QuestionHello Dave,
A friend recently had a dead batter in '97 Boxster. He claims that he is not able to release the hood to get to the battery without some intricate wiring maneuvers. I find this to be incredible.Is this possibly true? or is there something simple that is being overlooked. Thanking you in advance for any possible advice!
AnswerBob,
Just to remind you, my expertise lies in the older 356 models. Luckily, many early designs/concepts have lasted since the early 50's and appear in revised forms on 911's, 914's 944's, Boxsters, etc. Where this happens I'll promise to try to give you the best answer I can. As you can imagine, an electrically operated trunk release was not a standard Porsche feature 50 years ago.
Curiously, this is the second such question within two months. Your friend with the Boxster may be referring to an answer a dealer gave to another owner with the same problem. He was told, "...to jump the 3rd Fuse in the C Block of the Fuse Panel to get power to open the Trunk".
Unfortunately, this owner didn't follow-up with me so I don't know how accurate this information was.
Here's the relevant portion of my earlier response:
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"I'm not a Boxster expert, usually I only see them whizzing past me at 85 mph. I really think the dealer has done you a favor by giving out free advice. I'd take it. I can't even imagine an easier way to access the trunk... unless your owners manual covers an emergency procedure, like pulling a manual lever hidden away somewhere. That's usually how electrically operated doors and lids are dealt with when the electrical devices are inoperable. If the owners manual doesn't cover this, I'd assume there's no such
mechanism.
One thing I did find out is that the fuse the dealer
is referring to is under the driver's seat in earlier model cars, so it may be the same for yours. If you'd like, I'd be happy to guide you through the process the dealer suggested, if you could describe what you're looking at when you find the fuse. We can do this if you use the 'follow-up question' feature in All-experts.
See if you can find this fuse (the owners manual should be helpful here), then write back with information like: is the fuse blown and what amperage it is.
One other little problem will be the lack of battery
power to "jump" the fuse. If the battery is truly dead, then you'll need another one to make the trunk open. Do you have a friend who'll let you borrow his/her car for a bit so you can connect a couple wires to their battery? If your battery still has a weak charge, it may be able to activate the trunk release, even though it could not start the car. But it would be convenient to have a fully charged back-up handy, if necessary".
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So...It would be useful to see if your friend's wiring solution is the same. I'll make the same offer...if there's no emergency procedure with a secret handle, I'd be happy to assist with the wiring gymnastics.
Looking forward to hearing from you...
Dave
P.S. If you decide to get into it yourselves, it would also be helpful to have a 12v voltage tester available.
