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Twigman

Flat battery - locked out - BROKE key

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Hey guys,

so I came across this forum/thread because I have the exact same problem...

Car is parked in a parking lot, wouldn't open with the key fob, tried both keys, no luck, tried both physical keys, absolutely nothing...
I tried long and desperate enough, one of my keys is now bend.

Then I had a sudden thought: Two years ago some douche tried overtaking when I was taking a left turn and completely ruined my driver's side (I live in Luxembourg/Belgium), i.e. the door got replaced.

Is it possible that they replaced the door, but didn't actually change the locks from the new one to the old one?

I have no idea how a new door is installed, does it come with the doorhandle/keylock etc. or just a door panel and they have to retrofit everything?

If the former is the case, that seems the only logical explanation. If the latter is the case, wtf did Toyota think when designing that doorlock mechanism...

I already contacted the shop who fixed the door, but it's holiday in Belgium and they don't open until Monday...

I really tried 15, 20 minutes to get it open. Slowly, step by step, abruptly, with force, using an Allen key to get more leverage, nothing... I also have a video, if that would be helpful I can post that. The key is turning to about 11ish o'clock to the left, and 3'ish to the right.
But then again, if it was a mismatching key/lock issue, would it even be possible to insert the key at all?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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Hi Tim - sorry to hear as I know the frustation (as went through it myself).  I don't think your passenger side door would be any issue here, as you'll be working on the driver's side with the key hole, also as you mention the fact that you can turn it at all.  Have you tried spraying some WD40/GT85 into the lock on the driver's side before trying with the allen key through the top of the key for leverage?  Might want to leave it for a few hours after applying too, but work it in a little.  Just to confirm, you are turning it toward the rear of the car?

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Hey, thanks for the quick reply!
Yeah sorry, I got the sides all wrong. I meant of course driver's side (but since we drive on the right hand side where I live, but this is a UK forum, I got all mixed up^^).
So it's the left side, which is the driver's side in my case, which got replaced.
I haven't sprayed any WD40 in it, wanted to get some but then remembered it's holiday and everything's closed.
So I tried just like that. But it's really turning easy, like barely any effort required to turn it, until it stops. Then it stops hard and as I said, the key got bent.
I'm turning anti-clockwise. Clockwise goes even easier, and it turns a bit further.
I will definitely spray some WD40 in it tomorrow. But it feels so effortless to turn, I was really confused if that would help.

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No problem.  You want to turn toward the back of the car to open the door.  In your case with LHD that would be turning clockwise (sounds like you're doing the opposite?).

Try and get some WD40 or GT85....frustrating with the shops closed, maybe a neighbour near by or a friend(??)

I know how you're describing the feel of the movement of the key (as I felt it by hand), once I have the greater leverage with a drill bit (instead of Allen key in my case) through it it just easily turned that bit extra to unlock.  Again, this was after applying GT85.

Thinking ahead a little, once you have the car open do you have a way to get a mains powered charger to it or another car to attempt to jump it?  Alternatively you can take the battery out to charge, but I appreciate it's more hassle.

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If it helps, you can see a LHD car being opened here (turning the key clockwise to the back of the car) - https://youtu.be/KCgQdI8UddU?t=88

Keep in mind it looks easy as that car's battery is fine (it's a video about the fob battery being dead) and the central locking with power is very different to you manually turning it with a tiny key head (by the design!) and a lock that probably hasn't been used before.

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Oh ok, well I tried to turn to the back yesterday, then i read somewhere counter clockwise so I tried that today. But then I'll turn to the back tomorrow, thanks! And I'll make sure to let the WD40 soak for a couple hours.

But! Watching the video, my key is turning way, way more?! :S Like, twice as far, with ease and nothing happens.

I have one of these portable battery jumper packs that I use for my old mx5 to get it running. My plan was: Opening the door(somehow), opening bonnet, using jumper pack to start the car, give it a good drive on the motorway (not sure why, just felt like it), park it, open bonnet, close door, take out the battery, lock door, and then charge battery at home.
I read a lot in here about the alarm going off. Why does that happen when you open it with the right key?

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See how it goes with the WD40.  He hardly has to turn the key in that video as the powered central locking kicks in.  I was just sharing it to confirm the direction for you.

