Dead Battery - Hood release lever

[SalemBob]

I have a 2000 Boxster S with a dead battery and the seemingly common problem of being unable to open the front hood to access the battery to charge or replace it. All that the manual says on this subject is: “When the battery is discharged, the levers can’t be unlocked. Please contact your Porsche dealer.” Two Porsche dealers (and numerous online sites) suggest the following solution. First, open the fuse box in the driver side footwell and pull out the red positive terminal that is located (in theory) in the fuse box. The positive terminal is described as “a red emergency prong.” Next, connect the positive terminal of a portable power source to the positive terminal in the fuse box and then ground the negative terminal to the door arrester. Sounds fine except for the fact that the 2000 Boxster S does not contain the referenced red emergency prong in the fuse box. There is nothing in the fuse box – other than fuses. There is no emergency positive terminal so there is nothing in the fuse box to attach the portable power source to. So, that solution does not seem to work. I can find a “male to male” outlet charger cord (see attached photo) that would permit me to attach a portable power source to the female outlet of the cigarette light on the dash box. Does anyone know if this would provide sufficient power to the battery to allow me to pull up the lever that is next to the driver’s seat and open the hood? Is there any chance that this might do harm to the electrical system? I would love to find some solution other than having the car towed to a dealer.

[Paul]

Yes, just don't try to start the car that way since it will blow a fuse.

[mikefocke]

Several methods are described here http://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/whenyourbatteryisdead

[keysguy]

I have opened my Frunk many times by providing power through the cigarette lighter. Some of the battery pack/ jump start packs have a cigarette adapter with them. I have been using my battery maintainer that plugs into the cigarette lighter to give me enough of a charge to open it then place my real battery charger on the car. If you use a jump pack or other 12 volt source what you are really doing is giving the car enough "juice" so you can turn off the alarm. once the alarm is off the frunk will be able to be opened. If you have AAA most of them carry a jump pack that has the adapter.

Cheers,
Keys Guy

PS I try to keep the battery maintainer on mine all the time but sometimes forget about it. Even a cheep one is a valuable tool.

[jcslocum]

There is a cable inside the passenger wheel well. Here is a picture of it where it's hidden away.



I have NEVER used this to release the frunk hood tho.

[thom4782]

If you can reach the emergency release cable, it's the best way to open the trunk.

BTW: If you ever remove the front bumper cover - say to clean the radiators, consider relocating the cable to the two hook hole. I did and can release the hood now in less than 30 seconds. I did the same for the rear emergency release by locating the cable to behind the bumperette. Takes a couple of minutes to open the rear with the cable now. Both changes sure beat having to remove the fender liner to get to the cables.