Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed

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Sat 22 Feb 2020 16:59
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Tim Macknelly

Last week I had a major fail.

I left the light switched all day and my battery went dead. With a set of jump leads in the boot I thought now problem. Until I realised the is no way to get into the car as it has no manual key locks. I search the net and people spoke about one on the passenger door. But not on this model. There is no hole or cover.

In the end I have to undo the back windows using a piece of metal and climb into the window as the door won't even open with a pull handle on the inside.

Does anyone know of a manual way to unlock this model so should it happen again I can get in?

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Sat 22 Feb 2020 17:18
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - elekie&a/c doctor
All cars with keyless entry have an emergency access procedure. Have a look m.youtube.com/watch?v=d32ZWHrJDPc
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Sat 22 Feb 2020 17:47
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Tim Macknelly

That's great, but this car does have one. I ended up removing the passenger door handle just to check. Nothing there.

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Sat 22 Feb 2020 19:12
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - bathtub tom

I had a 2003 Almera and the manual lock was on the passenger door - not a lot of good if it's next to a brick wall, with a flat battery!

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Sat 22 Feb 2020 19:30
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Tim Macknelly

Weird that mine doesn't have that and it's a 2003 model. Stranger still was even though we tried clicking from the inside the locks are completely electronic so only until the power is on can you open the doors from the inside

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Sat 22 Feb 2020 19:38
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - elekie&a/c doctor
Something not right here . No manufacturer is going to make a car with no emergency access. My theory is that at some point in the cars life , one of the door mechanisms had been replaced with the wrong part . A key entry overrides the electric locking .
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Sat 22 Feb 2020 20:03
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Tim Macknelly

Maybe but the door and the handle look like original parts that have never been removed. It's really strange

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Sat 22 Feb 2020 20:50
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - gordonbennet

This might be a long shot, but have you checked the door handle the other side, i delivered thousands of cars of various makes right up to 2007, and as said every single one had a method of emergency access even if it was covered up once pdi'd, cars in transport mode seldom had the central locking armed but still had to be locked on the transporter, hence the manual method of locking and unlocking.

Some you would unclip the plastic cover of the rear section of door handle (the part secured to the door), others there was a tiny slot in the under side of the handle which you would push the key into, look carefully it will be there somewhere.

Edited by gordonbennet on 22/02/2020 at 20:50

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Sat 22 Feb 2020 21:18
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Tim Macknelly

I am going have to go to town on it and go at it from the inside to see.

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Sat 22 Feb 2020 21:27
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Big John

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d32ZWHrJDPc

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Sat 22 Feb 2020 23:07
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Tim Macknelly

Can you all stop showing me the same clip, lol.

I know your trying to help but I guess you have read the thread. My car does have any sign of of a lock on the passenger side door.

There is no padlock symbol or circle.

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Sun 23 Feb 2020 08:42
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Chris M

Looks like it's time to either RTFM or visit a Nissan dealer.

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Sun 23 Feb 2020 12:03
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Tim Macknelly

I guess Nissan dealer is the way forward.

I have looked in too many manuals and got no where.

Thanks for all your answers, I will keep you updated.

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Sun 23 Feb 2020 12:28
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - gordonbennet

Before you go filling the Nissan dealer's coffers, have you had a poke nose on any Nissan forums, or asked the question there, someone familiar with the model will have the answer.

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Sun 23 Feb 2020 12:59
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - thunderbird

A 2003 Almera is worthless. A Nissan dealer will want possibly £200 just to look at it.

My guess is the car has been crashed at some point in its long past and been repaired on the cheap with non standard parts for that model.

May be tine to say farewell to it unless you can find a bloke in the pub who is an ex Nissan technician with some knowledge.

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Sun 23 Feb 2020 13:04
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - elekie&a/c doctor
I doubt if a Nissan main dealer has seen anything this old . A friend had a Murano where the electric tailgate actuator had failed. The dealer couldn’t figure out how to open it manually.
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Sun 23 Feb 2020 18:34
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - Big John

Does anyone know of a manual way to unlock this model so should it happen again I can get in?

OK - if your individual car has no lock override why not set up an externally accessible permanently live 12 socket or wiring point (eg tucked behind a bumper) so that if you ever suffer a battery failure again you could slowly charge through this

Similarly ,some cars (eg current Skoda Octavia) have a design issue on RHD versions as it is not possible to release th bonnet after using the key for emergency entry after a flat battery as it is obstructed by the passenger door and the only way to sort is trickle charge through the 12v socket. On LHD versions it's clearly not a problem.

Edited by Big John on 23/02/2020 at 18:41

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Tue 14 Apr 2020 18:27
Nissan Almera 2003 - No way to unlock my car when battery failed - R.Turpin

Tie a bit of coat hanger wire to the bonnet release and locate it hidden but somewhere you can get to it later eg between the bonnet and the frame (valance is it called?) or in the grille. Then you can charge the battery. Nobody else will know it's there.

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