Hello all,

My '06 Mustang is experiencing the Shaker 500 dead battery syndrome. Can't unlock the car with the fob obviously, but the weird thing is that the key won't manually turn in the driver's door lock or trunk lock! Is this some kind of "security feature" that was activated? And if so, is there a way to override it?

Until I can get into the car to pop the hood, I can't change out the battery. I searched the forums and couldn't find anyone with this same problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

There is no security feature that prevents you from using your key to unlock the trunk/doors. Do you have 2 keys? Have you tried them both?

 

Yes, I have tried the 2 keys that I have. Found this in the owner's manual:

Power door trim switch inhibit (if equipped)
This feature disables the power door lock controls if all the doors are
locked and the active anti-theft system (if equipped) becomes armed.
For more information concerning the active anti-theft system, refer to
Active anti-theft system (if equipped) later in this chapter.
Once the power door trim switches are disabled, they can only become
active when a valid electronic unlock event (i.e., using the remote entry
transmitter) occurs.

If the anti-theft system did arm itself for some reason is it possible that this feature activated? Then the only way to unlock is with the key fob...which is not an option for me because the battery is dead :-( . The other alternative I can think of is if there is a manual release for the hood I can get in and change the battery.

 

It says it disables the "power" door lock controls, if you are unable to even get in your trunk, that tells me it is a key issue first.

The locks on the door are all mechanical when it comes to using your key.

 

Like Oddysey said, check your trunk. Crawl through there and open the hood. I think the seats just push forward.

 

Push the key ALL the way in and turn ALL the way to one side, then the other. This is what is called getting too dependent on technology. Totally lost without the FOB.

 

There is nothing on our mustangs that prevent the use of an old fashioned key. If that was possible, I wouldn't have changed all my locks when my keys were stolen.

 

If all else fails use a universal key to get in (a brick) but really your key has to work!!

 

my guess is this is probably the first time you've tried manually using the key since the car was new. try soaking the key with either WD-40 or graphite lube. insert the key and wiggle it left to right,cylinders will do this if they're not used for long periods of time!

 

You are correct. I very rarely use the key to unlock the door. It ended up working the next day after wiggling the key for quite some time. I think between the long period of not being used and the freezing temperatures the mechanism was just seized (not sure if that's the right word for it but you get the idea). Thanks to everyone for your help; I'll have to remember the WD-40 trick for next time!