Trouble In River City - Dead 12v, Dead Hatch

Dead 12v battery in Wife's car. Has been sitting and not being driven, plus it's COLD. I changed the battery a number of years ago, so I know the drill.

What I don't know is how to get the back hatch open without juice. The last time the battery acted up it still had enough charge to unlock the hatch. This time, nada/zip/zilch.

I appreciate your time. Thank you.

 

It does not appear that we can get the hatch open from the inside, but I'll explore that further.

I pulled my truck up close and ran the jumpers to the post in the fuse box, using the bolt on the strut tower as a ground. This gave enough juice to open the hatch and start the car. Good so far. I ran it a while to warm it up, and it started again immediately after. Ten minutes later, it didn't start. So i put the smart charger on it and we'll see what the deal is in a few hours when I get off work.

I'm just about sure the battery is toast. It's probably past its expiration date anyway, and now can't be trusted in this arctic blast we are about to receive. Now I'm off to search the couch cushions for change to get that new battery.

 

Yeah, a while. I know all those things about surface charge and all, just get re-reminded now and then when I've not seen them in a while. Our vehicles have been drama free for a long time, so my tools and memory are a bit dusty. More of just logging what I saw, really.

I'll get the battery out and warm it up good, and charge it until it quits charging, then take it in for a load test. I still don't trust it, but it's a free test. I still have the factory battery in my shop, doing battery things other than car starting. I'll check the batteries age also, and make go/no go call.

I really hate mechanic work in the cold. Plastic bits break so easily and are hard to put "English" on. Good thing we don't need it much right now. Both working from home. I go out to do all the Out Things, she hasn't used her car more than 3 times in the last few months. I'll have to put it into the rotation more.

Wife's car is '09 and mine is the C.