Dead Battery; Hood won't open.

[Jager]

Originally Posted by Wallace River

Your link takes us very nicely to Sears home page

Let's try it again:
Sears.com

If that doesn't work look-up: DieHard Platinum Portable Power 1150

Hook-up one of these to the fuse block terminal and to ground and I bet you can open the frunk.

[luci5r]

The emergency cable release is looking further & further a possibility. There is nothing under the vent or the sides, as some members had suggested; I don't believe the previous owner did anything.

The liner behind the wheels doesn't look like it'll come off unless I take the wheel off, which isn't a possibility for me. I don't have all the equipment necessary. I wish they had made this more simplistic; it almost feels like they wanted to make sure you could NOT get to that cable.

Originally Posted by Kurt V

If you went to the link you would discover the problem with using a battery charger: The charger will only charge if it senses it is connected to a battery. Using the red jumper fuse will not work for most chargers. You will need to use a 12v battery or a jump pack.

You hit the nail right on the head; Dead center if I may add. How stupid of me! Even when I had everything connected, I noticed the 'Charging' LED was not lit. I figured maybe it's not lit because I'm not connected to a real battery; it never occurred to me that it's not lit because it's not charging because it's not connected to a real batter. Let me re-state: How stupid of me!!

I don't believe the Emergency Cable Release is going to be the solution for me. I just don't see any way of being able to get to it without removing the Wheel. So at this point, one way or another, I need to bring current to the red jumper fuse. Which means I need to try the 12 volt battery route.

Since I don't have one, I need to go buy one. I'm looking for the cheapest possible route; but also one that doesn't send me back to the store again and again.

Let me ask you this; is something like this going to work:
Energizer A23 12-Volt Alkaline Battery (2-Pack)-A23BPZ-2 - The Home Depot

If not, what is my cheapest option for a 12 volt battery that will do the trick?

Thanks guys!!

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by luci5r

it almost feels like they wanted to make sure you could NOT get to that cable.

Yeah. That's the idea. You don't want thieves gaining access

Since I don't have one, I need to go buy one. I'm looking for the cheapest possible route; but also one that doesn't send me back to the store again and again.

Let me ask you this; is something like this going to work:
Energizer A23 12-Volt Alkaline Battery (2-Pack)-A23BPZ-2 - The Home Depot

If not, what is my cheapest option for a 12 volt battery that will do the trick?

Thanks guys!!

Probably not.

Your best option is to get a friend or family member over there with another vehicle and just use jumper cables off of their battery.

[luci5r]

If I get the Jump Starter I had linked to previously (Stanley 1000-Amp Peak Jump Starter with Compressor - Walmart.com), since it's something I was going to eventually get anyways for these kinds of situations - would that be able to provide the current to the red jumper fuse to pop open the hood? Those jump starters don't have a similar issue like chargers, where they won't supply the current unless it's actually connected to a battery, do they?

[luci5r]

SOLVED

I'm not an electrical genius, quite the contrary, so I don't fully understand how it worked; why it worked; and what exactly is it that I did, but ultimately I got the hood opened. This is how I did it.

Essentially it was a spaghetti of ideas & trials. 7 or 8 years ago I used to have a PSP for which I had a car charger. The charger plugged into the Cigarette Lighter socket. I went digging for it and fortunately found it! This is a $5 MadCatz car charger for the PSP that I bought off of eBay, which I haven't actually used in over 5 or 6 years probably.

I stripped out the wires; I know the inner/center one is positive and the outer core that wraps around is the negative. So essentially I wrapped the positive wire around the red jumper fuse, and the negative around the latch on the door, and plugged in the Charger into the Cigarette Lighter socket.

Well, nothing happened! Absolutely nothing. Zilch. Messed around with the wiring for a few minutes but nothing.

For whatever reason I decided to break out my battery charger one more time. This is the Schumacher SC-1200A/CA that I bought for charging the battery. The same one that I tried the first time and didn't work; the Charging LED would never come on and as later discovered, it didn't work because it doesn't actually charge unless it's connected to an actual battery.

I decided to hook it up one more time; however, for possibly no other reason but sheer laziness, I didn't remove the PSP Charger - that was still connected - and I plugged in the clamps for the battery charger ON TOP of the PSP Charger connections. For the first time, the "Charging" LED came on. It looked like the Battery Charger was actually charging. The dashboard started to dimly light up as well.

However, the hood still wouldn't pop. Neither from the door panel, nor from the remote Key. I messed around with the clamps, wiring, turned things on & off several times - kept playing with it - even waited like 20 minutes to see if maybe it just needed to charge up a little. Still, no go!

That was a point when I had decided to pretty much give up. I disconnected the PSP Charger wires; re-connected just the Battery Charger - Still no go!!

