Flat battery vanq 2 s
Discussion
I suppose it had to happen one day.
So... I purchased a dash cam plugged it into the usb slot in my Gen 2 vanquish s. the camera says standby and parked mode but little did i know that it keeps operating. I put the car cover on the car thinking that if it is bumped I will get a notification.... 10 days later I go to open the car and nothing. i took the cover off and look the camera is working, the key fob does nothing, I changed the battery in the fob just in case.
I do not have an emergency key as it was a deceased estate car and the widow couldn't give a fig. Other things on her mind I suppose.
How do you get in, I have read remove drivers side wheel and rear inner guard but that seems odd when the bonnet opener is on the passenger side. Is there a bonnet cable pull chord on which side, has anyone had the same flat battery issue and if so what did you do.
any help would be great as it is so frustrating.
So... I purchased a dash cam plugged it into the usb slot in my Gen 2 vanquish s. the camera says standby and parked mode but little did i know that it keeps operating. I put the car cover on the car thinking that if it is bumped I will get a notification.... 10 days later I go to open the car and nothing. i took the cover off and look the camera is working, the key fob does nothing, I changed the battery in the fob just in case.
I do not have an emergency key as it was a deceased estate car and the widow couldn't give a fig. Other things on her mind I suppose.
How do you get in, I have read remove drivers side wheel and rear inner guard but that seems odd when the bonnet opener is on the passenger side. Is there a bonnet cable pull chord on which side, has anyone had the same flat battery issue and if so what did you do.
any help would be great as it is so frustrating.
Ok here's the solution... If you are locked out of your car due to a totally flat battery here is how you can get in.
Firstly make sure your crystal fob has a healthy battery. No point in doing the following and then finding out it isn't your car battery.
Now assuming all your car is buttoned up properly and there is no response from your fob , boot won't open, doors won't open its dead and no way in.
Jack up passenger side of the car and remove the front wheel. Make sure you have a stand or block to ensure the car does not move on the jack.
Inside the wheel arch the liner can be seen. Towards the rear fire wall there are a number of plastic torx screws. You only need to remove about 4 ie bottom middle top and centre top.
Pull the arch lining down gently and at the top it has a crease where it can fold down. Once down enough to get your hand inside using a torch look for the bonnet release wire, black about 1/4 cm in diameter it is clipped onto the fire wall with a plastic clip. Give it a solid pull rearwards and this should then open your bonnet catch. Re clip the lug.
You can now do 2 things 1: charge your battery or 2 Jump start your car however if your battery is stuffed, as mine was, it won't charge nor will a jump starter work as the stuffed battery pulls current from the jump starter and everything will work eg lights door fob etc etc but the starter likely will not work.
Grab a new battery and replace the old one.
At least you are now in your car. If the battery charges then you are good to go in about 24 hrs on charge.
If you need to replace your battery it is about an hours work.
Here's how to do it.
Move seat forward as far as possible using the jump starter battery to do this connected in the +and an eath mount eg the bolts on the shock mount area. - under bonnet area.
Pull the rear small section of the back squab out, it measures about 8 inches x 3 inches and is velcro'd in place. This will give you access to a torx screw at the back of the seat bottom squab. Undo this screw and pull the squab up and out, slow and steady careful not to scratch the leather with the metal loop at the rear.
Now you have exposed the battery box it is held in place top 8 5/8 or 7ml bolts and then the front 4 same size bolts (may be 3)
Pull the carpet down on the front of the seat to assist access, it is just glued in place and will re stick when finished.
Now you have the battery exposed.
Undo both nuts on the positive and negative clamps. I was worried about this as I was scared I would cause lots of issues re resetting everything like seats etc but this was not the case. I did have to reset my windows which is easy.
Left hand side of battery is a drain hose, it will come off when you pull the battery out.
But first you need to undo 2 bolts holding the clamp that helps hold the battery in place at the rear of the seat area. There is a slide left or right clamp which you may need a larger screw driver to dislodge from the battery wall area. It will slide in my case towards the tranny tunnel and can then be removed.
Now the battery can be lifted out. Mine had 2 plastic handles on it which made it a bit easier.
The drain hose popped off the drain area when I lifted the battery out so when I put the new battery in I used long nose pliers to put it back on.
Make sure to put the positive terminal on the left and earth to right, the earth is attached to the braided wire.
Tighten the nuts holding the terminals up. Your interior lights should come on and some other noises will be heard.
