How to lock a Ford c max with a flat battery?
Discussion
I have a disabled friend with a c max disability car, he has been unwell for several months and he asked me to give the car a run.
I had my doubts about it still working and I was right the battery was as flat as a pancake.
So I opened the car with the manual key in the driver's door, opened the bonnet and tried charging the battery with a half decent smart charger, 24 hours later and battery still only 7.5 volts so appears to be over discharged?
I then tried to jump start it with an old battery that I had but it wasn't up to it.
But what It did do was boost the voltage enough to wake all the electrics up and this unlocked all the doors (it has keyless entry)
The car is parked outside but I can't get mine close enough to jump start directly so I've had to give up.
Now's here's the problem.
I can only lock all the car doors with the jump battery attached, but as soon as you disconnect it the alarm goes off because of low voltage or because the bonnet is open? It must have its own battery as it's f ing loud!
The only door you can manually lock is the drivers door from outside, all the other doors / boot don't have any way to lock them even inside the car!
Any ideas as to how to lock it? We don't want to put a new battery on it as it's unknown when he will be able to drive it again, it had a new battery after lockdown 1 killed the one on it then.
Modern car madness...
I had my doubts about it still working and I was right the battery was as flat as a pancake.
So I opened the car with the manual key in the driver's door, opened the bonnet and tried charging the battery with a half decent smart charger, 24 hours later and battery still only 7.5 volts so appears to be over discharged?
I then tried to jump start it with an old battery that I had but it wasn't up to it.
But what It did do was boost the voltage enough to wake all the electrics up and this unlocked all the doors (it has keyless entry)
The car is parked outside but I can't get mine close enough to jump start directly so I've had to give up.
Now's here's the problem.
I can only lock all the car doors with the jump battery attached, but as soon as you disconnect it the alarm goes off because of low voltage or because the bonnet is open? It must have its own battery as it's f ing loud!
The only door you can manually lock is the drivers door from outside, all the other doors / boot don't have any way to lock them even inside the car!
Any ideas as to how to lock it? We don't want to put a new battery on it as it's unknown when he will be able to drive it again, it had a new battery after lockdown 1 killed the one on it then.
Modern car madness...
If the battery has been flat for a while it could be knackered. One of the problems with modern "smart' chargers is that they don't work on a really flat battery. You can try connecting a good battery with jump leads and then connect the smart charger. After a half hour or so you can disconnect the good battery and let it charge further. If this doesn't work, the battery is probably toast.
To solve your alarm problem, is it possible to disconnect the battery and lock the doors manually with the key?
To solve your alarm problem, is it possible to disconnect the battery and lock the doors manually with the key?
sunbeam alpine said:
If the battery has been flat for a while it could be knackered. One of the problems with modern "smart' chargers is that they don't work on a really flat battery. You can try connecting a good battery with jump leads and then connect the smart charger. After a half hour or so you can disconnect the good battery and let it charge further. If this doesn't work, the battery is probably toast.
To solve your alarm problem, is it possible to disconnect the battery and lock the doors manually with the key?
Yes the "Smart" charger would only charge as a 6 volt but I hoped it would work as it is supposed to have a repair function.To solve your alarm problem, is it possible to disconnect the battery and lock the doors manually with the key?
And as i said.
The only way to lock the doors is with the battery connected, as soon as you disconnect the battery the alarm will go off.
And to turn off the alarm you have to unlock the car!
Easternlight said:
sunbeam alpine said:
If the battery has been flat for a while it could be knackered. One of the problems with modern "smart' chargers is that they don't work on a really flat battery. You can try connecting a good battery with jump leads and then connect the smart charger. After a half hour or so you can disconnect the good battery and let it charge further. If this doesn't work, the battery is probably toast.
To solve your alarm problem, is it possible to disconnect the battery and lock the doors manually with the key?
Yes the "Smart" charger would only charge as a 6 volt but I hoped it would work as it is supposed to have a repair function.To solve your alarm problem, is it possible to disconnect the battery and lock the doors manually with the key?
And as i said.
The only way to lock the doors is with the battery connected, as soon as you disconnect the battery the alarm will go off.
And to turn off the alarm you have to unlock the car!
sunbeam alpine said:
Easternlight said:
sunbeam alpine said:
If the battery has been flat for a while it could be knackered. One of the problems with modern "smart' chargers is that they don't work on a really flat battery. You can try connecting a good battery with jump leads and then connect the smart charger. After a half hour or so you can disconnect the good battery and let it charge further. If this doesn't work, the battery is probably toast.
To solve your alarm problem, is it possible to disconnect the battery and lock the doors manually with the key?
Yes the "Smart" charger would only charge as a 6 volt but I hoped it would work as it is supposed to have a repair function.To solve your alarm problem, is it possible to disconnect the battery and lock the doors manually with the key?
And as i said.
The only way to lock the doors is with the battery connected, as soon as you disconnect the battery the alarm will go off.
And to turn off the alarm you have to unlock the car!
I may try shorting the bonnet catch switch to see if its the bonnet being open thats setting it off , don't want to mess with it too much as it's not my car.
Gassing Station | Home Mechanics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff