Drained Battery and can't open door or hood (1 Viewer)

[mobajwa]

Hope everyone is doing well in these Covid times. I have a question about my land cruiser and thought I'd reach out to the experts.

Our 2014 Land cruiser parked in the garage that hasn’t been started for a while during the Covid times. When I tried opening the car the other day using the smart key, the car didn’t unlock or make any beeping sound. It looks like the battery has totally died.

I then tried opening the driver's side door (the one with the only key hole) with the physical key that slides out of the smart key and that didn’t work as well. Both the keys I got from the dealership don’t work. The strange part is that these keys are seldom used and pretty much brand new. I've tried turning the key both ways and it didn’t work.

I called the dealer to check for ideas and they mentioned that they can cut a new key for me ($130) but that would be the same as trying the keys that I already have. The other promising option which was suggested to me by the dealership was to take the skid cover plate off and then there would be a way for me to unlock the hood of the land cruiser, get access to the battery to give it a charge before starting the vehicle. Has anyone heard of that before ? How much of a task is that ?

I do have AAA so I’m thinking of getting it towed but don’t we need to put the transmission in neutral to get it towed but how do we get in the vehicle first to put transmission into neutral.

Appreciate your advice on getting this working again !

Thanks
M.Bajwa


P.s. Attached some pictures for reference.

 

[Sandroad]

A locksmith should be able to open the drivers door. From there, open the hood and get the battery charged up. Being discharged to completely dead is bad for a battery and if yours is the original 6 year old, get a new one soon.

And one question about the physical key......did it turn in the lock?

 

[mobajwa]

A locksmith should be able to open the drivers door. From there, open the hood and get the battery charged up. Being discharged to completely dead is bad for a battery and if yours is the original 6 year old, get a new one soon.

And one question about the physical key......did it turn in the lock?

Yes, the key does turn when I put it in the lock. But the door doesn't open.
My keys are practically new and barely used. Just curious what the locksmith would be using ? Is there some sort of master key to these types of locks ?

 

[DRCocaCola]

When it happened to mine, it was very difficult to turn the mechanical key far enough, presumably because of the attached electronics, not just a simple lock. Perhaps you need to turn it further/harder? For mine it helped using a keyring for leverage. Its don't turn to the point of breaking obviously. I would think if you're able to turn it at all it's the correct physical key.

 

[bloc]

If your vehicle had the lock assembly removed to replace the actuator motor, which isn’t unheard of, they sometimes don’t hook up the mechanical lock correctly. If the key turns all the way right (I believe 90 degrees) with no resistance I suspect this has happened. I believe there should be some resistance felt before the key physically unlocks the mechanism.

When it’s working correctly you shouldn’t need any battery charge to unlock the door with the key blade because it has a direct physical connection.

I don’t know about pulling the skids to get to the hood cable.. it is pretty far up there and toyota typically works pretty hard to make their vehicles difficult to get into. I’d be surprised if you could do that without destroying the cable, but I don’t have my cruiser here to take a close look.

 

[Weedhopper]

AAA should be able to open the door safely. They have a balloon that gets pushed into the slot , for lack of a better word, between the door and body. Opens the slot just enough to get their hook in there to open the door.

 

[bloc]

AAA should be able to open the door safely. They have a balloon that gets pushed into the slot , for lack of a better word, between the door and body. Opens the slot just enough to get their hook in there to open the door.

I’d trust pop a lock more with this procedure. They do it much more. That said, the cruiser is built so solidly the door frame is very difficult to pull out. I know this from experience.. I sometimes have to unlock doors at work and have tried to use these tools on my cruiser. It is a tough door pop.
Also even with the door spreader it is possible to tear the weather gasket and scratch up the door jamb. I’d try to figure out the door lock first.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Another option would be to find an available 12v wire... then put a trickle charger on it just long enough to use the electric key to open the door. Maybe if the skidplate was pulled you could reach a 12v source...

 

[tirewater]

Another option would be to find an available 12v wire... then put a trickle charger on it just long enough to use the electric key to open the door. Maybe if the skidplate was pulled you could reach a 12v source...

I suppose you could wire something up through the 7 pin trailer plug. However at this stage, just paying someone to come out and open the vehicle would probably be more prudent.

 

[bloc]

I suppose you could wire something up through the 7 pin trailer plug. However at this stage, just paying someone to come out and open the vehicle would probably be more prudent.

Does the 7-pin have constant 12v or ignition switched?

 

[tdcruiser406080100]

Hope everyone is doing well in these Covid times. I have a question about my land cruiser and thought I'd reach out to the experts.

Our 2014 Land cruiser parked in the garage that hasn’t been started for a while during the Covid times. When I tried opening the car the other day using the smart key, the car didn’t unlock or make any beeping sound. It looks like the battery has totally died.

I then tried opening the driver's side door (the one with the only key hole) with the physical key that slides out of the smart key and that didn’t work as well. Both the keys I got from the dealership don’t work. The strange part is that these keys are seldom used and pretty much brand new. I've tried turning the key both ways and it didn’t work.

I called the dealer to check for ideas and they mentioned that they can cut a new key for me ($130) but that would be the same as trying the keys that I already have. The other promising option which was suggested to me by the dealership was to take the skid cover plate off and then there would be a way for me to unlock the hood of the land cruiser, get access to the battery to give it a charge before starting the vehicle. Has anyone heard of that before ? How much of a task is that ?

I do have AAA so I’m thinking of getting it towed but don’t we need to put the transmission in neutral to get it towed but how do we get in the vehicle first to put transmission into neutral.

Appreciate your advice on getting this working again !

Thanks
M.Bajwa


P.s. Attached some pictures for reference.

View attachment 2378321View attachment 2378322View attachment 2378323View attachment 2378324

Not sure what year yours is.. mine is a 2020. My key position is 180deg from your picture when inserted to operate the lock. I turn counter clockwise to lock and opposite to unlock. Not sure if this helps.

I figured mine out because there is no other (remote) way to lock the vehicle when running (dogs inside) And.. no way to remotely unlock when it was locked with the key. Better not lose the key.

 

[RET2]

Does the 7-pin have constant 12v or ignition switched?

I would be very curious to see if this could be a viable work around? Somebody has to be bored and want to take there positive cable off in the name of science? sorry for the edit but I felt I owed an explanation here, my setup has dual batteries and is so complicated it would be a pain.

 

[bloc]

I would be very curious to see if this could be a viable work around? Somebody has to be bored and want to take there positive cable off in the name of science? sorry for the edit but I felt I owed an explanation here, my setup has dual batteries and is so complicated it would be a pain.

I won’t have time to check for a bit but the electrical wiring diagram should also solve this puzzle.

 

[radman]

Here you go

good idea, but no bueno

 

[grinchy]

I would be very curious to see if this could be a viable work around? Somebody has to be bored and want to take there positive cable off in the name of science? sorry for the edit but I felt I owed an explanation here, my setup has dual batteries and is so complicated it would be a pain.

I believe it is switched. I tried to run a light off of it and it only works ignition on.

 

[TeCKis300]

Good stuff. The tow tail relay in the diagram confirms my understanding that the trailer socket +12V power is not enabled when the car is off. Which is expected as otherwise, it would allow something like a travel trailer to suck down the juice from the car.

 

[RET2]

So the SAE pigtail I have hanging out of my grill ( trickle charger) may come in handy if the whatever doesn't hit the fan?

 

[mobajwa]

When it happened to mine, it was very difficult to turn the mechanical key far enough, presumably because of the attached electronics, not just a simple lock. Perhaps you need to turn it further/harder? For mine it helped using a keyring for leverage. Its don't turn to the point of breaking obviously. I would think if you're able to turn it at all it's the correct physical key.

I even tried using small pliers to give m

When it happened to mine, it was very difficult to turn the mechanical key far enough, presumably because of the attached electronics, not just a simple lock. Perhaps you need to turn it further/harder? For mine it helped using a keyring for leverage. Its don't turn to the point of breaking obviously. I would think if you're able to turn it at all it's the correct physical key.

Yes, I have tried to rotate the key pretty hard i think. Even used small pliers to hold the key while rotating it, to get some more traction. Didn't work.

 

[mobajwa]

When it happened to mine, it was very difficult to turn the mechanical key far enough, presumably because of the attached electronics, not just a simple lock. Perhaps you need to turn it further/harder? For mine it helped using a keyring for leverage. Its don't turn to the point of breaking obviously. I would think if you're able to turn it at all it's the correct physical key.

Yes, I'm pretty sure i have the correct physical key. The pliers holding the key for leverage while trying to rotate it , hasn't worked as well.

 

[mobajwa]

AAA should be able to open the door safely. They have a balloon that gets pushed into the slot , for lack of a better word, between the door and body. Opens the slot just enough to get their hook in there to open the door.

Yes, I've seen AAA use the "bladder" tool that they inflate to make some room between the door pillar. That just seems like it may damage the door pillar. But i'm keeping that as my last resort.