yung911

Help please! My car has been sitting for quite some time and today i tried to unlock the car, but it wouldn't open. I tried opening it with the key in the keyhole and no luck.

Is there any way i can unlock the doors with now power from the car battery? I tried a jimmy, but that didn't work. My only other alternative is to stick a clothes hanger through the window and hope it latches onto the door handle.

thanks,

bao

yung911

I also did a search, there was another individual that had the same problem. But he hasn't posted in over 5 months to give us an update.

If i do get the rear open, where do i connect the positive and negative cables to give the battery some juice?

THanks

Nicolaasdb

you should be able to unlock your driverside door with a key.....you might have to fumble and your alarm might go off....if you can't open the door you can open the hood (where the battery sits) with a cable which hangs on the left (if you stand in front of the P) behind the bumper cover (that is where mine is)

Botsy67

I remember someone had similar issue and found out that he couldn't open his driver door with the key is because the dealer found that the mechanical part on his lock was broken. As Nicolaas said you should be able to open it with the key by turning it further to click it. Before I also locked my car but after a few days of inactivity, the car shutdowns and the remote will stop working (to save battery juice) and you have to use the key to open the door. Now I don't bother to lock it inside my garage, there is no need for that. Good luck...

Diamond Blue 4S tip

Hi Bao,

The last time someone posted this problem, it ended up being a broken lock mechanism in the door and the remote unlock system in "sleep mode.". This might sound condescending but you have to cover all the bases, did you turn the key both ways in the door lock? If so, you will probably have to call a locksmith to open the door for you. As far as jumping the battery to start the car, post here and someone will help you. I haven't done that!

Good luck and remember to post the outcome!!

99firehawk

check your pass door, does it have a plug in the key hole? if it does pull it out and try the pass door.
IF not you can try removing a license plate light and hooking 12v into the license plate wiring then unlock the car with the remote

monsmike

My '99 gave me fits when , after disconnecting the battery and (stupidly) closing the front hood for 5 months of absence, I was able to open the drivers door but not open the hood. After trying for quite some time to find the !?@%** cable behind the front bumper, I used a lamp cord attached to jumper cables to open the electronic lock via the cigarette lighter (yes, the center electrode is positive). That 'click' was wonderful.

WAC

I've just been through this.

If your fob doesn't open the door then it's either timed out or your battery's dead. If your alarm lights are flashing on your dash then your battery's likely not dead. You can check your battery by opening the engine lid and putting a voltmeter on the battery terminal in the engine compartment.

To open your engine lid you need to carefully insert a thin blade (like a putty knife) between the top of the left rear lights housing and the bumper. Shine a light through the crack and you should see a thin cable. If you can snag that with a thin piece of wire (I used florist's wire which is very thin and stiff) you can open your engine lid by pulling on it.

If you're not deaf after this manoeuvre your battery is dead. Charge it and try the key fob again. If the alarm was on the horn honking will confirm you're battery isn't the problem.

You can also try to open the trunk through the right front wheel well by removing the little plugs which hold the wheel liner in place and putting your hand in between the liner and wheel well and finding a similar cable to open the hood. However, if you have 18" wheels as I do it' s pretty damn hard to do. I gave up after an hour. The rear lid took 90 seconds.

Anyway, if the battery's good you could try a search on this forum for key resetting procedures to reset your key fob and try again to open the door with the remote. In my experience that didn't work with either of my keys, but did give me another hour's entertainment trying to put the damn keys back together.

Finally, you resort to picking the lock. I'd STRONGLY advise against using a coat hanger. Call your dealer and ask for a locksmith they would recommend. The guy who got me back into my car took about a half an hour and did no damage to the car. But he was extremely careful, experienced and still had a hard time getting in the door through the seal which is very tight and then hooking the door handle to open the door. He was real concerned about breaking the glass as was I. The week before I got locked out of my 911 I was locked out of my F250 at the car wash. The guy there took nearly two hours working on my truck before his hand slipped and the window broke (at which point I asked him why he hadn't just done that 90 minutes earlier and saved us all a lot of time!). The point is the glass shatters easily when the rod slips.

Once you're back in the car just take it to your dealer and say goodbye to $600. I hope that you've just got a dead battery. Unfortunately, if the battery's not dead your lock is probably broken.

Good luck!

Tony

99firehawk

small chance of the lock being broken, what usualy happens is someone had the door latch out and missed the key acuation rod, its kind of a pita to get it in and alot of people (indys and bodyshops) dont even know you have to do it.

WAC

It's simply amazing how many things can prevent you from getting in your car!

Nicolaasdb

yung911

Update!!

I finally figured it out and got the door open!! It was the result of a drained battery just like what Diamond said. The car went into sleep mode to save juice so i couldn't open it with the key fob.

As for the door lock, i think it might be a broken locking mechanism that is preventing it from opening up.

The problem was fixed by opening the hood with the emergency release wire that was dangling from the passenger side front bumper. THe car has an aftermarket spoiler and it was right in front of my face. Pulled the damn thing and the hood poped up. The alarm went off and wouldn't disarm so i had to unplug the power to the horn (which is right next to the battery on the drivers side).

I then attempted to give the battery some juice by hooking up one of those portable jump starters with no luck. The key still did not unlock the doors. Then I had the idea of disconnecting the battery to reset the system and hoping that it would work. As it turned out it was the perfect solution. The system reseted itself and i was able to open the door with the key remote.

All is fine now thank God. My last resort would have been to break the window and then file a claim with my insurance company to have them pay for it, but it would have been too much of a hassle.

Thanks guys for all your input and help.

Diamond Blue 4S tip

Bao,

Good for you. I'm glad it worked out ok, without breaking a window!!

I think we all need to go check the operation of our manual door locks.

AsianImage

so this is a common problem? If so..what should we do if we are going on vacation or something? Leave it unlocked? Or are we forced to use a battery tender? Or disconnect the battery and reattach when you get back?

yung911

asianimage, if you have a garage then leave the car unlocked or pop the hood open for easy access to the battery, just in case you lose power over a long period of time.

My advice would be to buy a battery tender. That's what i'm going to do after this fiasco