I am currently involved in 2 discussions regarding CX-5 dead batteries.
Being a clever fellow, I stashed a lithium jump start battery under the rear cargo floor, with the tire, for just such an occasion.
An unfortunate by-product of dead batteries, is the rear hatch can longer be opened with the push of a button. Not clever enough it would seem, with no easy access to the jumper battery.
You have to pull the spare key from the fob, open the driver's door, open the passenger door, fold down the rear seat, wrap a screwdriver with a towel (Mazda recommendation), crawl into the cargo area, pry off an access panel on the rear hatch, push a little lever to the right, open the rear hatch, and crawl out.
It would have been so much appreciated if Mazda would have installed a key lock on the rear hatch (like the driver's door), so the spare key could open the hatch from the outside.
My wife and I went out today to go through all these steps to be sure it all worked as expected. I found the "wrap a towel around a screwdriver" part to be open to a better solution. I dug through my garage and quickly found a little plastic pry tool that came with the dash cam I installed in the Mazda.
I should have put a quarter next to the tool for scale. It's about 5 inches long.
The narrow end of the tool fits in the slot on the access cover to pry open. (A bit fiddly, but not difficult).
With the cover off, there is a white plastic, vertical lever that needs to be pushed/pivoted to the right. I was a bit disappointed that there was no knob or an extended ear to grab to push the lever. I looked at the pry tool, spun it around to the wide end, put it on the left side of the lever, then pushed to the right. Trying to push on the right side of the lever with your fingers, is again a bit fiddly, as the lever sits very close to part of the locking mechanism. The tool made it simpler and easier.
After I finished, I tossed the tool into the glove box for easy future access, as my "wrapping towel and screwdriver" are under the cargo floor with the tire. A dead battery also means no access to my tool box.
If you don't have any leftover dash cam tools, these sort of pry tools can be found at auto parts stores or Amazon.
Hopefully this is useful for other CX-5 owners.
Cheers, TR
Being a clever fellow, I stashed a lithium jump start battery under the rear cargo floor, with the tire, for just such an occasion.
An unfortunate by-product of dead batteries, is the rear hatch can longer be opened with the push of a button. Not clever enough it would seem, with no easy access to the jumper battery.
You have to pull the spare key from the fob, open the driver's door, open the passenger door, fold down the rear seat, wrap a screwdriver with a towel (Mazda recommendation), crawl into the cargo area, pry off an access panel on the rear hatch, push a little lever to the right, open the rear hatch, and crawl out.
It would have been so much appreciated if Mazda would have installed a key lock on the rear hatch (like the driver's door), so the spare key could open the hatch from the outside.
My wife and I went out today to go through all these steps to be sure it all worked as expected. I found the "wrap a towel around a screwdriver" part to be open to a better solution. I dug through my garage and quickly found a little plastic pry tool that came with the dash cam I installed in the Mazda.
I should have put a quarter next to the tool for scale. It's about 5 inches long.
The narrow end of the tool fits in the slot on the access cover to pry open. (A bit fiddly, but not difficult).
With the cover off, there is a white plastic, vertical lever that needs to be pushed/pivoted to the right. I was a bit disappointed that there was no knob or an extended ear to grab to push the lever. I looked at the pry tool, spun it around to the wide end, put it on the left side of the lever, then pushed to the right. Trying to push on the right side of the lever with your fingers, is again a bit fiddly, as the lever sits very close to part of the locking mechanism. The tool made it simpler and easier.
After I finished, I tossed the tool into the glove box for easy future access, as my "wrapping towel and screwdriver" are under the cargo floor with the tire. A dead battery also means no access to my tool box.
If you don't have any leftover dash cam tools, these sort of pry tools can be found at auto parts stores or Amazon.
Hopefully this is useful for other CX-5 owners.
Cheers, TR
