My 12V Battery is dying

Sorry if I was testy, I will try it again and see if I can fit the screwdriver in as depicted and not just use my fingers to move the cover out of the way.

KH

 

At least the rear doors have the mechanical backup unlock buttons.

 

Oh, and the replacement TrueStart H4 EN LLW battery lists for $344 (US). Fortunately covered under warranty.

KH

 

wow

 

Damn, great reminder. Not sure I even knew about that.

KH

 

More 'research' is required, but I bet those buttons don't work if there's no electric.

 

I think there was a thread here not long ago where somebody climbed out a window just because the electric door unlock didn't work.

That would be a big change from any generation I'm familiar with, where the movable buttons (with the orange unlocked indicator) above the door handles have always been purely mechanical.

 

I just tried that button and it worked but it felt purely mechanical in the action. I was barely able to do it. Seems unlikely they would have 2 electrical switches to open the door, defeats the purpose of having a backup.

KH

 

But it wouldn't let you in the car with all the doors locked, would it?
edit: I just answered my own question. No it wouldn't.

 

I believe someone here mentioned that a Tesla was electrical and there was an emergency escape cable handle behind a speaker panel door that you had to pry off.
IMHO; reading the OPS manual may save your life, if you remember it's there. Imagine being in a accident and having the main breakers pop - NO electricity. So someone outside can't even help you because they're locked-out and your locked-in. Always nice to have a mechanical alternative or someway of hooking up an alternative power supply to open the doors.

 

You are right. Otherwise anybody could push that mechanical release and get in the car so now I am starting to question the design of the damn thing in the first place.

KH

 

There's probably some scenario where the doors are unlocked, but the electrical latch doesn't work for whatever reason. Ice?

 

Dead battery. Connector corrosion. Worn actuator motor. Mice. Coronal mass ejections. ...

It's nice having a mechanical movement that just opens the dumb door without depending on power and motors and ECUs.

 

If the car’s locked, that’s still only the driver’s door.

 

Only the driver's door can be unlocked purely mechanically with a key. Once you've done that and entered the car, you can reach the purely-mechanical inside unlock buttons above the release handles on the other doors.

Those are the same purely-mechanical unlock buttons that someone didn't seem to know about in a recent thread posting about having climbed out a window when the electrical unlock didn't work.

 

"Those are the same purely-mechanical unlock buttons that someone didn't seem to know about in a recent thread posting about having climbed out a window when the electrical unlock didn't work."

IMHO: That's what happens when you let the internet rot your brain.......

 

Some people might just be young.

Pretty much all cars when I was a kid had mushroom-shaped (or golf-tee shaped) inside lock buttons sticking out the top of the inside door trim. You pushed them down to lock the door, and pulled them up to unlock the door.

At some point as I got older, they switched from being mushroom-shaped to smooth (hot-dog shaped) to make them harder to snag from the outside with a bent coat hanger and unlock the door. Still easy to push down to lock the door, but hard to pull up to unlock it. (Pretty much relied on the mechanism pushing it back up when you pulled the inside door handle.)

Then at some later point, they stopped being things sticking up out the top of the door trim at all, and became something you could flip that was next to the door handle itself.

Anyway, through all of that, there was always the concept "there's a mechanical lock/unlock thingy", only sometimes you'd get into a newer car and look around until you said "oh, that's the mechanical lock/unlock thingy."

But what if you're young enough that wasn't a concept you ever grew up with, so you weren't used to looking for it, cars have always locked and unlocked when you push a button in your pocket, or even just walk up and grab the handle, or push the electric button on the inside, and maybe you've never even noticed there's a thingy next to the release handle that goes kerchunk and flips the orange or not-orange side when you do that? And you've never thought of flipping that thingy yourself to see what it does?

 

I see what your saying, but I still stand by my earlier comment. This same person that doesn't notice things is behind the wheel of a 1.5+ ton wrecking ball, oblivious to their surroundings. How well are they going to be able to pilot that car and avoid all the other idiots on the road or are they the idiot? And I don't mean 'grand thief auto' type driving, because I've seen idiots do that too - usually uninsured and probably unlicensed due to too many violations. It's so bad that I've installed drive cameras because they lie when they hit you. I was lucky the guy behind me stopped and gave LEO their information and backed my story vs the other guy on my last accident....
I saw the pre-release 2026 Rav4 has 360 drive cameras like Tesla.

 

Haha, right you are. There will be a time when all you need to do something is to think it! Feed me Seymour!