Vt issue - can't get in the car :(

[El_Freddo]

G'day all,

I've read a few threads about this using the search function. Our situation doesn't quite fit anything that I've already found on the forum.

Basically I can't get into the car (series2 V6 Acclaim ~360k km) by the key fob or manually using the key. Both key fobs don't work, one had the battery replaced last month and was awesome with unlocking the car 10m away.

I've got into the boot and found the interior light off so thought it was a flat battery. No flashing indicators when the boot was opened either - alarm siren turned off atm.

I've got the bonnet open and threw the jumper leads on, still no go. I tried to swap the battery but terminals were the wrong way around. Checked voltage on pulled battery, 12.8v. Put that back in. Still no dice.

I can't remember if I locked the car or deadlocked it as well last night when I locked it up. 12hrs later and we're locked out.

After putting the car battery back in, I noticed the red
Immobiliser light flashing - I can't say I saw it flashing before.

I've tried both key's buttons in the middle of the windscreen where the IR receiver apparently is.

I can't get through the drop down panel in the middle of the seat, I don't know if it's possible from the boot - but in my case it's definitely not due to three kids seats installed across the back seat.

If we can't get this sorted on our own or someone doesn't come up with what the issue is then we'll talk to a locksmith. I'm reluctant to do this as we're tight for coin atm (who isn't?).

I understand if you're not willing to share info here openly, PM is fine. Or if anyone in Bendigo is willing to drop over and check it out drop us a line and I'll on my mobile number

Regards

Bennie

 

[BlackVXGTS]

Try these steps:

1. If the car is deadlocked you can unlock the driver's door by firmly turning the key clockwise in the door lock. The snib button does not pop out, but pulling the door handle will still open the door.
2. Try unlocking the doors with the remote touching the side of your head near the temple. Sounds strange, but that gives the remote extra distance range.

 

[RiffRaffMama]

You’re sure it’s your car... right?
On the back parcel shelf there are two cutouts for speakers. The centres of the cutouts are just tack welded in place. Grab a chisel and hammer and crack one of those out. This should give you a way of reaching in and unclipping or unscrewing one of the baby seats to give you a better shot at accessing the centre seat opening. Could you have damaged the bcm module somehow? Maybe kicked it hard or something? That could cause some kind of communication problem with the locking system I’d think.

 

[El_Freddo]

Thanks BlackVXGTS and RiffRaffMama. It's actually my wife's vehicle (can provide rego number to check vehicle status on the vicroads web page if you're really concerned) and seems to be one of the better units around that goes against the grain of "commodores are **** etc etc". We've had it since '04 at 80k km ex fleet vehicle. We've put some k's on it since then!

I'll give the temple trick a go with the key fobs. I won't be holding my breath though as it does sound odd!

I'm not sure where the bcm on these things is located. The car didn't talk any unusual knocks on the hr plus drive home towing a car trailer... And no one had a conniption in the car either

Using that speaker hole trick sounds good but I doubt I'll get the seat belt off and that'll hold the whole operation at a halt. The rear anchor straps are tight too - my usual way to remove these seats is to undo the seat belt then lift the seat to undo the rear anchor.

I don't know if this has anything to do with it but I pushed the hazard light switch into the dash board when I switched it on to test the trailer indicator lights. I'm not sure how I turned them off but they're off by fiddling with the floating switc through the hole it should've been mounted in.

@VT&VX (reply to your suggestion in the doubled up thread) - I read a thread saying that the key fobs were IR and that a whole heap of things can interfere with this if parked near them (which we're not).
As for the battery, that's not the issue - and turning it around 180deg means that the pos terminal would be where the neg connector is and vice versa. This battery has the terminals on the wrong long side of the battery for the battery connections. Eg: closest side to driver is neg on rhs of vehicle and pos on the lhs. These need to be on the front side.

Using the key manually (both of them) just feels like I'm going to break the key or the lock, probably the key really.

I'll have a go at these suggestions and see what happens. My gut feeling is an expensive auto sparky call out (that I want to avoid!).

Cheers

Bennie

 

[El_Freddo]

Here's our beast with my sister's liberty before it too copped a similar driving light treatment

Cheers

Bennie

 

[_R_J_K_]

Battery terminals wrong way round doesn't sound promising. Have you checked your fuses?

 

[rambunctious]

Battery terminals wrong way round doesn't sound promising. Have you checked your fuses?

I think/hope that means the terminals on the battery he wanted to try were in the wrong position for the leads to reach.

 

[figjam]

1. If the car is deadlocked you can unlock the driver's door by firmly turning the key clockwise in the door lock. The snib button does not pop out, but pulling the door handle will still open the door.

Have you tried this ? Yes, it does feel like you are going to break something, but that is the way to do it.
If you can't stand the thought of doing it yourself, get the RACV.

 

[El_Freddo]

Battery terminals wrong way round doesn't sound promising. Have you checked your fuses?

Yeah there was no chance I was going to hook up the battery backwards! I'm a pretty competent DIYer... Subarus and old Holden's are my forte. I've not had to do much on this car

Thanks for the other suggestions. Forcing the key didn't seem to work. And I'm not keen to push it super hard. Read below about that further.

@RiffRaffMama - your rear boot trick worked. It took some time and effort and to some degree I feel like I've butchered a bit of the car as I had to cut through the interior parcel shelf panel.

Once in the car I tried a rear door lock, no dice. Tried the key fob again, no dice. Did the old trick when key fob didn't let us in and the key lock would - started car, lights start flashing (alarm would go off but this turned off atm), turn car off, lock and unlock doors with fob to cancel lights/alarm. So fob works again but I'm reluctant to have this happen again.

Key will not lock the door now. This is a new issue. We can't push the interior lock tab down on the driver's door when the door is closed either. We have to push another lock tab if we want to lock ourselves in...

So not right at the bottom of the underlying issue. Should I be looking at key fobs or something on the vehicle?

Thanks again to those who put suggestions forward.

Regards

Bennie

 

[_R_J_K_]

Yeah there was no chance I was going to hook up the battery backwards! I'm a pretty competent DIYer... Subarus and old Holden's are my forte. I've not had to do much on this car

Have you checked fuses though? Failure in the way you describe almost sounds like a main fuse or something.