A Sobering Tale – Flat Battery on your Remote. Thank goodness for Youtube!

[prn31]

So last Monday I borrowed my wife’s Mk7 Golf GTI Performance to take it in for its 30,000km service. (Yes, water pump replaced under warranty, thanks for asking…) This meant my wife drove the R36 for the day – usually not a drama especially with the electric seat memory (if only the Golf had this!)

Anyway I got a phone call about 3:30pm from my wife who told me the remote in the key fob was not working – flat battery. Mmm, she said it was acting strangely when she had driven the car on the weekend and I thought no more of it.

So there is my wife, four year old daughter and 88 year old mother at the local swimming pool unable to get into the R36 and me stuck at work and due to pick up the Golf later that afternoon.

I tried to explain about the emergency key and how to take off the end of the door handle to reveal the hidden door lock. This didn’t work so I emailed her a link to a Youtube video on how to do this. That was fine and my wife knew what need to be done, but it was pretty difficult to get much leverage with the plastic emergency key and she cut her finger. Of course in the Youtube video they used a flat screwdriver to lever off the handle.

So it was either call the NRMA or go back to the pool and find someone (a male) who could possibly help. My wife did the later and found a guy who offered to help. He did manage to prise off the handle but it wasn’t that easy (as I found later when I tried it myself) and missed his son's swimming lesson...

So after just under an hour in total my wife was able to unlock the R36, switch off the alarm and drive home. And I made sure I purchased a CR2032 lithium battery on my way home….

[guile]

yep, as soon as I get a hint of flat battery I change them straight away and when I buy a second hand car I always change it straight up as you never know how much use its had. live and learn I suppose...

funny that pretty much the exact same thing happened to me recently (minus the 88 year old mother). the lady's husband asked her to try the next bloke that walked past. she was very panicked and need to get her two daughters home so I really wanted to help her. luckily the old "take the battery out and give it rub" actually worked...

Should have seen the look on her face, she said she wanted to give me a hug. I told her not to bother as I'd just left the gym and was a bit on the nose...

glad it worked out in the end for your family...

[JustCruisn]

How old is the car now ?
You might want to add a calendar entry to change the battery on an interval rather than waiting for it to die.

[prn31]

How old is the car now ?
You might want to add a calendar entry to change the battery on an interval rather than waiting for it to die.

The car is 7 years old and I've owned it for 2 years now. The thing is that the battery doesn't gradually die it just dies. Hard to know how long batteries last though.

[JustCruisn]

Yes same for starter batteries. I noted the when checking the service history for next oil change that the starter battery was just over 2.5 years old. I thought hmm about time to change that, about 1 weeks later it would not start.

[kleung]

luckily the old "take the battery out and give it rub" actually worked...

I had that happen recently - I'm usually very careful with my car keys, but about a month ago I accidentally dropped them onto concrete on my way out to the car (must be getting clumsy in my old age). They had worked fine the night before to lock the car, but after dropping them they would no longer unlock my car, and little red light on the fob itself didn't flash like it normally does when you push one of the buttons.

Fortunately, removing and reseating the battery restored normal operation, and I haven't had any problems since.

The car is 7 years old and I've owned it for 2 years now. The thing is that the battery doesn't gradually die it just dies. Hard to know how long batteries last though.

I think you'll probably find that the range of the key gradually reduces as the battery ages, until one day the range gets so short (or the battery voltage gets so low) that it is no longer sufficient to transmit a signal that the car can receive.

Yes same for starter batteries. I noted the when checking the service history for next oil change that the starter battery was just over 2.5 years old. I thought hmm about time to change that, about 1 weeks later it would not start.

I don't think I've ever had a car battery that has not lasted at least 5 years, but then I tend to do below average kms, our cars are always garaged overnight, and I avoid short trips as much as I can. And I've found that there are generally signs that your starter battery is approaching the end of its useful life.

The factory battery in my father's 2010 Golf lasted until February this year, and it has only just recently ticked over 30,000kms, and most of his trips are short. He often goes overseas for 4-6 weeks at a time, and his car has never had problems starting when he got back, until his last trip in November, when the battery wasn't quite up to the task - it still cranked, but just a bit too slowly for it to catch. A quick jump start and a continuous 60km round trip to the airport to pick him up was enough to last revive the battery, which then soldiered on until February when it finally dropped a cell.

I had a 96 Commodore where the starter would hesitate for a moment before turning over when the battery was near the end of its life, and a friend's VY Commodore started doing the same thing recently shortly before he had to replace his battery as well.

The battery in my R36 is starting to show signs of aging too - the lights dim during cranking significantly more than they did a year ago, so I wouldn't be surprised if it fails within the next 6 months.