How to Open a Holden with a Dead Key Fob
Getting into Your Holden
- But first, if you are already inside, click here for help getting started!
- Second, you’ll find video help here!
- Finally, if you need or want another manufacturer, click here.
Retrieving the mechanical key
Holden uses three key fob or transmitter styles. To get in the vehicle when the key fob battery is dead, a mechanical key will have to retrieved from the fob and used to unlock the car.
The first is a simple flip key (above right). Press the unmarked button to extend the mechanical key. It remains attached to the key fob. Use the mechanical key to unlock the driver’s door.
The next two (shown to the right) feature a removable mechanical key and are quite similar (one has more buttons than the other). Each has a button on the side of the transmitter (remote control or ‘clicker’) near the key ring end. Press the button, as shown, and pull the key out.
Getting Inside
If a key hole is visible at the back of the driver’s door handle, simply insert the mechanical and turn, and you’re in.
The Commodore, Acadia and and Equinox models are hiding their key holes behind a cover at the back of the driver’s door handle. To remove the cap on the Acadia and Equinox, pull the door handle out to the open position. Insert the key into the slot on the bottom of the cap (number 3, right).
Push it as far upwards as possible and hold some upward pressure. Then pry outward. And yes, you WILL feel like you are prying off a piece of your car! Move the cap rearward revealing the key cylinder. Now the mechanical key can be used in the cylinder.
To replace the cap, insert the two tabs at the back of the cap between the black seal and the metal base. Pull the door handle out to the door open position and move the cap forward and press to snap it into place. You can then release the door handle.
The cap on the Commodore is slightly different but there is still a slot under the cap. Insert the mechanical key into the slot and again hold upward pressure. Then rotate the key upward until the cap comes away.
To replace the cap, insert it with the lower side in the recesses. The rotate it upwards and push it until the cap engages at the upper side.
Remember, getting in the car is most important. If you have difficulty replacing the cap, don’t. Let your dealer do it when you get a new battery for your Key FOB!
Continue to Part II, Getting Started …
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
On February 28 (2018) GM noted in a press release that it had added 27 facilities to its list of 142 facilities, both manufacturing and non manufacturing, that are 100% landfill free. To be clear, these facilities send absolutely nothing to landfills, period.
Recycling efforts include turning used water bottles for air filtration elements, sound proofing for vehicles, or insulation, like the piece John Bradburn is holding. Tires are ground up to be used to make air baffles for GM cars and trucks. Cardboard and packing materials are baled at manufacturing
Metal chips are collected at GM’s Flint Engine plant and shipped to a supplier that recycles the chips into new materials.
In truth, there are many similarities. For instance, most back up pockets are in the center console of GM vehicles. However, the Acadia’s pocket is at the top of the back of the console, only the 4th model using this area. The majority of the other models feature the slot somewhere in the front of the center console. The steering column and glove box are also used.
But because they are side by side, it is the first to use a left side cup holder. The Chevrolet Camaro uses the back one while the Buick Encore and Envision use the front. The Verano, Regal and Lacrosse also use the front, but the cup holder itself needs to be removed! And so on.
The car in question was a Chevrolet Malibu. The owner’s manual was available and was dead wrong, which is, of course, the true source of the problem. The year, make and model in the U.S. has a back up slot in the center console.
It also uses a flip key, which suggested a spot like that is used in the Cruze (right) or first generation Volt. No such plug in spot exists in the Malibu in question.
New Honda and Acura EVs Require New Dashboard Symbols for a Very Surprising Reason
The introduction of the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX electric vehicles in 2024 required us to add several new dashboard symbols to the manufacturer’s respective pages. Well, actually, new old symbols.
This is because we already had the symbols in play — on pages for General Motors
(GM) models!
What’s happened is that Honda and GM jointly developed the EVs, a collaboration that began in 2013, which was focused on hydrogen fuel. That shifted as EVs rose to prominence and in essence, GM‘s drivetrain and control systems won out. And the proof is in the owner’s manuals!
The cover pages of the Honda and Acura models are properly identified. Then comes page one…
Tables of Contents
Below in order are the table of contents for a Chevrolet Malibu (left) and the Honda Pilot (right). And then below left is the TOC for the Honda Prologue.
The majority of the additions are of course related to the fact that the vehicles are fully electric. So all of the resulting indicators and warnings related to the high voltage system are found.
Remember that auto manufacturers are given great leeway in the way they present warning symbols and indicators. Only a few are identical from one manufacturer to another. Most of the time symbols end up looking similar but differ enough for us to address here on this site. Hence the fact that we host over 1,000 of them here!
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY