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Flat battery/unlocking


gripper

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Poor Boxster has been neglected as life, the universe and everything got in the way.

It has a flat battery. Again. When I jump across the terminal in the fuse box and the door catch the alarm sounds. Locking and unlocking the door with the key is not turning it off. I can't open the boot to change the service battery or charge it up.

can anyone suggest what I am doing wrong or how to overcome the problem? Thanks. 

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Not sure why the alarm issue yet can't open the frunk. Sounds like you need to access the frunk release cable which likely means jacking the car up, removing the front driver's side wheel and finding the cable which should be somewhere in the wheel well. Alternatively, if a previous owner has rerouted it you might find it behind the flap hiding the hole for the tow hook (assuming a 986nis similar to a 987). 

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Are you using another car battery to connect to the terminal in the fuse box? You need something with a bit of heft to it, like a jump pack with the override button pressed.

Have you tried putting the ignition key in to silence the alarm? 

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I've tried a fully charged hefty battery across the terminal but all I get is the alarm. No amount of trying the key in the door or ignition is stopping it. 

Getting the wheel off might be a challenge, the locking wheelnut key is in the frunk 🙄 Can it be reached from below?

Back when the car still had a pulse I changed the keyfob batteries as these were dead. It made no difference then and they do nothing now. 

Edited by gripper
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If the battery is really dead, you may need to leave a battery connected for a while before trying to operate the frunk, or maybe try charging through the fuse box connection with a trickle charger for a couple of hours, does the alarm eventually go off? Will really annoy the neighbours otherwise.

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29 minutes ago, Nobbie said:

If the battery is really dead, you may need to leave a battery connected for a while before trying to operate the frunk, or maybe try charging through the fuse box connection with a trickle charger for a couple of hours, does the alarm eventually go off? Will really annoy the neighbours otherwise.

Not sure Mrs Gripper or the dog will like it much either! 

Much conflicting info regarding the emergency pull release. Is it left hand side or right hand side on a 2001 "S"? 

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1 hour ago, gripper said:

Not sure Mrs Gripper or the dog will like it much either! 

Much conflicting info regarding the emergency pull release. Is it left hand side or right hand side on a 2001 "S"? 

Emergency release on the 986 should be right hand side (RHD driver's side).

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Success! eventually, with a trickle charger on the +post and door catch it gave enough oomph for the key fob (with new battery) to turn off the alarm. Quick swap of batteries and the car has been brought back to life. This reminds me why I like old things with SU carbs! 

So this week, purchase battery management unit and book in for a once over at local specialist. 

Then, locate the frunk emergency release and fix the fuel filler emergency release which came out when I pulled it. 

 

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2 hours ago, gripper said:

Success! eventually, with a trickle charger on the +post and door catch it gave enough oomph for the key fob (with new battery) to turn off the alarm. Quick swap of batteries and the car has been brought back to life. This reminds me why I like old things with SU carbs! 

So this week, purchase battery management unit and book in for a once over at local specialist. 

Then, locate the frunk emergency release and fix the fuel filler emergency release which came out when I pulled it. 

 

Pop out the headlights and you should be able to see the silver cable right at the back.

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I have a 2000 986. I can definitively state that the frunk release cable is on the left (passenger UK) side. You need to pull back the liner and reach in perhaps 12 inches to find it. I attached a string to the loop and routed it just past the liner so it is more accessible - sorry no photos..

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1 hour ago, cdm said:

I have a 2000 986. I can definitively state that the frunk release cable is on the left (passenger UK) side. You need to pull back the liner and reach in perhaps 12 inches to find it. I attached a string to the loop and routed it just past the liner so it is more accessible - sorry no photos..

I'll take first hand experience over Porsche's drawings any day.  That said on 2000 and earlier car you only have the mechanical cockpit release.  It looks like the electric release is fitted to the left side of the latch (2001 models onwards) so could be the emergency release cable was moved to the other side??  Might be the cause of the conflicting info.

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2 hours ago, ½cwt said:

I'll take first hand experience over Porsche's drawings any day.  That said on 2000 and earlier car you only have the mechanical cockpit release.  It looks like the electric release is fitted to the left side of the latch (2001 models onwards) so could be the emergency release cable was moved to the other side??  Might be the cause of the conflicting info.

My 2003 facelift has the release on drivers side as I found it under the headlamp. 

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2 hours ago, ½cwt said:

I'll take first hand experience over Porsche's drawings any day.  That said on 2000 and earlier car you only have the mechanical cockpit release.  It looks like the electric release is fitted to the left side of the latch (2001 models onwards) so could be the emergency release cable was moved to the other side??  Might be the cause of the conflicting info.

Tried to find manual cable on a old 2.5 a few weeks back with battery removed and frunk closed. It was not on the O/S.  I was too cold to try and do the same again on N/S and told him to call a garage out (locking wheel nut also in frunk)

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On 2/26/2023 at 2:46 PM, gripper said:

Not sure Mrs Gripper or the dog will like it much either! 

Much conflicting info regarding the emergency pull release. Is it left hand side or right hand side on a 2001 "S"? 

When you connected a trickle charger did the alarm go off eventually I have the same problem this morning 

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I stumbled across the emergency release cable on my 2000 2.7 a few days ago. I took the headlights out to restore the lenses and it was hanging down behind the n/s (passenger side) headlight.

It seems they can be almost anywhere around the front of the car. 

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7 minutes ago, Bradders59 said:

 

It seems they can be almost anywhere around the front of the car. 

I think over time some folks move them around from their original location and given the number of owners some of our cars have I guess it's not that surprising.

Edited by iborguk
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Increasingly looking like the mechanical release cars i.e. up to 2000 MY are on the passenger side.  When they introduced the electric release in 2001 it seems they used the emergency release location to fit the actuator and moved the emergency release to the right.  You need a fairly straight pull with these to release the catch so wrapping them over to opposite side from where they attached to the catch would make them useless.  I can't see Porsche doing something randomly.

Edited by ½cwt
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a 2001 2.7 Boxster which doesn't get driven as often as it should, flat battery is a regular thing. I use a spare battery with Jump leads rather than the manual release when this happens. If the alarm triggers I have found turning the key to position 1 usually disables it, also useful if you want to remove the battery to charge if off the car. 

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