Land Rover Repair: cant open range rover, hacksaw blade, mechanical linkage

Question
I have a 98 range rover the battery is dead . The driver side door handle is broken and Ican not unlock it. There is no way to open the hood to charge battry.Is it possible to put the + clamp fo a charger to the starter pos post and ground the neg to the frame to get some power to the system .OR do I have to brake a window or something.Hope you can help .

Answer
A locksmith may be able to jimmy a door open.  If not, the best window to break is the little one in a rear door.  The fact that the key won't open the driver door tells me that latch is broken.  It's a mechanical linkage that does not depend on the battery.  You may not be able to open that door at all, in which case you take off the rear door for access and use a hacksaw blade to cut the striker to open the front door.  Then you change the latch.

There is one other possibility.  Crawl under the vehicle with two clip leads.  Attach one clip lead to the big red cable on the starter, accessible but tricky from beneath.  Clip the other to bare metal on the motor.  Then clip the othr ends of those wires to a charged battery and leet it sit a while.  Try your pushbutton key to see if the truck unlocks.


Good luck with it,
John

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