Power Problem / Solution for entering a Taco with a Dead Battery

Has anyone thought of / have a way to supply emergency power to a Taco's electrical system should you have a smart key-fob with no emergency key? The Taco's battery is dead, so you need to jump it, but cannot open the hood since you cannot get into the cab since the battery is dead. You have no physical key to use the physical lock.

I was thinking there must be some way to attached a portable jumper-pack somewhere under the truck to supply enough power to wake up the computer so the fob can be used to let you in to open the hood and jump start the vehicle.

Any thoughts / ideas? Probably very easy to drop a line down to the undercarriage under the battery, but there must be SOME place where external battery power can be applied...

 

That’s why the fob has a hidden key. To open the door. I got rid of mine w the meso key, so I double ziplocked a magnetic hide a key on the frame with a normal key.

 

Do you not have the key hidden in the fob? Push the button on the side and it slides out.

 

Oh I do have that option with my fobs, but I am looking to creating some "spares" which wouldn't have physical keys at all.

I am interested in a way of powering the truck in the event of a dead car battery so I can open the door if I have no physical key that works the doors, but have a working fob.

 

I wired in a anderson plug that hangs down into the area near the fog light. Allows me to trickle charge or even jump the battery enough to run the locks.

 

Seems like an unlikely scenario. Best I can think of is to wire in a heavy Anderson plug or similar to the battery. Tuck it up out of the way until you need it

 

In the olden days of mini truckin, shaved door handles and aftermarket elocks, you could back feed the brake light to charge your battery enough to open the door. But that was before canbus, doubt it could work now.

 

I'd be afraid I'd cook the on-board electronics.
If my truck had some after-market power being brought back to the bed, I could always tap into that to provide power to the vehicle. Grounds are a plenty....

 

Not going to lie, this is such a weird yet specific scenario.

 

just put a solar panel on the hood or roof, then it'll never go dead.

 

I strangely am in this exact situation right now…

 

All vehicles I own have a non chipped key ziptied in the same area underneath the vehicle, opens the door but will not start the engine.
@Jakewiser if the tacoma is dead and locked, and you don't have either physical key and you don't have a charging port accessible, you will need to call someone to open the truck like pop-a-lock, I know most tow truck companies offer this service as well.

 

On my 6MT with the physical key; a dead battery with the doors locked could still be an issue. The manual key doesn't physically lock and unlock the doors as it's still an electronic actuator.

 

Maybe keep a key on the exterior of the truck. But you seem to be creating an issue that your asking other people to fix if the stock fob already has a hidden key

 

That is (crazy) news to me. Is this a 6MT design or are all 3rd gens like that? What does your owners manual say to do if its locked with a dead battery?
I think I will have a poke around the toyota parts site for diagrams on doors/locks/handles/ect to see how they designed this system.

 

If you mean you looking at aftermarket Fobs, are you opposed to attaching a metal key to the outside of the Fob? I keep my Club steering wheel lock key on my lanyard with my Fob.



Just trying to think of a solution for you without performing electrical surgery on your truck that could increase the possibilities of electrical gremlins.

 

CYA problems, and everybody over analyzing it. Why wait until vehicle battery dies? You change out battery, probraly every 4 years and be safe. If something else cause new car battery to died, you @#$%ed!

 

I’m skeptical that this is the case on any trim. Easy enough to test though. Disconnect the battery and try the key

Shit happens. Lights get left on, aftermarket accessories run too long, too much rocking out with the engine off
Putting a physical key on the outside is simple insurance for a multitude of reasons

 

It is not an issue, and you are mistaken. Like somebody else wrote, I disconnected battery on my 6MT Tacoma and tried the key. It unlocks, and open only driver’s side door. You have to get in and manual unlock other doors. No need get all bent out of shape. Worry for nothing.

 

It's been 3 years & you're overcomplicating things for yourself and creating a bad situation where otherwise, one would not exist.