Looking for any help in solving my ongoing nightmare. My Mitsubishi Outlander (2014) packed up on Christmas Eve evening when collecting someone due to a low battery and it wouldn't start (clicking sound and slow wipers / various warnings on the dash etc) meaning I had to leave the car and return on Christmas Day. Couldn't get it to just start by jumping it from another car (in part due to the unuser friendly terminals which don't allow bigger clips to attach properly) so took the battery out and managed to test the car via a caravan battery I had - Unfortunately that battery has sunk terminals and I couldn't connect it properly to the live terminal but managed to hold it in place whilst I tried to start the car - Worked instantly so knew it was a weak / discharged car battery.

Being several miles from home I decided I couldn't drive the car with no battery (as would have no indicators etc) and that I'd take the battery home and charge it / test it to get enough power to start the car and get it home (as the were no car part places open for 4 days over the Christmas holidays). As any sane person would do I locked the car (in part as it wouldn't be insured if I left it unlocked especially miles from home) and returned with my charged battery which appears to be strong enough (based on a drop test) to simply connect it and drive home.

Sounds simple enough but no. The car is locked and the manual key won't unlock the car (I assumed that a manual key would be exactly that - It would allow me to unlock the car to reconnect and drive home). I have no access to the bonnet latch which is in the foot well by the pedals and I can't use the remote fob as there is no battery. I don't think the doors would open either if there is no battery and they are locked even if I manage to hook / pull the door lever (?)

Does anyone know if there is another keyhole in the boot/trunk or any other way of opening the car/bonnet. Under the car is all sealed so can't access underneath and think the bootlatch is too far in order to try and use a coat hanger to pull it open. The car is not at home and all the dealers / repair places are still closed and i'm just getting more annoyed with what appears like a stupid design and no emergency access in a totally reasonable scenario.

Any suggestions / help would be appreciated. I've even thought about smashing the front windscreen and getting in that way but there are week(s) delays in getting a new one so doesn't seem practical either.

Regards,

James

 

How did you locked the car without battery? With manual key?

 

I locked the car with a battery connected as that is the only way to lock all the doors - However I have an update which i'll post below in case anyone else has a similar experience.

I spoke to a main dealer today who happened to have a similar model in for servicing so we tested their emergency key which did appear to unlock the car (as I'd have expected). It didn't sound like it was power assisted but their battery was connected. Also the door would unlock via the interior handle if pulled open (i.e didn't appear to need power). There is no other key hole other that in the driver door (nothing in the back and a circular cap I'd spotted was in fact a screw cover).

The options we determined were either try and open the interior door handle or bonnet/hood latch via a wire rod or take the front grill (with the badge on) off by levering it to get a hand / tool in to pull the release cable to open it to allow access to the battery terminals. A recovery service may have a better widow wire tool than I could make with coat hangers etc so was an option and breaking windows was a last resort.

In the end we came up with another option which may help others should they do the same as me (and the manul key fails to work). I have a towbar fitted which has two sockets the main feed and an second aux feed for use with a caravan fridge etc. We touched the live terminal in the Aux feed (using a allen/hex key) and connected that to a battery via a jump lead. The earth we connected to the towbar bolt and the battery. That created a circuit and enabled the key fob to unlock the car. I then opened doors and the bonnet/hood and we reconnected the battery. The car started instantly on pressing the stop start button.

I've now purchased a new battery which will be fitted tomorrow (the old one is in there now so I'm able to lock and use the car as normal as things stand).

I will retry the manual key once the new battery is fitted to see if that is still an issue - It's possible the rod that manually unlocks the door isn't connected but I've never used it so wouldn't have know and I'm only the 2nd owner so I've never had a reason to doubt it would work until now.

Regards,

James