I was getting ready to wrap everything up and call it a day - when I decided to try one last crazy thing.

I took the positive wire on the PSP Charger; wrapped it around the red jumper fuse; plugged in the charger in the Cigarette Light - but I DID NOT WRAP the negative on the door latch. Then, I connected the Battery Charger on top of it like I had been - Negative Clamp on the door latch and Positive Clamp on the red jumper fuse. Turned it on - hit the hood opener on the door panel - IT POPPED! First Try!

Like I said. I have no idea whatsoever why this worked. With only the positive going from cigarette lighter to the red jumper fuse; negative going nowhere - and my battery charger connecting like its' supposed to.

My uneducated guess is - when the positive wire from the Cigarette Lighter was connected to the red jumper fuse, somehow, IT TRICKED the Battery Charger into believing that it's connected to an actual battery. Somehow completed the circuit - I'm not sure why.

So the major challenge is over. Unfortunately it's too late today to leave the Battery Charger plugged in with the hood open today; so tomorrow Part 2 begins. I didn't close the hood this time; it's just sitting down pretty, not fully latched. Tomorrow I'll connect the Battery Charger to the battery and let it charge for 6 - 7 hours and hopefully it'll give the battery a full charge.

Thanks all for your support / ideas / suggestions and most importantly some of the knowledge & education I gained during this process. I hope my detail helps someone in future.

[husker boxster]

So you don't have to repeat this process, you might want to click the latch on the hood into the closed position with the hood up or open. That way your hood won't latch closed accidentally.

Just don't forget to unlatch it before you do close it for good.

[Jager]

With a completely dead battery it takes a few minutes to get the voltage up and a charge after connecting a battery charger. It's always a good idea to wait a few minutes after connecting jumper cables or a battery charger to a battery before attempting to start the motor.

[luci5r]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

So you don't have to repeat this process, you might want to click the latch on the hood into the closed position with the hood up or open. That way your hood won't latch closed accidentally.

Just don't forget to unlatch it before you do close it for good.

That's a great idea! I will certainly do that.

I have a question about battery charging.

I have read the manual; read instructions across the Internet; seen YouTube videos, basically done my research. Just want to confirm if the following sounds about right before I begin charging the battery tomorrow using my battery charger:

A. Remove the terminals from the battery posts.

B. Take the positive clamp from the battery charger & attach it to the positive post on the battery.

C. Take the negative clamp from the battery charger & attach it to an unpainted metal on the chassis (example: the hood latch on the car body).

D. Plug the charger in the wall. Set the options. Good to go!

Sounds about right?

Thanks guys!

[Jager]

Originally Posted by luci5r

That's a great idea! I will certainly do that.

I have a question about battery charging.

I have read the manual; read instructions across the Internet; seen YouTube videos, basically done my research. Just want to confirm if the following sounds about right before I begin charging the battery tomorrow using my battery charger:

A. Remove the terminals from the battery posts.

B. Take the positive clamp from the battery charger & attach it to the positive post on the battery.

C. Take the negative clamp from the battery charger & attach it to an unpainted metal on the chassis (example: the hood latch on the car body).

D. Plug the charger in the wall. Set the options. Good to go!

Sounds about right?

Thanks guys!

If you remove both terminals from the battery posts you will need to connect both clamps of the battery charger to the battery.

If you remove just the positive terminal you can connect the battery charger the way you described.

[Jager]

BTW... How old is your battery?

[mump]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

So you don't have to repeat this process, you might want to click the latch on the hood into the closed position with the hood up or open. That way your hood won't latch closed accidentally.

Just don't forget to unlatch it before you do close it for good.

better yet, roll up a towel and sit it on the latch. this way you won't forget and accidentally slam the hood down on a closed latch.

[luci5r]

Originally Posted by Jager

If you remove both terminals from the battery posts you will need to connect both clamps of the battery charger to the battery.

If you remove just the positive terminal you can connect the battery charger the way you described.

Ah! Thanks for the correction. I always thought you never clamp both clips on the battery.

So at this point, I just plugged the battery charger to the battery and started the charging process.

I removed the positive terminal from the positive battery post and clipped the positive clamp from the battery charger on it. I left the negative terminal on the negative battery post, so I clipped the negative clamp from the battery charger on to the metallic latch on the hood.

Fired up the Battery Charger; set up my options (it's mostly automatic), and the 'Charging' LED came right on. So it looks like it's started the charging process. I will give it a good 6 ~ 7 hour charge before I test anything.

Originally Posted by Jager

BTW... How old is your battery?

I have the Interstate MTP-91 Battery (Batteries - Mega-Tron Plus 91 Automotive Battery Six-Year Performance 700 CCA).