Put the anchor bracket back in place with 2 nuts
Now the top plate and the 8 screws, now the front plate and 3 or 4 screws ( you may want to start the car and let run for about 10 mins to ensure it is ok and working)
Now put the bottom seat squab pack and the torx screw, the rear small squab and the carpet and you are done.
Move the seat back and Bobs your uncle.
The windows are re set by sending down the window to the bottom and hold for 3 secs. run up and hold for 3 seconds and they should now be set so they drop a little when opening the door. Do one at a time.
If you have any codes that come up they may go away or you will need to pop in to the local shop to reset. I took my car for a 20 minute drive in both auto and manual and sport mode sport shocks etc just to test everything.
I had no codes. I left my car sit for 20 mins before reinserting the battery which my indy advised to do as with all the messing around with chargers and boost starts he thought it best so it would do a reset.
I hope this helps anyone stuck... its not the end of the world so I discovered. I have now ordered the emergency manual key.
Firstly make sure your crystal fob has a healthy battery. No point in doing the following and then finding out it isn't your car battery.
Now assuming all your car is buttoned up properly and there is no response from your fob , boot won't open, doors won't open its dead and no way in.
Jack up passenger side of the car and remove the front wheel. Make sure you have a stand or block to ensure the car does not move on the jack.
Inside the wheel arch the liner can be seen. Towards the rear fire wall there are a number of plastic torx screws. You only need to remove about 4 ie bottom middle top and centre top.
Pull the arch lining down gently and at the top it has a crease where it can fold down. Once down enough to get your hand inside using a torch look for the bonnet release wire, black about 1/4 cm in diameter it is clipped onto the fire wall with a plastic clip. Give it a solid pull rearwards and this should then open your bonnet catch. Re clip the lug.
You can now do 2 things 1: charge your battery or 2 Jump start your car however if your battery is stuffed, as mine was, it won't charge nor will a jump starter work as the stuffed battery pulls current from the jump starter and everything will work eg lights door fob etc etc but the starter likely will not work.
Grab a new battery and replace the old one.
At least you are now in your car. If the battery charges then you are good to go in about 24 hrs on charge.
If you need to replace your battery it is about an hours work.
Here's how to do it.
Move seat forward as far as possible using the jump starter battery to do this connected in the +and an eath mount eg the bolts on the shock mount area. - under bonnet area.
Pull the rear small section of the back squab out, it measures about 8 inches x 3 inches and is velcro'd in place. This will give you access to a torx screw at the back of the seat bottom squab. Undo this screw and pull the squab up and out, slow and steady careful not to scratch the leather with the metal loop at the rear.
Now you have exposed the battery box it is held in place top 8 5/8 or 7ml bolts and then the front 4 same size bolts (may be 3)
Pull the carpet down on the front of the seat to assist access, it is just glued in place and will re stick when finished.
Now you have the battery exposed.
Undo both nuts on the positive and negative clamps. I was worried about this as I was scared I would cause lots of issues re resetting everything like seats etc but this was not the case. I did have to reset my windows which is easy.
Left hand side of battery is a drain hose, it will come off when you pull the battery out.
But first you need to undo 2 bolts holding the clamp that helps hold the battery in place at the rear of the seat area. There is a slide left or right clamp which you may need a larger screw driver to dislodge from the battery wall area. It will slide in my case towards the tranny tunnel and can then be removed.
Now the battery can be lifted out. Mine had 2 plastic handles on it which made it a bit easier.
The drain hose popped off the drain area when I lifted the battery out so when I put the new battery in I used long nose pliers to put it back on.
Make sure to put the positive terminal on the left and earth to right, the earth is attached to the braided wire.
Tighten the nuts holding the terminals up. Your interior lights should come on and some other noises will be heard.
Put the anchor bracket back in place with 2 nuts
Now the top plate and the 8 screws, now the front plate and 3 or 4 screws ( you may want to start the car and let run for about 10 mins to ensure it is ok and working)
Now put the bottom seat squab pack and the torx screw, the rear small squab and the carpet and you are done.
Move the seat back and Bobs your uncle.
The windows are re set by sending down the window to the bottom and hold for 3 secs. run up and hold for 3 seconds and they should now be set so they drop a little when opening the door. Do one at a time.
If you have any codes that come up they may go away or you will need to pop in to the local shop to reset. I took my car for a 20 minute drive in both auto and manual and sport mode sport shocks etc just to test everything.
I had no codes. I left my car sit for 20 mins before reinserting the battery which my indy advised to do as with all the messing around with chargers and boost starts he thought it best so it would do a reset.
I hope this helps anyone stuck... its not the end of the world so I discovered. I have now ordered the emergency manual key.
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