Help! Our car won’t open!!

[Bazza17]

We are away on holiday & are due to go home tomorrow. Our car won’t open ! We’ve tried both keys & the manual key!
Any ideas anyone before we phone RAC?

 

[drmcw]

Use the key blade in the key fob to unlock the driver side door.
Video may help. I think it's a CR2032 battery if you want to try replacing. The fact that 2 keys won't work is concerning but if you can get in the car then you can see if the 12v battery is knackered. Can you see anything on the app?

 

[Bazza17]

We’ve tried that! Nothing!

We’ve managed to open it, but the dash is all dead. Think it’s the battery

 

[Lovemyev]

I was going to suggest a flat 12 volt battery for sure !.
But I would have thought that the emergency key ? would have still allowed you to enter via the drivers door even so ???.
The emergency key ? allows direct access to the mechanical door lock itself.
It needs no power to open the central locking.
Flat battery for sure !.
Are you carrying a well recommend 12 volt booster pack with you ?.

 

[Gadget Geek]

The emergency key ? allows direct access to the mechanical door lock itself.

No it doesn't. It happened to me in my Ioniq a couple of years ago. The manual key is supposed to switch the solenoid to unlock the car. If the 12 volt is totally dead, nothing happens.

You can try this yourself if you use the manual key, you will hear the solenoid activate.

 

[Jomarkh]

We are away on holiday & are due to go home tomorrow. Our car won’t open ! We’ve tried both keys & the manual key!
Any ideas anyone before we phone RAC?

Hi, did the RAC get you going ok and was it just a flat 12v battery?
Do you not have MG assit / AA cover free with the car?

 

[Lovemyev]

No it doesn't. It happened to me in my Ioniq a couple of years ago. The manual key is supposed to switch the solenoid to unlock the car. If the 12 volt is totally dead, nothing happens.

You can try this yourself if you use the manual key, you will hear the solenoid activate.

That being the case on the ZS EV - then there is little point in having the facility then really TBH.
It should dead lock the car of course and by turning the manual key, it will activate the central locking mechanism if any small amount of battery power is present.
Opening the door is likely to trigger the alarm in normal cases, as the 12 battery is so low.
It should be a manual override system or the key ? form no use at all that I can see ?.
Why even supply it ???.
If it works as a manual override ( as it really should or I see no benefit ) to prove concept, open the door with the fob, release the bonnet and relock the car, then disconnect the neg terminal of the battery.
Can you now unlock the car manually with the emergency key ?.
If so, it’s a proper manual override system, if NOT the system is dependent on there being even a very small amount of power still left in the 12 volt battery to release the actuator.
Which makes very little sense to me at all.

 

[pollenface]

Almost need a cable hanging from the 12v battery behind the bumper you can access to hook a jump starter on to in times like this

 

[Bazza17]

Hi all!
thankyou for all the replies. RAC have been out and,as we e,the 12v battery was flat.
apparently the battery has a 5 volt drain..as any one experienced this? The RAC man said the sat nav is on all the time, so it tends to drain the battery. Also,he said there must be a draw on the battery of 5 volts,but has no idea where it’s coming from. Gotta leave the car on for about an hour so the battery can charge from the main battery.

I was going to suggest a flat 12 volt battery for sure !.
But I would have thought that the emergency key ? would have still allowed you to enter via the drivers door even so ???.
The emergency key ? allows direct access to the mechanical door lock itself.
It needs no power to open the central locking.
Flat battery for sure !.
Are you carrying a well recommend 12 volt booster pack with you ?.

We haven’t got a 12 volt booster.. will definitely be looking into this now. Thank you

Hi, did the RAC get you going ok and was it just a flat 12v battery?
Do you not have MG assit / AA cover free with the car?

RAC been, def flat battery. He said we had left something on..but we hadn’t ! All sorted now.

 

[Gadget Geek]

I would look at getting the battery looked at as a total drain can damage the battery and you'll be in the same situation again in the future. Test under load will tell if it is holding its charge.

That being the case on the ZS EV - then there is little point in having the facility then really TBH.
It should dead lock the car of course and by turning the manual key, it will activate the central locking mechanism if any small amount of battery power is present.
Opening the door is likely to trigger the alarm in normal cases, as the 12 battery is so low.
It should be a manual override system or the key ? form no use at all that I can see ?.
Why even supply it ???.
If it works as a manual override ( as it really should or I see no benefit ) to prove concept, open the door with the fob, release the bonnet and relock the car, then disconnect the neg terminal of the battery.
Can you now unlock the car manually with the emergency key ?.
If so, it’s a proper manual override system, if NOT the system is dependent on there being even a very small amount of power still left in the 12 volt battery to release the actuator.
Which makes very little sense to me at all.

I believe the manula key is for if the fob battery is flat, not the 12 volt car battery.

 

[Lovemyev]

Almost need a cable hanging from the 12v battery behind the bumper you can access to hook a jump starter on to in times like this

I guess there is two options that could be considered here.
You could either rig up a strong piece of string chord ( the pull chord from a petrol lawn mower with the rubber “T” handle would be perfect ) from the emergency bonnet release and down to just under the car.
Placed in the position where it could be accessed should you need to open the bonnet when the battery is flat.
Or the second option would be to attach a twin cable with eyelets to the battery posts and run them down to an accessible point.
You could attach a jump pack straight to the suitably rated size cables.
Option one is a safer and much simpler fix though.

I believe the manula key is for if the fob battery is flat, not the 12 volt car battery.

In this video made by Mike P a while ago now, he clearly demonstrates the correct way to use the emergency key to gain access via the drivers door.
Which is worth knowing, should you get stuck like @Bazza17.
In his video he has managed to lock himself out, trying to defrost his Gen1 ZS EV.
The fobs both fail to open his car and now the heater is running !.
Therefore the HVAC almost flattered the 12 volt battery completely in the process.
When he used the emergency key correctly, you can hear the drivers door actuator working inside the door, as his battery still had enough charge to power it.
As you say, it could be there in a situation when the fob battery suddenly fails.
But if it does still rely on the 12 volt battery retaining enough power to actuate the locking Solenoid it has a limited function really ?.

 

[Bazza17]

I would look at getting the battery looked at as a total drain can damage the battery and you'll be in the same situation again in the future. Test under load will tell if it is holding its charge.


I believe the manula key is for if the fob battery is flat, not the 12 volt car battery.

Thank you. The car is booked in for the 7th June

 

[Lovemyev]

Did you order a booster pack Baz ?.

 

[Paul mech]

Would you keep the batt pack in the ca ?

 

[Lovemyev]

Would you keep the batt pack in the ca ?

I keep mine under the drivers seat, if the battery is extremely low, you can use the emergency manual key to gain access.

 

[Gadget Geek]

I keep mine under the drivers seat, if the battery is extremely low, you can use the emergency manual key to gain access.

And if it's completely flat, it's like putting the combination inside the safe.

 

[Lovemyev]

What about storing it next to the 12 volt battery under the bonnet and then engineering a pull chord to release the bonnet latch maybe ?‍???.

 

[aserraric]

No it doesn't. It happened to me in my Ioniq a couple of years ago. The manual key is supposed to switch the solenoid to unlock the car. If the 12 volt is totally dead, nothing happens.

You can try this yourself if you use the manual key, you will hear the solenoid activate.

This is NOT true.
The idea that MG could have messed up so badly has bugged me, so I went and tried it. Opened up the hood, locked the car up (but with the windows down so I don't lock myself out completely) and disconnected the 12V battery.
Then I used the emergency key and the driver door unlocked (and locked) without any power whatsoever.

The solenoid you are hearing is the actuator for the central locking that will activate if the car has power. It is however NOT necessary to unlock the driver door.

So what I'm planning to do is this: First, get a frunk in, and second, put a 12V starter pack in the frunk. Since the hood latch is also purely mechanical, I will always be able to get into the driver door and into the frunk, as long as I have the key on me.

 

[Lovemyev]

This is NOT true.
The idea that MG could have messed up so badly has bugged me, so I went and tried it. Opened up the hood, locked the car up (but with the windows down so I don't lock myself out completely) and disconnected the 12V battery.
Then I used the emergency key and the driver door unlocked (and locked) without any power whatsoever.

The solenoid you are hearing is the actuator for the central locking that will activate if the car has power. It is however NOT necessary to unlock the driver door.

So what I'm planning to do is this: First, get a frunk in, and second, put a 12V starter pack in the frunk. Since the hood latch is also purely mechanical, I will always be able to get into the driver door and into the frunk, as long as I have the key on me.

Thank you for carrying out the proof of concept.
I did state in an earlier post, that the emergency key ? should manually override the electronic lock, which is powered by the 12 volt battery, or it was pretty much rendered a pointless facility.
My booster pack lives under the driver seat.
I had it in the boot to start with, but moved it under the seat for easier access,
Thanks again for taking the time to reassure other members ?.