Opening a door for a car which had a completely dishcharged engine battery

Asked by Bob Jan 07, 2021 at 07:26 AM about the 2017 Nissan Sentra SV

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a Nissan Sentra 2018 which sat in my driveway for almost 2 month because we went out of state for a death and burial.  The car  battery had fully discharged, so I couldn't open the vehicle easily.   I tried the Key-in-the FOB trick to gain door access.  The key went into the lock just fine, but the tumbler wouldn't turn.  I sprayed a WD product (the one that is supposed to free up rusted parts) in the lock in case there was some rusting inside.   After waiting about 20 minutes, I retried to turn the lock tumbler, but that wouldn't turn still.  I came across a hack that included holding a AA battery close to the key entry slot mechanism to create a magnetic field interruption.  Still no luck turning the lock.

Any other suggestions ???  Repeat the battery-close-to-the-lock hack again?

1 Answer

26,810

Sometimes ,if you can get at the starter motor, you can hook up a charger to the starter motor bat terminal to try to charge it up. I don't know if your starter motor would be hard to reach? just a thought. good luck

Your Answer:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    Doran Harney
    Reputation
    2,980
  • #2
    L_R
    Reputation
    2,900
  • #3
    GuruLK5L9
    Reputation
    1,500
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Nissan Altima
31 Great Deals out of 665 listings starting at $1,995
Used Toyota Corolla
148 Great Deals out of 2,252 listings starting at $3,495
Used Honda Civic
188 Great Deals out of 4,039 listings starting at $2,530
Used Toyota Camry
52 Great Deals out of 1,088 listings starting at $2,500
Used Honda Accord
49 Great Deals out of 976 listings starting at $2,995
Used Nissan Versa
12 Great Deals out of 251 listings starting at $3,599
Used Nissan Maxima
13 Great Deals out of 195 listings starting at $1,450
Used Hyundai Elantra
155 Great Deals out of 3,061 listings starting at $1,995
Used Nissan Rogue
118 Great Deals out of 5,051 listings starting at $190
Used Kia Forte
69 Great Deals out of 1,569 listings starting at $4,500
Used Mazda MAZDA3
74 Great Deals out of 1,319 listings starting at $2,995
Used Hyundai Sonata
58 Great Deals out of 839 listings starting at $1,543
Used Chevrolet Malibu
51 Great Deals out of 1,048 listings starting at $2,900
Used Volkswagen Jetta
78 Great Deals out of 1,882 listings starting at $3,975
Used Chevrolet Cruze
59 Great Deals out of 1,060 listings starting at $2,495

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.