97 Boxster - battery NOT dead, hood/trunk won't open
 

Neither of the manually operated levers to the left of the driver's seat will move more than a few millimeters. The trunk will open with the bottom button on the key, but the hood won't budge. Is there a trick to getting these interior levers to work?

Is the car locked (light lit on the dash where the lock button is located)?

Just a thought that if it's lit, it may have locked the latches.

I have a 97 and mine work fine, but one has to pull up very hard to get them to work. They are manually actuated with a cable, unlike the newer ones that are electronically controlled.

If you still have problems after a good hard yank, ask a friend to use their palm to press down on the hood directly on the Porsche badge while you try it again. The hood has rubber bumpers that are adjustable and they might be set so high it's too hard to open.

Um.. you do have the door open to access the handles, no? They won't pull up enough if the doors are closed. ;)

Also, is it suddenly cold where you are? Sometimes when cold the cables don't stretch as well as they do in the hot summer. Could need adj/lube.

We have the doors open, everything is unlocked. The handles only wiggle just a bit. One of my co-workers is built like The Hulk, and he can't get them to budge. It's as though they're locked, but I know they're not.

temporarily, you can use the emergency release for the front trunk. If you have relocated it to the tow hook hole, it'll be easy. If not, look/reach up for it thru the radiator opening - it'll be taped near/under the right headlight housing. The other access for it is in the right front wheel well. It's a steel braided cable about 1/16" thick.

Sounds like your problem might be the lock/actuator in the lever housing. IIRC, and you have a small screwdriver (#0 or #1) w/ a 2" long shaft, you can try and slide it in between the trunk levers. There, you should see a white plastic 'bar' - try to slide it out of the way or push it down (I can't remember exactly which) to unlock the lever.

Bottom line, I think you'll need to take the lever housing out and replace the actuator (See Part #7 Here ). This is probably not the correct part # for your MY so I'd pull the one you have to get it. Of course, puller the housing requires pulling the drivers seat out too (to get access to the screws) if I'm not mistaken.

Good luck!