I got this '05 Boxster 987 in April, 2013, with about $40K miles on it. I can't categorically state how old the battery is, cause quite frankly I do not know. Last week when I had called in help to jump start the car, the mechanic did look at the battery and tell me that the battery looks really new, like a couple years old. That it doesn't seem to have any wear on it.

A new one isn't very expensive; only around $148. That's a route I'm willing consider at some point if necessary. I don't really know much about what should be the life expectancy of these things.

Either way, I'll see how it makes out with the charging.

Thanks!

[luci5r]

After 7 hours of charging, although there is little improvement, it's still pretty dead. The dashboard lit up just a tad and I was able to use the remote key to lock/unlock the door. But couldn't roll up windows or anything; dashboard is extremely dim.

I'm starting to believe this battery might be done. Might need to get a new battery.

Question: Is replacing the battery hard? If I picked up a new battery from a shop, can I replace it myself? Is it basically as simple as detaching the terminals, installing the new battery in place, and putting back the terminal posts? Do I need to worry about anything special?

Another Interstate MTP-91 is around $170 w/taxes and all around here. Unless I should think of installing a different battery.

Suggestions welcome.

Edit:
I'm also finding another battery for $159 locally, it's the Interstate MTP-48/H6. According Firestone here, that's the newer version of MTP-91 and the recommended one for my '05 Boxster. Any advice on this one as opposed to MTP-91?

Thanks.

[tommy583]

There are most likely two clips that hold the battery in the car. They will be on either side of the battery near the bottom. You will have to loosen the bolts that hold them down. Then just unhook the positive and negative terminals and take the battery out.

On a side note you should invest in a battery maintainer of some sort. I use a battery tender jr. When batteries are allowed to discharge completely a few times, they don't last as long. As you can tell by your newish battery not taking a charge. Hope this helps

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by mump

better yet, roll up a towel and sit it on the latch. this way you won't forget and accidentally slam the hood down on a closed latch.

Good suggestion, but you should NEVER slam the hood or trunk on a Porsche. Not sayin you do this, just dispensing advice to the rookies.

[luci5r]

Originally Posted by tommy583

There are most likely two clips that hold the battery in the car. They will be on either side of the battery near the bottom. You will have to loosen the bolts that hold them down. Then just unhook the positive and negative terminals and take the battery out.

On a side note you should invest in a battery maintainer of some sort. I use a battery tender jr. When batteries are allowed to discharge completely a few times, they don't last as long. As you can tell by your newish battery not taking a charge. Hope this helps

Right, I did see those; those shouldn't be a problem.

I'm seriously considering picking up the Interstate MTP-48/H6. Unless anyone has suggestions otherwise.

I honestly don't know how long the MTP-91 has been installed; if it has been since the beginning, it's obviously over 10 years old. If it was replaced down the line, then anywhere between 3 to 5 years I would say. I'm not sure if that's normal or not.

[tommy583]

Well look at it this way. A new battery costs around $150. A maintainer costs under $50. If you leave the maintainer hooked up to the car, your battery will last much longer and it will never be dead when you want to drive the car. You can get an adapter that plugs right into the lighter, so it's easy to use.

[luci5r]

Originally Posted by tommy583

Well look at it this way. A new battery costs around $150. A maintainer costs under $50. If you leave the maintainer hooked up to the car, your battery will last much longer and it will never be dead when you want to drive the car. You can get an adapter that plugs right into the lighter, so it's easy to use.

It's something I will definitely look into; possibly install - after I have dealt with this current issue. Definitely makes sense. Thanks.

[Perfectlap]

Most auto stores have pretty good warranties on batteries and typically pro-rated.
I had one die after about six months, didn't even bother with trying to recharge.
I went back to the Advanced Auto store and the guy at the register just handed me a new one without even a receipt.
Once a battery has drained once, imho it really shouldn't used in the car again, it's never the same.
If it's out of warranty just keep it around the garage to power up something with an inverter.

[luci5r]

Just wanted to post a finality to this story.

So I did pick up the Interstate MTP-48/H6 for $150 at my local Firestone. Had priced it around and they had it the cheapest. Came home, installed the battery, and the car started up right away. All ABS/PSM messages disappeared and the car has been running flawlessly for couple weeks now.

Lessons learned. No point re-charging a dead battery; just go buy a new one. The MTP-48/H6, purely in terms of specs, is a tad step up from the one I had installed (MTP-91).

I still plan on getting the $50 Stanley Jump Starter to keep in the car; for close encounters.

Also plan on looking into the maintainer, as someone suggested. But other then that everything seems to be working great.

Thanks again every single person who posted and tried to help! Really appreciate it.

On to the next project.