How to access S4 cab with flat battery

matteyre · Feb 25, 2014

Any ideas on this? been parked up over winter, battery flat, no alarm red lights flashing on top of the door locks, keys turn clockwise and anticlockwise but no response, am trickle charging via the boot (which did open via key) but not sure if its doing anything... but need to access drivers seat to pop the bonnet.. can the drivers door be "broken in to" without causing damage? ... can charge up normally when I can get to the battery... Can get the RAC out , but hoping of a quicker solution...

desertstorm · Feb 25, 2014

Are you trying to charge via a socket in the boot ? . If that was live then you should be able to get enough charge in to get the boot open within 10 or 15 minutes.
If you jack the front of the car up and remove the front undertray you can usually get access to the back of the starter motor. The large thick cable on the back of the starter motor connects to the battery.Make sure car is supported securely on axle stands.
Connect negative of charger to a good earth point and the positive to the back of the starter motor.
Make sure you avoid shorting things out.

Gazthesparky · Feb 25, 2014

Can you not manually insert the key into the drivers door and lock/unlock the door manually ??

I disconnected the battery in my cab and just used the key in the drivers door to manually lock/unlock the car

matteyre · Feb 25, 2014

The boot opens manually with the key, and have attached a trickle charger to the 12v cigarette lighter type socket there, but no joy so far...am wondering whether there may be a lock problem as well.. can resort to jacking it up but need to borrow equipment for that..
thanks for your help though

Gazthesparky · Feb 25, 2014

Just a side note when you put the key in the drivers door it doesn't operate the central locking it just manually locks / unlocks the drivers door

As I say I disconnected and removed the battery in my Cab due to it being in storage at the moment because my licence is away. all I do is manually lock/unlock the drivers door with the key when I want to get into the car

matteyre · Feb 25, 2014

The key turns both ways gaz but the door wont open.. yet it works in the boot ... could it be a transponder issue? have 2 keys plus plastic one.. have sprayed wd40 on to try and free it up

Gazthesparky · Feb 25, 2014

Mmmmm curious
I'm sure that the door should open manually with the key like I stated in the earlier post. Unfortunately I Carnt get to my car to check due to it being in storage.

When you turn the key In the lock does it feel like there's resistance behind it and like there is a locking /unlocking action happening as you turn the key.

As far as I'm aware it's designed to operate manually like that so you can access the car in situations like this.

The plastic key is designed to just unlock the door to give access to the car. It doesn't have any electronics to start it so this should open the door even with no power to the car.

Just a side thought could the door just be stuck? Have the seals stuck to the door meaning it's stiff to open?

B5NUT · Feb 25, 2014

If that battery is that flat then a trickle charger just won't work on that size of battery. your going to need to decent size charger to get life back in the battery. This should give you some idea on how long to charge the battery. Charging Information For Lead Acid Batteries â Battery University

If you have break down cover try calling them, I'm sure they will be able to get into the car.

Good luck.

GeoffDunk · Feb 25, 2014

Gazthesparky said:
Mmmmm curious
I'm sure that the door should open manually with the key like I stated in the earlier post. Unfortunately I Carnt get to my car to check due to it being in storage.

When you turn the key In the lock does it feel like there's resistance behind it and like there is a locking /unlocking action happening as you turn the key.

As far as I'm aware it's designed to operate manually like that so you can access the car in situations like this.

The plastic key is designed to just unlock the door to give access to the car. It doesn't have any electronics to start it so this should open the door even with no power to the car.

Just a side thought could the door just be stuck? Have the seals stuck to the door meaning it's stiff to open?

This is part of EU legislation and all EU manufactured vehicles must have a manual unlock method in a door (boot not included).

When the battery is flat on an A4 the drivers door should have resistance in the mechanism for this purpose, BMW are the same. My mates M5 a few weeks ago had the same problem and he couldn't open the door. Finally, once he gained access he stripped the door out and found the connecting rod for the lock and catch had come apart so it was faulty.

My 53 plate Saab had a hidden key in the fob which fitted in a key slot in the passenger door which was behind a pop-out blank. usually the locks have no key slot in them but because of the legislation the slot was fitted to the passenger handle and then blanked.

This obviously does not help you gain entry to the vehicle in this instance but when you finally do, check the drivers door internals as its sounds like something is wrong as the key should gain you entry without the aid of any electronics or a battery connected.

Gazthesparky · Feb 25, 2014

GeoffDunk said:
This is part of EU legislation and all EU manufactured vehicles must have a manual unlock method in a door (boot not included).

When the battery is flat on an A4 the drivers door should have resistance in the mechanism for this purpose, BMW are the same. My mates M5 a few weeks ago had the same problem and he couldn't open the door. Finally, once he gained access he stripped the door out and found the connecting rod for the lock and catch had come apart so it was faulty.

My 53 plate Saab had a hidden key in the fob which fitted in a key slot in the passenger door which was behind a pop-out blank. usually the locks have no key slot in them but because of the legislation the slot was fitted to the passenger handle and then blanked.

This obviously does not help you gain entry to the vehicle in this instance but when you finally do, check the drivers door internals as its sounds like something is wrong as the key should gain you entry without the aid of any electronics or a battery connected.

That's what I thought so I find it strange that the OP door won't open.

As I said in my earlier post my cab is in storage at the moment with the battery out of the car. I use the key manually to open and lock the car.

As Geoffdunk stated it should manually lock and unlock the drivers door with the key so when you finally get access to the car take the door card off and check the connecting rods are still as they should be

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How to access S4 cab with flat battery

matteyre

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desertstorm

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Gazthesparky

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matteyre

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Gazthesparky

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matteyre

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Gazthesparky

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B5NUT

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GeoffDunk

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Gazthesparky

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