Help! 360 Battery died, doors won't unlock with key

Ferrari battery chargers are junk. Throw it away and buy a good one.


I have a 360 here right now with a dead battery ( yea that mislead owner used a Ferrari battery tender too) and it locks and unlocks just fine with the key.

 

I can't imagine a flat battery causing your locks to jam. Arguably if the battery had juice it might conceivably be preventing the locks from opening so I'd certainly try turning the battery switch to the Off position and trying again. Next up, are you using the correct keys? Did they (definitely) work before? Maybe the locks were tampered with at some stage and they're no longer the same as the ignition switch? If all else fails I'd call an auto locksmith - they seem to be able to get into anything, rarely cause damage and can generally cut you a working key once they disassemble the locks.

When you do get in I'd suggest that if you want to try and charge that battery that you disconnect it fully from the car before putting it on charge. Personally I wouldn't bother, I always find that nursing a dud battery is a waste of time and a false economy. Get a new one and a new tender while you're at it!

Good luck and don't forget to post your ultimate resolution for the benefit of all!

 

Door will unlock with key when battery is dead. However the glass window will not roll down automatically to clear the rubber weather seal due to dead battery. So you have to pull on the door harder to open.

So are you sure your door is not unlocking or you just didn't pull on it harder?

 

Very odd that the keys don't work.

Please keep us posted.

Yours,

Tom

 

Your problem might be that the door locks are sticking, I never used to use the keys to unlock my car, only used the fob, one day I tried the key and neither would unlock, I sprayed WD4O through the key hole, left it to soak for an hour then gentle worked the key back and forth, eventually they both freed off, I guess most people only use the fob and over a period of time the door locks seize up.

Dave

 

There is a "feature" of the 360 in certain low battery scenarios that the doors "double lock" themselves because they think its a theft attempt. That's what we were told after my wife got locked out of the car at the gas station when this happened, had had enough juice to just start, but 5 minute run to the gas station wasn't enough to restart it, and it locked itself while she was filling it and wouldn't reopen with the key. Had to have it flatbedded to the dealer who fitted a new battery. Not sure how they got in the car.

 

Hi, I am currently in the same predicament and just found this thread. In my case, a 1999 360, 100% drained battery from sitting for three months, keys won't open door locks, and in my case hood is closed, i.e. car was not on trickle charger.

I could swear in previous dead battery situations with the same car I was able to open one or both of the doors with the key.

Can anyone confirm that a locksmith is the only way out (or should I say "in")?

JTW

 

Let me +1 on the Odyssey 34R-PC1500 battery.

Better than the Optima Red Top - light years beyond the Fiamm boat anchor

 

I think one reason old batteries die is because the plate material accumulates at the bottom of the battery and basically shorts it out. This is why applying 12v from an outside source won't rescue the car. The battery just shorts everything out. I would get the Odyssey battery, too, as a replacement.

I don't have an explanation why the physical locks didn't work, however. I don't think any of the above posts explained whether the key wouldn't turn or it turned but the latch would not release. And either way, I don't have an explanation why the locksmith was able to use a hook to physically unlock it but pulling the handle would not. I didn't think a dead battery could disable the handle. Maybe it was just coincidence that there was a lock problem unrelated to the battery issue.

 

No need for a locksmith - simply poke a slim bar of metal with a hook bent at the end inbetween the window and the roof. Hook the inside handle and it should open.

 

Thanks voicey, I ended up using a straightened out metal coat hanger wire (the heavier kind used for suits, not the thin kind used for shirts so that the hook won't bend when pulling the latch open) and got in the car. So far so good.

Since the battery was completely drained I gave it a quick boost from a portable charger and then let it charge overnight using the Ferrari-supplied one. This morning I see all three lights, red, yellow and green are lit which indicates a successful charge.

I get in the car, turn the key and everything lights up as normal. I turn the key one position, wait for the "check ok" then turn to the next position and nothing.

Now I know about having to press the button under the row of switches to the left of the steering wheel when the car has been turned off but not locked so I tried again after pressing it, no luck.

The only other notable details I can think of for troubleshooting purposes are that the alarm system does not respond (chirp) to my key fob which I've never experienced before and both the battery in the car and in the fob are about 1 year old (which to me means neither should not be the problem) and the LED in the fob lights brightly when pressed.

Throughout all of this I have also completely shut off and restarted the main power switch under the hood several times.

So for the moment I'm still puzzled and Ferrari-less. Before I throw in the towel which probably means flatbedding the car to the dealer, does anyone have any thoughts on what I might try next?

JTW

 

Did you say the battery inside the alarm siren can't possibly be bad? If there's truly nothing wrong with the alarm system, maybe the remote has gotten off sync with the alarm. Taz knows how to re-sync it. Something like pressing FOB repeatedly until it syncs, or holding button down on FOB until it syncs. Other thing to do is try using your PIN code to deactivate alarm/immobilzer.

It's also possible your alarm module battery is dead, because the main car battery was dead or failing to hold charge.

Finally, the main battery could be dead. Remove the battery and have it load tested. Sometimes an otherwise dead battery can hold a surface charge indicating 12+v, yet not have any real cranking/load capacity. If battery fails load test, replace that and try again.

 

As above. Plus a typical trickle charger will not recover a totally dead battery overnight. You probably want at least a 5 amp charger on it for 24 hours.

With the battery flat the backup battery inside the alarm module has to take up the load and that could well have caused it to go bad (if it was already weak in the first place) but that shouldn't prevent you from starting the car - it normally just means the alarm siren doesn't work and the red light stays on all the time.

The symptoms you describe do sound like the remote isn't communicating with the receiver in the immobiliser.

Best of luck, I feel you should be able to resolve without a trip to the dealer.

 

Thanks Need4Spd and FerrariDublin, you both nailed it-- the fob synch worked!

I'm not sure if it was holding the fob button down or pressing it repeatedly (since I did both) but after I'd guess less than two minutes of trying, suddenly the system came alive and all is now well and as good as new. Thanks again so much for the ideas-- the thought of taking the car in on a tow, especially now that I know it was something trivial was not sitting well. I'm glad to have averted it.

For those researching the same in the future, if the battery goes flat and the doors won't unlock with the key the do-it-yourself solution is to (cringe) use a straightened coat hanger inserted between the trailing vertical edge of either door glass to reach and pull open the inside door release. It's easy to avoid any damage if done carefully (or for those with the proper tools and know-how, a slimjim presumably could be used. Then, if a previously functioning alarm system no longer responds to the signal from the alarm fob, simply press the fob button repeatedly and/or press and hold for a few minutes until the system resynchs and responds.

JTW

 

Glad it worked!