Start the Engine With a Dead Intelligent Key

If the Intelligent Key battery in your Nissan Sentra (B17, 2013–2019) is flat, the remote will not unlock or start the car from a distance — but you can still start the engine. The immobiliser antenna sits behind the push-button ignition switch and reads the transponder inside the key by direct contact, so touching the key to the button lets you start normally. (This applies to push-button trims; base cars with a turn key are unaffected.)

First, Get Into the Car

A dead key will not work the remote lock. Slide out the mechanical key blade hidden in the Intelligent Key and use it to unlock the driver’s door. The alarm may sound briefly as you open the door with the blade; it stops once the system reads the key at the start button.

How to Start With a Dead Key

1. CVT models: put the selector in P (Park). Manual models: you will use the clutch instead of the brake in the next step.
2. Press and hold the brake pedal (CVT) or press the clutch pedal fully (manual).
3. Touch the back side of the Intelligent Key to the push-button ignition switch. The antenna behind the button reads the transponder in the key.
4. When the key is recognised, the immobiliser clears and the start button is enabled.
5. With the brake (or clutch) still pressed, press the push-button ignition switch — the engine starts.

After Starting

Replace the Intelligent Key battery as soon as you can — it takes a CR2025 coin cell (see the key-fob battery guide). If the engine will not start even with the key touched to the button and the pedal pressed, the transponder in the key or the immobiliser itself needs attention.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the remote not work from a distance? A flat key battery only kills the remote radio functions. The transponder inside the key needs no battery — it still works by contact at the start button.

Brake or clutch? Brake on the CVT (with the selector in P); the clutch fully depressed on the manual.

Nothing happens when I touch the key to the button? Move other keys or transponders away and try again with only this key. If there is still no response, the key transponder may be damaged.

My Sentra has a normal turn key — does this apply? No — only push-button Intelligent Key trims. A turn-key car uses the transponder in the key head as usual.

If a warning lamp stays lit after a difficult start and you want to check the code, visit our sister site autodtcs.com.