406 Coupe, Dead Battery.......can't get in :(

Paulyh

So I decided to treat myself and OH to a Mc Donalds last night as we were hungover and feeling sorry for ourselves from the night before.....so eventually we got the motivation and the hunger to leave the apartment. Walking towards my car, a 98 406 Coupe, i press the button on the key and........................nothing :eek: i press again........and nothing :eek::eek:!!
I only have one key for it, and the key doesnt work to open the doors manually, it only opens the boot.
So i assume the battery is dead in the car. i can open the boot, and open the little 'hatch' thing in the back seats but cannot react the button to release the seats :mad:
Would anybody have encountered this problem?? or now how i can open the doors manually? or have any advise in anyway?? i am pretty broke this week.................so DIY, or cheap options are all i have to work with

Mr Benevolent

Have you tried replacing the battery in the keyfob?

is a 2nd key required for the doors ygiagl you dont have ? Or does it appear there is no key hole in the door ? If no key hole there should be a removable gromit, doesnt matter anyway, as the above chap said it is probably the fob battery, open it up and rub the battery to heat it up, might give it enough charge for it to work once , you may well have breakdown cover on your car insurance too

Row

If your car battery is dead then the c/locking will not work,
normally the key would manually open the drivers door but the fact that
thats not working then its going to be difficult to get in...

If you could get to the starter and maybe put on a 12volt supply to back feed the battery tru the starter + battery feed and the - on a good location the car body,it maybe enough for you to zap the remote control to get in. but the starter may not be to accessable to do this...
If you were to go down this route you would need to be careful not to short
out anything....:eek:
Access tru the ski flap in the boot is limited unless you could get say a handle of a brush,reach in and release the door lock....easier said than done...
Best of luck with it...;)

CarMuppet

Is there a light in the boot? If so then stick a very low current trickle charger on the bulb holder. Leave for 4 hours. The try unlock car with remote key.

I got a car sorted with this in the past

EDIT: you need to meter out which side is positive and which side is neg/ground.

best of luck!
CM

Paulyh

the little light on the key comes on when i press the button, so im thinking its the battery alright. The key just turns in the lock on both sides when i try and open it manually.
im going to try and think of a mate with long arm to reach in through the hatch between the back seats and press the set release, i am about 2 inches too short when i try it :mad: its so bloody annoying. i had the car in a garage for a few days last week getting unrelated stuff done, so they may have run the battery down when working on it. the garage is only about 300m from my place and i just drove it home, and didnt go near it till last night.
i was hoping someone who owns or owned one might have encountered something similar................

eoin27

Why cant you open it with the key in the lock? If the key just spins around aimlessly in the barrel then it wont open. This is an anti theft device bulit into the lock. Since the lock was undoubtedly used only a handful of times since purchased, its fairly clogged up with crap and dust over the years. Spray some WD-40 onto the key and some more into the lock itself and that should enabe you to get back into your coupe.

Take it from someone who owned 3 406's in the past. Currently have a coupe too.

Paulyh

ok, but i dosnt feel like it can 'catch' on anything when it turns in the lock. but i will try this later on.

eoin27

Ya it should work. Dont be afraid to spray loads of the stuff on the key and repeat it over and over. It will work again. Trust me Im a 406 nut!