Citroen Relay Deadlocked- can’t open doors

[Kelsuprise]

Arghhh- I can’t open my Citroen Relay van doors. Fob is fine and transmitting signal (I got key repair shop to check) but even the key in door is not working. AA got wire through window to pull handle, but even that is not working! Van battery is functioning- what can I do?? Can anyone please help

[perfidus]

What do you mean by the key in door is not working? Both front doors? It should be mechanical only, not electric. It's weird.

[wheeler]

When you say the mechanical key is not opening the door is the key turning but nothing happening or will the key not even turn?
What about the rear door? is this the same?
How do you know the van battery has (enough) power??
Its not unusual for some people to (stupidly) disconnect the mechanical door lock on vans to make it harder to break in to.

[perfidus]

Yes this can be stupid, to totally disable the mechanical lock. I guess this is the case and the owner may not knew that it was disabled. There are other solutions e.g. reinforcement plates that can be mounted inside the door behind the handle that adds some protection.
The inside handle is expected to be useless because the electric actuator is still in locked position. This is now a complicated locksmith job...

[Richard_C]

Yes this can be stupid, to totally disable the mechanical lock. I guess this is the case and the owner may not knew that it was disabled.

Something that is beginning to worry Tesla owners, the cybertruck for instance has an emergency release lever under a cover in the rear passenger door pockets. Aside from that, no power means no lock release and no access to the retracted external door handles for rescuers. There are cases of occupants burned alive in a fire A mechanical release is essential for all kinds of reasons. Other modern cars might be the same.

But back to the OP. Is it a full bulkhead van and if so which bit - the people bit or the stuff carrying bit - are you locked out of?.

My son has a pre owned Transit, the original owners - a big electricity company - took theft very seriously and there is all kinds of after market security which operates separately from the Ford stuff. So depending if what you have, you might find you need a real specialist vehicle locksmith and not even a breakdown company or a Citroen dealer can help l

[Trickiedickie]

Does your model have a lock button or switch on the dashboard?
If it does somebody needs to force the door window open just enough to press the switch with a long enough stick or similar. Not easy to do but I have seen videos of the door being forced with a powerful pump up air cushion.

[wheeler]

Something that is beginning to worry Tesla owners, the cybertruck for instance has an emergency release lever under a cover in the rear passenger door pockets. Aside from that, no power means no lock release and no access to the retracted external door handles for rescuers. There are cases of occupants burned alive in a fire A mechanical release is essential for all kinds of reasons. Other modern cars might be the same.

Aside from Teslas there are a few Ford & Audi models now that dont have a mechanical external emergency door lock at all. Looks like door locks are going to be a thing of the past like spare wheels
However these vehicles all have external power up points in the case of a dead battery.

We really need some of the questions above answered by the OP. If the key doesn't turn the door lock then a locksmith may be able to help. If the key is turning in the lock but not doing anything then i doubt a locksmith can do anything.

Does your model have a lock button or switch on the dashboard?
If it does somebody needs to force the door window open just enough to press the switch with a long enough stick or similar. Not easy to do but I have seen videos of the door being forced with a powerful pump up air cushion.

On most modern vehicles if the car is deadlocked the interior lock buttons are disabled, i would imagine the AA tried this when they had a rod in trying the interior handle.

[Richard_C]

Not helpful to the original poster, but a cheery read (not) for the weekend.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... SApp_Other