Hood release locked
 

After returning from holiday the battery was flat and the front and rear lid switches wouldn't work. I learnt that I could loosen the three Allen bolts which secure the switch panel to the sill and I gave the front cable a tug which opened the front lid. I then jump-started the battery and everything was fine, including the switches.

After a couple of days, although the car started with no trouble, the switches were locked again. I released the front lid manually again and replaced the battery with a new one, while still keeping the leads connected to another battery so the radio code, alarm and clock weren't affected. The switches still appear locked somehow.

What causes the switches to lock - are they connected to the central locking, or have they been affected by the flat battery? Do the switches need to be re-programmed, or does the fault have nothing to do with the change of battery?

To make matters worse, I dropped one of the Allen bolts through a hole in the sill and now it has vanished. Is there an access panel somewhere to get into the sill, or if it's gone forever, where would I get a new one?

Thanks for your help.

Upon recommendation from a Porsche service tech, I made up a cigarette lighter-to-cigarette lighter pigtail with about ten feet of wire in between so I can plug one end into a car with a "good" battery and the other end into the cigarette lighter of the Boxster with the dead battery. There is now enough juice (electrical current) to "unlock" the switches. Now service the battery.