Check vehicles mechanical key is not activating an electrical unlock.

[JimPghPA]

I have a 2016 Honda CR-V that uses an electronic door unlock system. It has a mechanical key that can be used to unlock the door if the battery in the key-fob goes bad. I was thinking that with sheltering in place possibly resulting with the vehicle sitting for many days, would I be able to open the door to unlatch the hood to access the battery to charge the battery if the normal discharge from sitting discharged the battery enough so the electronic door unlock did not work?

I removed the key from the key fob and left the key fob in the house so it would be far enough away from the vehicle to not activate the automatic unlock, and used the key to unlock the door and listened to hear if it activated the solenoid that unlocks the door, or if it seams to be a mechanical linkage from the key to the unlocking mechanism of the door, as I turned the key.

My 2016 Honda CR-V seams to be mechanical in nature for the unlocking of the door. So if the vehicle sat long enough to discharge the battery I should be able to unlock the door even with a dead battery, and then be able to unlatch the hood and access the battery to charge it back up.

If the key had activated the unlock solenoid I was going to unlatch the hood from inside the vehicle and then not open the hood the rest of the way. I also had a sheet of paper with the words "close hood" that I was going to put face down on the drivers seat as a reminder to completely close the hood before use.

Also when I went to lock the door with the key I did hear the lock solenoid click, so the lock with key does use the battery. No big deal, but that is the way it is.

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Just thought I would pass this on to everyone so you know to check if your vehicle has an electric unlock with a key backup, to see if the key unlock is mechanical, or activates a switch that activates the unlock solenoid and relies on the battery. If it is the later, you might want to unlatch the hood from inside the vehicle while the battery is still charged, before letting the vehicle sit for an undetermined amount of time. And if you do that place a sheet of paper face down (so others can not read it to see that your hood is unlatched) on the drivers seat as a reminder to close the hood before use.

 

[gman2304]

Sounds like a good plan. My 2005 Chevy truck unlocks the drivers door only and mechanically when using the key. I'm still in the old school mentality of using the key to unlock the drivers door most of the time anyway. I rarely use the fob plus it seems I'm diminishing the wear and tear on the solenoids which seem to be trouble prone on some vehicles, but that's just me. My wife's car only has a fob for all the doors.

 

[JimPghPA]

Originally Posted by gman2304
Sounds like a good plan. My 2005 Chevy truck unlocks the drivers door only and mechanically when using the key. I'm still in the old school mentality of using the key to unlock the drivers door most of the time anyway. I rarely use the fob plus it seems I'm diminishing the wear and tear on the solenoids which seem to be trouble prone on some vehicles, but that's just me. My wife's car only has a fob for all the doors.


So with your wife's car if it is going to sit for an undetermined amount of time, it would be a good idea to unlatch the hood from inside, and place a sheet of paper face down on the drivers seat with the words "close hood" as a reminder to that the hood is unlatched.

Note you should open the door before closing the hood. If you saw the paper and closed the hood before opening the door you might defeat the purpose of unlatching the hood.

 

[WyrTwister]

We briefly had a 2012 Nissan Leaf . There was a mechanical key , " hidden " inside the fob , which would unlock the driver's door .

So , if your wife's fob does not have a key , it may be " hidden " inside the fob ?

Our 2006 Buick Lacrosse has a visible key , with the fob , that will unlock the driver's door . Mechanically , I think . Same door our 2015 Chevy Sonic .

 

[JimPghPA]

I just now remembered that I think I once read a post about the computer having to be reprogrammed by the dealer if the battery was disconnected for replacing the battery on a Honda CR-V. I do not remember the exact details but I think it was for a Honda CR-V. That would be something valuable to know if it is true, because if the battery ever got too discharged the computer might require some kind of re-flash.

So can anyone comment on that, and maybe a list of what vehicles do / or do-not require a reprogram if the battery voltage is ever allowed to get too low, or the battery is disconnected to replace it.

 

[racerviii]

Did you read your owner's manual?