Any way to open the liftgate with a dead battery?

[Durenol]

2007 XC70. Somehow a door was left open for several days and the battery is dead. I have a household battery recharger, but I can't get the battery out of the back because the rear liftgate is locked. I can't insert a key to open it manually because there's no keyhole. I can't crawl through the back and pull the release lever because there isn't one. I can't jumpstart the car because the jumper cables are under the back flap, which I can't get to without opening the hatch, which I can't do because the battery is dead.

Do I have any other option besides paying $200 for a towtruck to come out?

[RickHaleParker]

Get the hood open. At the fuse box there is a flap. Under the flap there is a post you can attach the positive. There are lots of places to attach the negative.

Borrow or buy a second set of cables and jump it under the hood. Would be cheaper then a tow truck and you would have a second set of jumper cables when you are finished. Even a dirt cheap 8 gauge set is good enough to get power going so you can unlock the Liftgate and get to your good set of cables.


You can get cheap light duty jumper cables at Walmart for under $20.00. There some Everstart 8 gauge 12 ft jumper cables at my local Walmart for $9.87. POS that would burn up on a long or heavy crank but, it would let you get the Liftgate unlocked so you can get to your other cables.

If you don't try to start the car or turn anything on you could use two wires from something like a extension cord as jumper cables. Let it bring the battery up some then unlock the Liftgate. Take the wires off, then switch to your jumper cables.

[ans713]

Since this whole thing started with an unlocked door, you have access to the inside of your car. Assuming your xc70 is the same as mine (2004), you should be able to open (lift up) the back flap to access the tire and battery compartment from the back of the car without having to open the tail gate.

Then you can choose how to approach the problem. Make sure you don't accidently lock yourself out of the car. You also need to be careful that you don't accidently apply power to electronic components in the car.

[abscate]

The financial bean counter who removed keyholes from tailgate will be locked into a coffin in Hades with people outside looking for the key, while the fires of Eternal Damnation rage..