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Vito W639 - Unable to unlock the door with emergency key

Levinator

New Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
5
Location
Gibraltar
Car
Vito W639
I wonder if someone can help. My 2005 Vito has been stationary for a few months, the battery is flat and I'm unable to open the driver side door with the emergency key blade. I found a number of forum posts regarding the above scenario for other MB's, including tips and tricks on how to open the door with the emergency key, however so far I haven't had much luck. The key fob itself - which has a working battery - doesn't unlock the vehicle unfortunately since the car's battery is flat. Hence why I tried the emergency key instead. I tried to turn the key 90 degrees in the lock and then pull the door handle, as suggested in a relevant forum post, however that didn't make any difference. WD40 made no difference either. Any suggestion to resolve the above would be much appreciated. Thank you!
 
I had the same awhile back, not flat battery just testing in case of such an event.
In my case the key wouldn't turn. It needed a biot of persuasion and it then did.

If the key turns 90 degrees it fits and is working.
At that the inside button should be seen to pop up.

If you aren't getting the button to pop I suggest you need to connect 12 volts to the starter motor to back feed the battery.
You should b able to access that from underneath and use jump leads.
Connect the +ve first to the correct starter / solenoid terminal to reduce flash to ground scenario.
The -ve can be connected anywhere on the engine.
 
Thanks for the quick reply! I appreciate it. I can confirm that the door button doesn't pop no matter if the emergency key is turned 90 degrees CW or ACW in the lock. With regards to your second suggestion, can you describe how I can access the starter motor and where exactly it is located on a 2005 Vito?
 
I'm assuming this is the 639,
but you don't say which engine, auto / manual.

In truth I've never had to do anything on the starter but would look at the transmission bell housing, and expect it to be bolted from the engine side into that.

You should see a heavy duty cable, in red, feeding it from the fuse box above, I imagine. Connecting the +ve to that, and the -ve to any exposed meatalwork of the engine should back feed charge to the battery.

If you attempt to start the vito that way there is serious risk should a jump lead jump off and short.
I would use that method for the brief time it takes to get enough energy into the Vito system to open with the fob.

Anyone with better knowledge of the starter location feel free to jump in.
 
It's a 2005 Vito W639 diesel, automatic. The irony of the situation is that I bought a brand new Bosch heavy duty premium quality battery for the van less than 4 months ago which served well until I left the van stationary for over 3 months ... It's entirely my fault that I let the battery go flat. Now I need to deal with the consequences...
What you described in your second reply doesn't make much sense to me. Thanks anyway for your suggestions.
Any other suggestions or possible solutions are welcome - other than breaking the window to open the door. Thanks.
 
I'm still assuming, that yours is the 2.1 diesel.
I've tried a wrong key in the lock, it doesn't turn.
So your correct key is right but it seems there is a mechanical issue in the door.

The starter motor, as expected, is bolted into the bell housing from the front.
It is sited lower down on the engine, not quite at the bottom.
It is inline with the n/s (UK but should be same for Gibralter) front wheel suspension strut, but you won't get to it from the inside of the wheel.

The +12 feed is fed via the fuse box (this is sited above the n/s wheel, and a little forward of it), but as you can't get the bonnet up yet that's irrelevant. The cable (for some reason) first goes up from the fuse box, loops over and drops down to the starter motor.
It connects top side of the solenoid above the starter motor. It has a plastic cap to insulate it, that would need removing.
+12 volts from a donor battery would need to be connected to that.
The -ve from the donor battery can be connected to any exposed metalwork.

With the donor battery correctly connected you have effectiveley 'jumped' the battery of the Vito.
Be cautious not to allow the +12 volts from the donor battery to contact any part of the metalwork other than the terminal I've detailed. You could feasably experience a lot of flashing and also fire if the short is allowed to remain.

The Vito's flat battery will soak down the donor battery voltage initially but after a short time the Vito should respond to your keyfob, after a few presses to synchronise maybe.
 
Is there only one lock on these vehicles?

Not one on the tailgate you can open with a key ?
 
Just the one 'emergency' lock.
O/s (drivers) door on the Vito,
stangley it was the n/s on the Viano.
 
Quick update on the above: We finally managed to get the driver side door open with four galvanised 1.5 metre long wires through a number of gaps made on the door's rubber seal. Had to attach a cable tie onto each galvanised wire that I managed to hook onto the internal door handle through the gaps - this part of the work took absolutely ages as you can imagine. It will make sense for those who have seen the W639's internal door handle design. Once the loops [cable ties] were on the internal handle I had to slowly pull each towards the back. During this process several cable ties snapped - even the tough ones. The door button was about half way out when only one wire remained attached on the internal handle. One slow mo' pull on that wire did the job and the door finally opened! It's been an epic two day marathon and battle! The battery is currently on the charger. Lesson learnt: don't leave your vehicle stationary for too long [e.g.: for several months] AND test the emergency key blade supplied with the fob before an emergency situation arise, such as the one I described above.
 
You might find the battery will not recover from total discharge.
 
I had the same problem on my CL.... however.... if you turn the key 90 degs and give the handle a quick hard pull it will push the knob up... it works on vacuum and needs the short hard tug to activate.... took me a few min to work it out.
 
We tried the emergency key numerous times in the driver side door lock by turning it 90 degrees and quickly pulling the door handle, however that trick didn't do the job. That's how we started. The entire neighbourhood here gave it a try as they were keen to help us with the van as much as they could. With regards to the battery. It's still on the charger. It's charging based on the display. We'll leave it for now and test it tomorrow.
 
Modern charges very often see a battery in deep discharge and refuse to charge it.
You can bump up the voltage some with an older type charger and than leave it on a mdern type.

No guarantee of success though, but your climate should be gentle on batteries so maybe.

I would take the door panel off to understand why your key didn't pop the lock.
Watch the tweeter wires though, they're easy to pull free and damage.
 

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