Don't try your portable battery jumper, you will only set off the alarm for a few seconds and frustrate yourself and anyone close by 😎  Read a bit further back in this thread and you'll see I had the same thought.  When the battery is completely dead it is simply not enough to bring it back to life, it needs a charge.  The car seems to also think it's under attack with the battery booster pack approach so momentarily while it lasts uses the power to activate the alarm.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but hopefully saving you some effort there.

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I cant count number of times I had the same issue. Even today my 4m old battery died (to be fair have not used the car for over 2 weeks due to cov and prior to that it was a 1.5mile round trip to shop), but at least it opened first time.

11 counterclockwise/ 3 clockwise is about right, and depending on how lucky/ unlucky you are it can take 15-20 mins to unlock (its like continuous and frustrating rocking).

This thread has good recommendations tried and tested by many members:

- WD40 

- Allen Key (I use padded garden glove as well)

- applying slightly more force counterclockwise

Solar battery charger may be a good purchase for the future.

Good luck!

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4 hours ago, Tim said:

Oh ok, well I tried to turn to the back yesterday, then i read somewhere counter clockwise so I tried that today. But then I'll turn to the back tomorrow, thanks! And I'll make sure to let the WD40 soak for a couple hours.

But! Watching the video, my key is turning way, way more?! :S Like, twice as far, with ease and nothing happens.

I have one of these portable battery jumper packs that I use for my old mx5 to get it running. My plan was: Opening the door(somehow), opening bonnet, using jumper pack to start the car, give it a good drive on the motorway (not sure why, just felt like it), park it, open bonnet, close door, take out the battery, lock door, and then charge battery at home.
I read a lot in here about the alarm going off. Why does that happen when you open it with the right key?

Opening the door manually doesn't disarm the alarm. Only the keyfob either with keyless entry sensor behind door handle or button on keyfob will disarm the alarm. You somehow need to get the door open, pop the bonnet and put a car charger/car booster on it which is enough to disarm the alarm using the keypad. Don't try and start the car until the alarm is disarmed. Once the alarm is disarmed I found car booster (I have one of those 8000mAh usb ones that has a dedicated port to plug the booster cables into) was fine to start the car even when I had to resort to using key to open driver's door.

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Well, I finally got it sorted out. I tried every day for 5 to 15 minutes to open the door, used plenty of WD40 and let it sit over night, but nothing worked.
This morning I threw in the towel and called road assistance to have it towed. They sent a mechanic to see if he could get it open.
Lo and behold, he actually managed to do exactly that.
Using some weird inflatable pillow, he popped the window out of the upper frame (not destroying it), put a 2m metal rod in the car and pulled the handle.
Nothing.
Tried the other side. Same story. Nothing.
Child safety lock was engaged. Don't know why, didn't care, all I knew was: Great, new window it is.
But he was very persistent and Ta daaa! He actually got the child safety lock disengaged with his metal thingy.
Popped the bonnet, booster pack onto the battery, car started, no alarm whatsoever.
Checked, battery completely flat.
So immediately of to the shop who installed the door 2 years ago.

They took the door apart and looky there, some "pin was blocking the entire mechanism from working. Yeah, we won't charge you for that."
Oh and a new battery of course.

Sooo.... I almost went crazy trying every variation possible of turning a key, which there really aren't that many. But in the end my car was the odd one out from the odd ones out, not adhering to an oddity, making it even more frustrating.

At least I got to sit in the sun while waiting for them to fix it (covid measures).
Thanks for all your tips and tricks. I really wish everyone who has this very peculiar issue of not getting into his own car, a lot of patience and meditation.

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What a drama, glad you got it sorted now and are back on the road. 

I saw a post from someone who installed a trickle charger cable that can be accessed from outside the car. Perhaps not a bad idea.  Am going to look into that having spent half an hour trying to get into the car at the weekend. 

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On 1/5/2019 at 5:46 PM, Toybaru1 said:

Timpsons, the blank you need is a TR49P. 

I finally got one of these today https://cyberkeys.eu/keyline-car-keys-keyline-key-tr49p-toy40p,c50,p860,en.html but its much thicker than the one hidden in the key. This one has a slot in both sides whereas the hidden one is only half the thickness with one a slot on one side. Was yours the same? do they just cut it down to the correct thickness?

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