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Old 12-16-2006, 10:37 AM   #1
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98 Boxster, dead battery, fuse box charge

I'm sure this has been gone over many times, but I couldn't find any exact instructions on how to get enough juice to be able to pop the front hood so I can access my dead battery.

I looked through the fuse assignments and couldn't find any mention of the hood/trunk releases. There were three fuses related to security - with those, I stuck a penny into the fuse slote and then touched the positive terminal from a jumper cable attached to another, good car battery. No juice got through in all three cases.

I'm really not excited about removing the front wheel and then well to pull the cable - that's a bit out of my league.

Is it possible to get some juice through another car battery, through a penny stuck in the fuse slot, to pop the front hood? And if so, which fuse is it?

Many thanks,

DParker

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Old 12-16-2006, 11:25 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by dparker
I'm sure this has been gone over many times, but I couldn't find any exact instructions on how to get enough juice to be able to pop the front hood so I can access my dead battery.

I looked through the fuse assignments and couldn't find any mention of the hood/trunk releases. There were three fuses related to security - with those, I stuck a penny into the fuse slote and then touched the positive terminal from a jumper cable attached to another, good car battery. No juice got through in all three cases.

I'm really not excited about removing the front wheel and then well to pull the cable - that's a bit out of my league.

Is it possible to get some juice through another car battery, through a penny stuck in the fuse slot, to pop the front hood? And if so, which fuse is it?

Many thanks,

DParker
Hi,

The problem is that the Hood Latch, while a cable operated mechanical device, has it's actuating lever inside the car electrically locked when the car is locked. There are two ways of going about moving this lever (which locks out the pull-up lever for the hood) to the open position.

First, you can use a long Dental Pick to work the tiny metal lever up. Difficult to see and get hold of. Not recommended if you've never done it.

Perhaps an easier way is to get a Male Lighter Plug (Radio Shack or Auto Parts Store). Add 2 wire leads to it. Insert it into the lighter socket and touch the leads to a 9-volt radio battery (be sure to observe proper polarity touch the + battery terminal to the Center lead on the Lighter Plug, and the - battery terminal to the Outside lead on the Lighter Plug. Then immediately unlock the car with the Dash mounted Central Locking Button (the battery will drain rather quickly due to the draw on it). Once this is done, then the mechanical lever will be unlocked and you can pull it up and unlock the hood. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99
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Old 12-18-2006, 08:52 AM   #3
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Black & Decker Car Battery Charger?

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the details, makes sense. While looking for a place to buy a male lighter plus, I came across a new product from Black & Decker that looks like it'll do the trick: their simple start in-car battery charger.

Any thoughts? Looks like it'll work in this situation, and also be useful to carry around in the car in case I need a charge in the future (of course I need to keep the battery charged, no small thing).
DParker
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Old 12-18-2006, 09:41 AM   #4
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the problem with that cool device is that you will alwayes keep it in the trunk
and same goes for the deicer thing if you need to use the key to open the door, its always in the glowebox or inside the car, never with you
just an opinion
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Old 12-18-2006, 11:02 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dparker
Hi Jim,
Thanks for the details, makes sense. While looking for a place to buy a male lighter plus, I came across a new product from Black & Decker that looks like it'll do the trick: their simple start in-car battery charger.

Any thoughts? Looks like it'll work in this situation, and also be useful to carry around in the car in case I need a charge in the future (of course I need to keep the battery charged, no small thing).
DParker
Hi,

Yes, this would definitely work. But, is is essentially a rechargeable booster battery - a starting aid. Nothing wrong with that, but you'd still require a battery maintainer to properly condition your car battery and keep it on Float for extended periods of non-use, and this will be about the same money.

Your choice of course, but rigging a battery jumper as I mentioned should cost under $10, leaving you with more $$ to then acquire a maintainer. But, as I said your choice, you may find this alternative easier...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99
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Old 02-23-2007, 07:32 AM   #6
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Battery's still dead

I'm still trying to get access to my battery through the front hood of my 98 Boxster, which won't open without a charge. I've connected a decent sized 9 volt battery ("lantern battery" it's called) to a cigarette lighter feed with positive and negative connectors, but that didn't do it.

