sehaare
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- October 25, 2008
- Messages
- 434
- Reaction score
- 134
- City, State
- Chicagoland, IL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 98XLT 4WD SOHC,94XLT gone
So as these cars get older and most of us just use our fobs to unlock the doors, the door lock cylinders tend to freeze up due to not being used. And having a teenager that absentmindedly drained the battery led to us being locked out.
The first thing that I'd recommend is that everyone lube up your locks and cycle them periodically with the key so that you don't have this issue. (I've been able to free up the previously frozen passenger side lock and hatch lock this way, driver's side is still DOA). Second I'd learn how to open the hood from outside the vehicle and practice it before you need it (you don't want to have to learn how when it is pouring down rain or freezing cold).
How to: Open hood without cable - Help! Hood won't open!
But if you have about $25, a good insurance policy is to install a permanently mounted trickle charger. I had put one in initially to keep the battery charged when no one was driving the car regularly. Then when my daughter started to use it to commute to school, I would plug it in when the car had to set out overnight in the Chicagoland winter and it would keep the battery warm and able to start the car easier in the morning. And then it really paid for itself when my daughter drained down the battery and got locked out.
All we had to do was plug in the trickle charger long enough to charge the battery to the point that the doors would unlock using the fobs again.
So for $25 bucks, you will never get locked out again (unless your battery is so old it won't take a charge).
The first thing that I'd recommend is that everyone lube up your locks and cycle them periodically with the key so that you don't have this issue. (I've been able to free up the previously frozen passenger side lock and hatch lock this way, driver's side is still DOA). Second I'd learn how to open the hood from outside the vehicle and practice it before you need it (you don't want to have to learn how when it is pouring down rain or freezing cold).
How to: Open hood without cable - Help! Hood won't open!
But if you have about $25, a good insurance policy is to install a permanently mounted trickle charger. I had put one in initially to keep the battery charged when no one was driving the car regularly. Then when my daughter started to use it to commute to school, I would plug it in when the car had to set out overnight in the Chicagoland winter and it would keep the battery warm and able to start the car easier in the morning. And then it really paid for itself when my daughter drained down the battery and got locked out.
All we had to do was plug in the trickle charger long enough to charge the battery to the point that the doors would unlock using the fobs again.
So for $25 bucks, you will never get locked out again (unless your battery is so old it won't take a charge).