2002 Scenic - flat battery - cant open door

Ba$tard

Hey lads,
Friend just called me there,
LHD 2002 scenic - key not card - left the lights on all day.

Dead battery - tried to open door, key turns, door doesnt open.
So, cant pop the bonnet to jump the car.

Got any ideas? He left the car for the night in work carpark.
I need to call out in the morning to him and hope to be somehow prepared

thanks!
James.

Anan1

Try the key in the other doors, ie passenger/boot.

Ba$tard

thanks - tried both - this scenic is loaded with extras - so could be facing deadlocks

Anan1

Is your friend/yourself/anyone you know an AA member?

Ba$tard

unfortunately not

Anan1

I just spent a while googling it there, but didn't come up with anything. One thing you could suggest is that your friend try turning the key harder (but not too hard!) in all the locks, it could just be that the doors are harder to unlock with a flat battery. I'd have thought that the boot in particular would open even without power. Failing that, Renault may have some sort of a 7-day helpline that you could call for advice. As a last resort, you could call an automotive locksmith. They'll be able to get the car opened, but it won't be cheap. Good luck, in any case.

Rowley Birkin QC

if you can get the car jacked up you might be able get at the bonnet release clasp, utter speculation!

bazz26

Hardly an unusual situation for the battery to go dead and the remote central locking not working. You would have thought the car manufacturer would have some sort of manual workaround for the owner for a situation like this? I know if the battery goes dead in my car I can still open the doors manually via the key placed in the lock.

Are you sure there is not more than just a dead battery at play here, maybe its an alarm/immobiliser or an electrical problem perhaps?

JHMEG

Very unusual that the key doesn't mechanically open any of the locks... are you 100% sure it's the right key?

To get access to the car you could always break a window. One of the smaller ones. Make sure you will be able to reach the lock before you break it tho!

Unless of course it has (like Nissans) deadlocks which won't open from the inside.

Ba$tard

Thanks guys for the help/advice.

I will hea over to him in an hour and have a better idea as to what is going on.

Thanks
James.

Do-more

Did ya get in yet?

sundodger5

Probably too late but... if you can get under the car and see the alternator you can connect a jump lead from a donor car to the main terminal (or the starter motor) this will energise the vehicles electrical system allowing doors to open.

Ba$tard

Hi all,
Thanks everyone for your replies.

I got to the car and tried some WD40 in the lock and attempted to exercise it, no real luck.

Called a breakdown guy out, he tried something like WD40, maybe a contact cleaner and spent 5 mins trying to exercise the lock, no luck. Got in via rear window.

After opening the door and using the central locking a few times, it freed up the door lock and all is ok now. He says Renault use different types of metals in the lock so they can adodize against each other and cause this.


Thanks!
James

MarkR

Did they have to break the windows?

Ba$tard

nope had inflatables to do it