Can't Open the Door!

I am not able to open the door to my '01 coupe with either of my keys. I have tried both mechanically in the door and with the key fobs. Unfortunately, I left the car for several days, locked in my garage and now I can't get in. At first I thought that my battery might be dead but when I finally got the engine lid opened with the emergency cable the alarm went off. Surely if the battery had enough juice to blow the horn and flash the lights for 5 minutes it would be enough to actuacte the door lock? I then tried the reset procedure posted here for one of the key fobs, no luck. I then put a trickle charge on my battery for several hours hoping maybe the battery was dead. Again, no luck! It's hard to believe that the door won't unlock mechanically but it doesn't. Does anyone have any other ideas? Thanks. Tony

did you try both doors with the key ?

The key turning the tumbler only activates a solenoid or actuator, it is NOT mechanical, more like a switch and that is why it is not opening. When you get it to work, you will notice that when you turn the key inside the tumbler, there will be slight delay before the doors open, it works electrically.

My car only has a key lock on the driver's side.

So a totally dead battery in a locked car and your DONE? What does Porsche expect you to do, break a window?

are you sure, most of them have them and they just have a plastic plug in the key hole if the remote unlokcs the trunk it should open the door, un hook the battry charge the battery, then touch the the 2 leads together, with the battery un hooked. just the 2 cables not the battery then reinstall the battery and try to open it with the remote, also try holding the key in the unlock position and see if it rolls down the windows.....it should

I've tried holding the key in the unlock position repeatedly. Zip. Can't get the keys to unluck the trunk. I've tried repeatedly to find the emergency cable for the trunk but can't spot it either from the front of the car or by going behind the wheel well liner. It would probably help if I could get the wheel off, but that would require getting into the trunk to get the wheel lock! I've checked and my car has no keyhole on the passenger side which does seem strange. I am concerned about putting the charger back on the battery (through the engine compartment) because if the battery is charged already I don't want to damage it or anything else. The dealer's only offer was to have it towed in. But it's in my garage and I am concerned about damaging the car when the wrecker has to drag it out of there. Also, a tow hook, if required is in the trunk. And of course, the damn owner's manual is in the car, which I can't get to so I'm pretty screwed.

This might help you: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...howtopic=10080

when you press the remote button does the light on the dash flash?

You have probably already tried this, but on my car after it sits in the garage awhile (garage queen, pass the champagne, please ) I turn the key clockwise a quarter turn in the driver door lock, then remove the key and use the unlock button. I doubt this is your solution, but I thought I would throw it out there just in case.

I have tried the quarter turn and using the unlock button with both keys. No luck. I can't tell if pushing the button makes the lights flash on the dash or not. The lights on the dash, as well as an led near the radio are flashing intermittently, but very often. I assume that's because the alarm is armed. Bos, thanks for the link to the other thread. I've tried those things, except I haven't charged the battery (using the remote connection point in the engine compartment) more than about 1.5 hours on trickle charge because I didn't want to overcharge the battery and I can't (or don't know how) determine the charge without access to the battery. I wonder if I can measure it by putting an ohm meter on the remote battery charge point and a ground in the engine compartment? Does anyone know the answer to that? Thank you to everybody for your help! Tony

you can use a volt meter on the engine points, an ohm meter wont ll ya much. when you hit the remote button the light on the dash should flash rapidly.

I just read through my manual and couldn't find anything useful. I tried my key on my car, a 2003, and turning the key counterclockwise a quarter turn unlocks the door. The alarm goes off after 10 seconds and is silenced by turning the key in the ignition, or hitting the lock button on the key. You did turn your key counterclockwise, correct?

Mine does this too. Remote won't work if she sets for awhile. Once opened it works great again. I want to know how this turns out. I have wondered about this very problem before myself. Good luck to you. Sorry. Surley there is a way to get in the friggin' car! We will all be in this position at some point and time.

