get to the latch and chisel it to get the door open. $500 bucks! I am so irritated, this was an 80k car and I've had so many problems I've probably spent another 80k fixing the car. I can't believe their is no way to manually release the latch from behind the door panel.

 

So I have been tinkering with this door non-stop for weeks. I've gotten the door panel off enough so that I can reach in from the top. I detached the cable from the inside door handle and pulled it up and out so I can more easily pull the it. It is properly attached to the lock unit inside and no matter how hard I pull on the cable, the lock won't let go. Their has got to be a way to manually get this door open from the inside without having to break something.

 

I am pretty sure the problem is that super lock was engaged when the motor went out on the door so it is stuck in super lock.

 

Just wondering if you were able to get the door open. I am having the same issue. Thanks.

 

I'll post this here because looks to me likes a similar issue:
An smart guy tried to pry open the driver door in my Disco ( the only key lock in the all four doors) and break the pin that goes to the actuator. I was able to enter into the car, because the "thieve-wanna-be" leave it like that, when I open the door, the alarm trigger the safety on the engine an voila!, my Disco will no start. I went to the dealer and they ordered a new lock and handled at England, most came programed according to the vehicle ID, in order to work. Is going to take between 4 to 6 weeks, in the meantime "no car". LOL! My question is: I don't have an original FOB key, if I go to the dealer and order one for this vehicle (must be programed too), Do I'll be able to deactivate the securiy alarm and start the vehicle? These guys from the Land Rover weren't capable to answer that question, they told me that I have to try. Any thoughts? If this is possible I'll go for it, otherwise I'll wait for the allready ordered part. Please!

 

Passenger door actuator in a 2003 Disco went bad so it became a pain to lock/unlock only using the inside door pull. Sourced and ordered the part online. Replaced the actuator taking care to identify and remember the locations of all parts and screws etc. In less than 2 hours it worked perfectly. Until the following week when I tried to enter the passenger door. The lock mechanism works perfectly, going up and down with the key fob and the dash lock button but the door was stuck closed! I remembered a very important lesson I learned when replacing a door handle for an old Alpha Romeo that came from someone in a forum much like this. It was one word - 'tolerances'. When things are off by the slightest of margins they just won't work. And so I removed the screws that I could get to on the door panel and with the window down and me outside the vehicle I slowly pried the top of the door panel off and reached down inside to where the actuator sits. The outside door handle works by pushing down on a switch on the very rear and side of the actuator that is attached with a plastic clip to a metal rod. Push this lever down while pulling on the door handle from the outside (presumably with a friend and with the window raised if you don't have enough clearance). Try lifting up on the door as well and jiggle and you might just get lucky. Once the door is open make sure that the cable to the inside door handle is seated properly and snuggly into its tiny pocket. Mine was seated just north of where it should have been and didn't snap into place. The end fits onto a hook/lever on the bottom of the actuator. The outside door handle seats itself in the white plastic clip which pushes down on the inside oval-shaped lever via a threaded rod. Unclip the white plastic housing andpull the rod down slightly until you feel pressure on the handle. The lower you seat the rod in this white clip the easier it will be to pull the handle from the outside door pull. Don't pull it all the way down just do it so that there is pressure pushing down that lever that the clip is attached to.
I hope this helps.