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So this morning I went out to my car and noticed the FOB was not unlocking the car. I went in and replaced the battery and still nothing. I tried to open the drivers door with the key and it turns just fine but does not unlock the door. I can only think that the battery must be completely dead even though it is only a year old. Maybe something got left on and since the pandemic I don't drive daily. My dilemma is I have no way of getting in the car to check the battery. The only door with a key hole seems to be the drivers door. Is there a rod or something that the key mechanism connects to the lock ? Any ideas on how to get in the car short of breaking a window?
Sound's like the car's 12V battery is dead... I'm not sure how you can open the hatch with the battery dead, but I know there's a way to jumpstart the car from under the hood. Just don't know the procedure. Should be in the manual. I'm sure someone here could help more.
Key word above is procedure. Make sure its not done the same way as a conventional car, very important.
I think the key should unlock with a dead battery? I thought that was an entirely manual process with the door lock actuator...but then again it had a motor so perhaps not. But may allow reach to the hood latch.
Does the car do anything with the FOB? lights, sound?
I would use an air pump wedge, normally what a tow truck driver has on hand. Wedged the door open to be able to manually unlock the car. But if the key doesn't work that may not either, last time I did this was on a 90s car so I'm not too up to date on current setups.
Make sure if or when you jump the driver follows proper proceedure.
I have not tried to get access to the hood yet, maybe an idea. I am in need of a windshield so thought maybe call glass company to remove the windshield, unlock the car then have the new one installed. Once unlocked I can remove door panel to see why the manual unlock is not working and also charge the battery. So far I have not found one that wants to do it without having access to the inside of car. Googling I saw a video of a guy remove the windshield with a Cold Knife tool and did not need in the car. Waiting on call back from another glass shop.
This happened on my IS300. 12v battery died too much to even respond to the key chip. While the manual lock is mechanical, it will not let you unlock the car without the transponder registering, it will just turn in the lock. So what I did was, I was able to open the trunk with the key there, and once inside, I pulled out the trunk dome light bulb and put power to that (I had my portable battery jumper), and that gave the entire car power again just through the dome light.
With the CT, I'm not familiar enough with it, but if you can find a way to access a 12 volt wire from outside the vehicle (maybe jack the car up or remove a wheel), then you can feel 12 volts into the car from that, and then you should be able to unlock the car with the key.
the manual key in the driver's door still requires electricity? I was under the impression it was a mechanical mechanism and released the lock. From there, you can obvi open the hood. On the drivers side is a fuse panel and inside that is a RED cover plate with a big +. if you flip that up that is the positive plate for a charger. negative can be attached to any engine bolt. If that doesn't work or makes you uncomfortable, you'll have then open a rear passenger door, crawl into the back and uncover the battery which is on the far right back corner. The manual hatch release is down where the door latches to the body. You have to uncover some access points though. I've included shots from the manual. Hopefully since this is a couple days out you've already solved this!
yeah, but without any 12 volt power, the doors can't be opened to even access the hood or cargo space. I guess Lexus does this so that the car can't be broken into with a lock pick.
Thanks for the info but since I could not get into the car it would not have helped but the rear hatch info is very useful. I ended up having a glass company come out and replace the windshield which was needed anyway. He unlocked the car after making a hole in the driver upper corner. The batter must have been really dead as I have has a small charger on it for a couple of days and the remote still will not do anything however the dome lights are now working but not bright. I will give it anothor 24 hours then probably have the battery tested and maybe replaced, should be under warranty.
Thanks for the info but since I could not get into the car it would not have helped but the rear hatch info is very useful. I ended up having a glass company come out and replace the windshield which was needed anyway. He unlocked the car after making a hole in the driver upper corner. The batter must have been really dead as I have has a small charger on it for a couple of days and the remote still will not do anything however the dome lights are now working but not bright. I will give it anothor 24 hours then probably have the battery tested and maybe replaced, should be under warranty.
I think the best bet would of been a air wedge on the driver door and a long pole with a hook to the hood latch. Where did they make this hole?
I think the best bet would of been a air wedge on the driver door and a long pole with a hook to the hood latch. Where did they make this hole?
If I did not already have a cracked windshield I agree it would not be a great solution. I still don't know for sure what happened. I assumed that something was left on that drained the battery completely. I don't drive daily anymore because of working from home so it had plenty of time to drain. I have hooked up a small battery charger but after 3 days of charging it still not very strong. I can turn the dome lights on but it is dim. The key still does not work nor the power door locks. Can't get the dash to light up either. I have not tried to jump it yet or had the battery tested. The battery is just over a year old but still will need to test to get to the bottom of this. Hopefully draining the battery so far down does not cause issues with the security system or forget key FOB pairing.
Well after days of charging with a small battery charger and barely getting dim dome lights I decided to pull the batter out and have it tested. It turns out the battery only had 5 volts. The guy at the store asked if it had been parked for an extended time. It had not been parked for an extended time but it is possible a dome light or something was left on for 2-3 days. I don't drive daily anymore. Anyway he said that since it is an AGM battery he may be able to recover the batter but will take a couple days on a larger charger so waiting until Monday to find out. He also said that that is not something the warranty would not cover which sounds strange to me. So you leave an accessory on and kill your battery and voids warranty? Not even sure that is what happened.
Well the battery shop called and said they were finally able to get a full charge on the battery and all was good. Just need to pickup and hope the complete loss of power to the car, computer etc does not cause other issues.
Glad to hear your battery is good now. But you should know that the warranty covers defects and workmanship issues. If you caused your battery to run down by accident, it's not covered. Lexus would need to determine if something in the car was a fault, and then it would be covered.
01-26-21, 11:14 AM
Locked out of CT200H