I'm wondering if I can "trickle charge" the battery through the lighter feed. Can I use my plugged-in trickle charger and connect it directly to the cigarette lighter connection, give it a couple days, and then will the battery be recharged? Or does the lighter connection not reach the battery?

I'm trying to keep the tow truck/dealer out of the picture, but I'm getting increasingly pessimistic...

Any advice welcome - thanks.

DParker
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Old 02-23-2007, 08:07 AM   #7
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According to my owner's manual, there's a "pull out" stud (I don't have the manual in front of me right now, but if memory serves, it's on the upper right of the fuse panel) that you can pull out with a fuse puller. Once you have that out so you can make contact, connect a positve cable from another car batter to the pull out terminal, and the negative lead to ground (owner's manual recommends door latch) and you'll have enough power to operate the hood release switch.

Curiously, the Owner's Manual also specifies how to use the dash gauge to check the oil level, but that's another post.
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Old 02-23-2007, 08:35 AM   #8
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Can't do fuse charge

I wish I could pull out a fuse and charge it, but my car's an early model and doesn't have that option. I have to either figure out a charge via the lighter, or manually get the hood open, which I suspect is better left to the dealer.

Anyone tried trickle-charging a battery via the lighter plug?

DParker
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Old 02-23-2007, 01:50 PM   #9
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I watched the dealer do it to an '01 that I test drove (and did not buy). It wasn't a fuse that you charge through, rather, there is a part in the fuse box that you can attach the battery to... it's not enough to charge or jump start the car, only enough to power the electronic hood release.

On the 987, it's on the top right of the fuse box, just above where the fuse puller tool sits. If the 986 does not have a slide out piece, look for some sort of stud. It will connect with the positive bus of the fuse panel. What does your manual recommend for a dead battery/jump start?

Last edited by Trakehner; 02-23-2007 at 02:42 PM.
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Old 02-23-2007, 01:55 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dparker
I wish I could pull out a fuse and charge it, but my car's an early model and doesn't have that option. I have to either figure out a charge via the lighter, or manually get the hood open, which I suspect is better left to the dealer.

Anyone tried trickle-charging a battery via the lighter plug?

DParker
Haven't trickle charged the Boxster but I did use my Porsche trickle charge unit on my son's old Fiero. He's away at school and the car sat for months, batt. totally dead. Plugged it in overnight and wholla, started right up.
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Old 02-23-2007, 02:06 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dparker
I wish I could pull out a fuse and charge it, but my car's an early model and doesn't have that option. I have to either figure out a charge via the lighter, or manually get the hood open, which I suspect is better left to the dealer.

Anyone tried trickle-charging a battery via the lighter plug?

DParker
No, but I did try the booster through the lighter plug (the Black & Decker). Here's what I found: Within seconds after the booster was turned on and showed it was charging, the device would then start beeping indicating that it could no longer charge. I tried numerous times (the plug doesn't really fit the Porsche recepticle that well and with differing ignition positions. As best I can tell, once a certain amount of power was present in the car, the car "turned off" or disallowed the lighter plug. However, with the door open I was able to plug it in, turn it on, and un-pop my hood. From there I just removed and replaced the battery ($50.00 at Sam's Club).
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Old 02-23-2007, 02:15 PM   #12
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Black and Decker sounds good!

DenverPete,
That sounds perfect. I can't close my door anyway, because the car is in "lock" mode. So sounds like the B&D lighter charger gives enough juice to enable the hood release to work, and that's all I need.
Do I have that right?
(And given that, is there a difference between a trickle charger connecting directly to the lighter receptacle versus the Black and Decker charger? Any danger with me trying the trickle charger first?)
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Old 03-12-2007, 01:04 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dparker
I wish I could pull out a fuse and charge it, but my car's an early model and doesn't have that option. I have to either figure out a charge via the lighter, or manually get the hood open, which I suspect is better left to the dealer.

Anyone tried trickle-charging a battery via the lighter plug?

