Deadlocked car...keys in boot..arghh...the fix.

[musky]

What a way to bring in New Years! A picnic, nice and warm and sunny and the wife deadlocks the car. The car keys, house keys, wallet and friends keys and all the food is deadlocked away safely in the boot .

I'm really stuck. Called the roadside guys who turn up pronto but scratch their head when I tell them its deadlocked rather than locked. None of the traditional fixes work.

So we put in a long metal tube with a hook and release the bonnet/hood. He fools around with fuses. Nothing works except the alarm siren.

I said to the guy why not try and reset/spike the ECU by disconnecting the battery and re attach in quick succession. He says well that will wipe your pre sets and maybe do some other damage. Who cares its hot and I'm hungry!

So he disconnects/reconnects the battery. At the same time I'm using the aforesaid long metal tube wedged in between the side window glass and pushing the in boot release switch in the drivers door in quick succession until bingo! the boot springs open.

Battery is reconnected. Had a glorious day but the car runs like a hairy goat and wont idle. I'll take it for a freeway run later to see if the ECU re learns stuff.

I'm optimistic it will be OK. Anyone had a similar problem?

Cheers M.

[earthworm]

Losing the keys....misplacing the keys...the bane of mankind....as if I am innocent.....
A spare key hidden someplace ? The hidden magnetic key-box was a good way of permanently losing the spare key..

And keys are becoming obsolete anyway.....replaced by a microchip embedded under the skin, powered by body heat..

In the earlier days this was a minor problem; the AAA man had little trouble opening the '85 ; the '60 was even easier; I never locked the '73....
Now man seems to live in fear...we have turned in the wrong direction.

[musky]

Yep its impossible to unlock and deadlocked car with break in tools. So from now on I'll only deadlock it in risky areas.

A brief highway run and the car is going beautifully once more.

Cheers M.

[Diosnoche]

When my car is deadlocked, as the deadlock is suppose to work, no other keyhole on the car will work, only the drivers door, but on mine if I deadlock the doors while inside (windows open) and press the power door lock button from the inside of the car to unlock the doors, they will open, even though they are suppose to be deadlocked from the outside.

So you could have used a long coat hanger or similar to reach to the centre console to press the unlock button.

I also discovered this when I left the dog inside the deadlocked car, and came back to find all the doors unlocked; the dog stepped on the power windows/lock button pack and must have pressed the unlock button. This has happened on more than one occasion. Now I have to rip off the rear part of the centre console cupholder cover thing and use it to cover the power door lock button when I leave the dog in the car.

[ragtopcav]

In a matter of seconds you can access the boot by going through the rear lamp cluster that houses the lock barrel. You then simply pull the central locking release rod. Of course you need a new cluster.

Common access point for thieves this one so be warned and leave nothing of value in your car.

[musky]

Diosnoche I dont have an unlock button on my convert, I see where it goes...maybe its a USA thing. The dog does however tend to dislodge those hairy moustache things beside the handbrake lever.

ragtopcav thanks for the advice. I never knew about that. Never been broken into or had anything stolen from a car in 20+ years. Except some theives broke into a bunch of cars where I live. Slashed 3 higher end convert roofs, busted some windows...it was the only time I forgot to put the roof of the car up. Probably saved me from an expensive repair.

Cheers M.

[SuperFlyGuy]

I did the same thing a few months ago..

Best way is to 1 wedge the drivers door open, basically bend the door so that there is a smallish gap.

get a wire and press the boot release button. Hey Presto.
Open boot, get key, bend door frame back and then go to the nearest key cutter, cut a spare flat key and keep in your wallet!

Good Luck!

[Tweek's Turbos]

Originally Posted by musky

I'm optimistic it will be OK. Anyone had a similar problem?

Cheers M.

While junkyarding up near Baltimore MD, Myself and PaulH go taking off to get started. Delorean who was driving put the 9-5s keys in his jacket pocket and tossed it into the trunk since it was warm.

Luckily there was another 9-5 we could get the little rear window out of and all we had to do was smash it out on the locked car, and crawl into the trunk.

[Cm452]

Wouldn't anyone with a key of the same model car be able to open the door? I know the alarm will go off, but the key's look identical to me. I once was overwhelmed with curiosity and placed my key in the door of a Saab adjacent to mine. I didn't turn the key but it felt like it might've. Maybe get someone with a Saab if that is the case.
_Cm

[jakejm79]

No, I had to swap all the locks from one of my cars to another.