Jim, I did turn the key counterclockwise. I've also tried it the other way. Nothing seems to work. Brad, when I press the opener and observe the lights on the dash there doesn't seem to be any difference from the regular alarm flashes. That would seem to indicate that my key isn't communicating with the car?? Neither remote makes any difference and one of them I just had programmed (new) a few days before I parked my car last. I'm going to go buy a volt meter and see if I can figure out my battery's charge state. Thanks for everybody's help. Tony

Well Tony, it won't help much, but after 5 days the key's remote feature no longer communicates with the car, so it would be normal for the alarm light to not respond. I think that is to save battery charge. If the key won't unlock the door, I doubt it has anything to do with battery charge. I fear you are going to need to make a donation to the stealership.

First, what you are experiencing may not be abnormal. If you don't start the car or use the buttons on the key for 5 days, the car automatically disables from accepting the key signals. This is a standard safety feature listed in the owner's manual. You can still use the mechanical part of the key to unlock the driver's door. The key lock is completely mechanical. If it doesn't work, then your key lock is broken. Once you get in, turn the key on and back off again and the buttons on your key will work again. I am curious why you would lock your car in your own garage? I don't drive either of my 911s daily. I have gone a couple weeks without starting my car and I have yet to need to use the key lock since there is no reason to lock the car in my own garage. Based on the information you have put for, I will now assume 2 things: you haven't used the key buttons for 5 days and your mechanical key lock is broken. From this, there is still a way you can get in your car. You will need to open your truck. To open it, you will need to reach in the passenger side air inlet in front. Take a screw driver and pry down the top of the rubber scoop. Above it will be the loop of a thin braded steel cable. This is the pull for the emergency trunk release. Pull the cable toward the passenger side fender to open the trunk. Disconnect the negative battery cable for at least 1 hour to clear the ECU memory. Reconnect the negative battery cable and hit the unlock button on your remove.

Well I picked up a multi meter and tested the voltage at the engine compartment jumper point and had 12.62 volts. So at least I know it's not the battery. I have tried the reset procedure for reseting the key fobs and that didn't let the lock open either. So, since I have tried every suggestion in this and other threads for opening the door it does look like the lock might be broken as 02 Carrerra suggests. Why it would break suddenly when it hadn't been used mechanically is strange but we'll see when I get it to the dealership. I did try to open the trunk but after over an hour of looking for the emergency cable gave up. I pulled the wheel liner loose but with an 18 inch wheel on the car there isn't much room to see and very little to feel around with my hand. The rear cable was a cinch, took about 60 seconds to get in the engine compartment in comparison. I also tried getting to the front cable from the front of the car but without being able to jack it up I couldn't see it. Hopefully, I can find a wrecker that can get my car out of the garage without breaking something! BTW, why would anyone lock their car in the garage? I'll never do it again but my wife and I went out of town and the baby sitter has a little girl who I didn't want in the car! The broken window upstairs when we got home is just one reason. I sent the dogs to the dog sitter while we were gone - I guess next time I'll have to take the car to a car sitter! What a mess! Thanks for all the help. I'll post and let you know what I have to spend and do to finally get the @#$*( door open! Tony

The end result of this story is that I got a locksmith to break in to my car which he did without breaking a window. Once we put the key in the ignition and took it back out the fobs operated the lock. So, the fob problem was the time out and that solves it. Took the car into the dealer and they discovered that the mechanical part of the lock inside the door was broken. $600 and tomorrow I get the car back. I've only had the car about a month. I guess I have never used the key to unlock the door mechanically and the PPI obviously didn't check that either. So, the first time I discover the problem is after a trip. I'm just glad I didn't drive the car to the airport and have to find this out in the middle of the night when I got back from the trip. It would have been nice to find this on the PPI but I guess they can't check everything. Thanks again to all of you who offered your help! Tony

Tony: Thanks for the udate and closure on this issue. I was locking my car in the garage to conserve battery strength. Yoour post scared the hell out of me.I really don't want to be pulling on cables I can't see.

Great thread. Very useful information. I'm sorry it was occasioned by such a pain-in-the-neck for Tony, but I appreciate his sharing the conclusion, as well as everyone's input. I learned a lot.