Weird Electrical Battery Question

[fusionist]

Hi Guys,

I've got a dead battery on my 2003 S and I tried to charge it through the cig lighter with a pretty good Griots Garage charger/maintainer. When I first plugged in it was charging 8 or 9 volts and the car was kinda possessed. Windows moving a bit, doors unlocking, radio and dash flickering. I still couldn't open the frunk so I left it charging all night.

In the morning it was only drawing 2 volts, like the maintainer level, so I figured it was charged but when I went to check it was still completely dead. I tried the battery trick on the fuse box to open the frunk but it gives me a fault error.

Any thoughts? There is no water problem. It's in my garage. Do I have to check all the fuses one by one?

[thom4782]

I don't have a suggestion about the electrical problem. But, here's a thought on how to open the front trunk. There is an emergency release cable located inside the passenger compartment wheel well. You get to it by partially opening the front inside wheel well cover or removing the entire cover itself. When you do, you should be able to see the cable located to the inside of the headlight tray. On my car, it has a wire loop on the end. Give it a pull and the tru7nk should open. Many people relocate this cable to the tow hook hole for easier access.

[JFP in PA]

You have a dead battery, and are trying to charge it with a maintainer that was not designed for the purpose, battery chargers put out a lot of current (amps), maintainers do not. Get the battery charged up, or replace it if it is bad.

[fusionist]

Thanks for the tips guys!

Using Mike Focke's site I actually found that it's important when doing the fuse box battery trick to use a screwdriver to switch the door lock back to locked position, and then use the key to unlock and lock the driver's door. After I did this the car beeped and the frunk opened with the remote button.