DParker
Hi everyone, new to the forum and signed up for this exact reason. I am not the owner of the 99 Boxster, but I convinced my sister to buy it and taught her how to drive it (5-speed), and I pretty much take care of it for her in the off-season. As I said, I am faced with this same issue of getting to the battery, since this past month it has been very cold and the battery just got discharged. I've been looking around and seeing plenty of different things to do, but some of them really don't appeal to me, and if I can avoid them I will.

How can I be sure that the 99 actually has or doesn't have that thing in the fuse box that I can hook a jumper cable up to? Is there a picture on the forum anywhere so that I know what I'm looking for? I pulled down the fuse box cover and took a look around, but it didn't look like there was anything to be pulled out. I did see this purplish-red colored rectangular thing right above where my left knee would be with wires leading into it, but it will not budge, so I don't think this is what I'm looking for.

So, if the 99 does have this lead that a pos. jumper cable can connect to, is it actually there in the fuse box? If so, is it in a corner? And does this run the risk of shorting any fuses or any electronics in the vehicle if I do it myself vs. hauling the car to the Porsche dealer in the next city. Thanks in advance for any help, and I must say I'm very impressed with this forum and am glad to be a part of it. Thanks again!

-O/D
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Old 04-02-2008, 04:52 PM   #14
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Battery Pack and Spare key finally released the hood

I bought the B&D Battery pack and had the same beeping problem indicating no charge. Finally I tried one key in the ignition, plugging in the Battery Pack and then used my spare key to unlock the door. It opened up immediately.

Thanks for the B&D Battery Pack solution!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by denverpete
No, but I did try the booster through the lighter plug (the Black & Decker). Here's what I found: Within seconds after the booster was turned on and showed it was charging, the device would then start beeping indicating that it could no longer charge. I tried numerous times (the plug doesn't really fit the Porsche recepticle that well and with differing ignition positions. As best I can tell, once a certain amount of power was present in the car, the car "turned off" or disallowed the lighter plug. However, with the door open I was able to plug it in, turn it on, and un-pop my hood. From there I just removed and replaced the battery ($50.00 at Sam's Club).
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Old 04-02-2008, 08:46 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Overdrive
Hi everyone, new to the forum and signed up for this exact reason. I am not the owner of the 99 Boxster, but I convinced my sister to buy it and taught her how to drive it (5-speed), and I pretty much take care of it for her in the off-season. As I said, I am faced with this same issue of getting to the battery, since this past month it has been very cold and the battery just got discharged. I've been looking around and seeing plenty of different things to do, but some of them really don't appeal to me, and if I can avoid them I will.

How can I be sure that the 99 actually has or doesn't have that thing in the fuse box that I can hook a jumper cable up to? Is there a picture on the forum anywhere so that I know what I'm looking for? I pulled down the fuse box cover and took a look around, but it didn't look like there was anything to be pulled out. I did see this purplish-red colored rectangular thing right above where my left knee would be with wires leading into it, but it will not budge, so I don't think this is what I'm looking for.

So, if the 99 does have this lead that a pos. jumper cable can connect to, is it actually there in the fuse box? If so, is it in a corner? And does this run the risk of shorting any fuses or any electronics in the vehicle if I do it myself vs. hauling the car to the Porsche dealer in the next city. Thanks in advance for any help, and I must say I'm very impressed with this forum and am glad to be a part of it. Thanks again!

-O/D
The '99 does not have the FuseBlock jumper. Your problem is that the hood latch (which is mechanical only on the '99) lever is locked when the car is locked by a sort of cam which, for security's sake, will not allow the lever to be lifted if the car is locked.

You can either supply power to the battery through the cigarette lighter - enough to at least activate the locks. Once the locks are open, this cam moves away and allows the lever to be lifted and the hood opened.

As mentioned, there is a way to physically move this cam using a thin needle or pick-type tool.

Either buy a maintainer that works through the lighter, or get what is called a Memory Maintainer like this: http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=52

The 9V Battery is sufficient to at least open the locks, it'll drain pretty fast, but will the trick.

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