2000 S70 Dead Battery - Key does not work on doors.

[Mr-Glass]

Ok - here is my situation - My battery is dead. I bought my S70 used and it only has 1 key and 1 FOB - The Key does not work on the trunk or the door - and I cannot unlock my door using the FOB - If I could get the hood open I could put jumpers on the battery to unlock the trunk and doors (where my tools are) so not sure what to do at this point - I have not found anything regarding opening the hood without using the release inside the car - and I did not want to make a post on "How do I break into my car" Any ideas would be much appreciated..

BTW - My only Key does work in the ignition - guessing the PO had the ignition changed at some point, not sure..

[cn90]

Correct, the P.O. changed the ignition tumbler with a junkyard part, therefore the mismatch of keys.

You have 2 options:

1. The starter motor option.
- Jack the front of the car up and and secure with jackstand (or place both front wheels on wood ramps).
- Crawl underneath and look upward, slightly to the left side is the starter motor (under the intake manifold).
- Get a flashlight and shine toward the starter motor, you will see the positive post (red circle).
- Use a long screw driver to touch that positive post and clamp the jumper red cable to the other side of the metal of the screw driver.
- Clamp the black jumper cable to the engine/chassis ground.
- Then ask someone else to connect the jumper cables to the donor battery (verify polarity!) and ask that person to operate the remote to open the door.

starter.JPG (42.12 KiB) Viewed 3232 times

2. The turn signal light assembly method.
- Remove the LF turn signal assembly (pull it forward), search forum.
- Then kneel down and look upward, you should see the hole in the latch assembly, use a coat hanger or some wire to tug on it to open the hood.

You can see more about the hood latch mechanism here:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=53430

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PS: For future reference, get a new key. Tell you just want the "dummy" key, i.e., the key without the electronic chip.
The only purpose for this key is just to open door manually, about $6-10 (give them your VIN and registration and they will cut it for $6-$10). Also change the battery inside your remote before you get another surprise.

[Mr-Glass]

Thanks for the quick reply - Looks like I will have to try method 1 - I am not sure that method 2 would work without getting the hood open... I called about the key and they quoted me around 50 dollars and it would have to be ordered... hmm

[cn90]

Please post a follow-up what you do.

[cn90]

Another thought: how do you know the car battery was bad?

A remote's dead battery can cause the same issue: i.e. doors won't open.
So check your remote first!

[Mr-Glass]

Well - the red "alarm light is not flashing" on the dash and I can see that the flashing light on my Kenwood head unit is not flashing.. I will probably try method 1 tomorrow - an ordered key would not be here til probably Wednesday - really was hoping they could make one for me on site..

[Mr-Glass]

Ok after much frustration trying to get the jump via starter to press the FOB - I opted for the old hanger method by the weatherstrip on the passengers door.. no scratches - It did take about 30 min of playing around - then all of a sudden the Volvo Gods smiled on me and it popped up.. Key is on order, however will not be here til Thursday.. Not sure why the battery would be dead.. Only thing is it has not been started for about 20 days - and we did get into the 20's this past week.. It is a AAA battery purchased around 14 months ago - would have expected it to be ok.. Thanks for all the suggestions

[m491]

Check the forum for finding parasitic drains. If the battery is fresh that old be your problem. I believe my son's 850 has one and it is not an issue except when he leaves the car sit for a few weeks. Which is he almost never does on his waybto a 200,000 medallion.