SF Gate: Freak fire traps man inside Audi/Battery failure a possible cause

[Huw Powell]

> A few weeks ago, I finally got around to moving my 86 5ktq sedan from where
> it had been parked and locked for the past 3 months.  The battery was quite
> dead and I discovered that I could NOT unlock the rear doors manually.  I
> didnt think much of it and just replaced the battery and let the power locks
> work correctly.  Anyone know of a reason why the rear doors wouldn't unlock
> with a dead or disconnected battery?  I didnt have a problem with the front
> doors because I used the key for both sides.
>
> Wonder if there might be a recall of some sort on this??? or are the cars
> waaaaaay too old for that now?

I think anyone left inside the car for 3 months while the battery died
is gonna have trouble getting out even if the door locks *do* work.

Could the child safeties have been set on the rear doors, preventing the
inside handle from working the latch?

Also, as you unlock the doors with the power disabled, you are fighting
vacuum (or should be...) - sometimes when you unlock the 3rd door, one
of the first 2 will pop back down - ooops!

--
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi/

http://www.humanthoughts.org/