NOT the Usual Stuck Trunk - Emergency Cable doesn't work - Desperately Need Help!

Hi All - please read through before flaming me with "we've covered this 1,000 times comments!" I have yet to see this exact situation covered anywhere, and if I can't fix it then my only recourse will be to take it to the dealer and risk getting fleeced. I recently bought a 2004 C4S in great shape. On Day 1, the trunk opened fine using the key fob. Also, on Day 1 (later), the trunk decided it wouldn't open under any circumstances. It eventually decided that it would, but only when it felt like it going forward. Now, it doesn't feel like opening at all, under any circumstances. I haven't been able to open the trunk (frunk) for at least two weeks and I try it every day. The battery/electrical system is fine. The hood release actuator is getting juice; you can hear it trying to release the primary catch but it just can't/won't. I tried putting power on the emergency clip in the fuse box to give it some extra volts, but that didn't work either. I've tried every technique I could find for resetting the lock system, I've walked away and come back (try it again every day using the door sill switch and the fob), I've sprayed WD-40 in the hood gap at the latch in an act of desperation - nothing will get the primary latch to release via normal means. So, the emergency cable that seems to work for everyone else: when this problem originally surfaced, I had it on a lift, looked behind the passenger wheel well (where the cable loop is supposed to be on a US-spec 2004 996.2) and could find nothing. Took off the plates under the front bumper so we could reach up there and feel around, and found the cable. It IS connected to the SECONDARY latch - the latch with the red tab that we move AFTER the actuator has released the primary latch and "popped" the hood an inch or so - and the cable runs from the latch towards the passenger side before disappearing into a rubber boot/grommet never to be seen again. I checked behind the tow hook cover; no dice. Nonetheless, we could grab onto the cable with our hands - and we can physically grab the secondary latch - but pulling with all our might/moving the latch manually does absolutely nothing. The red tab latch moves slightly as we pull on the cable/manually squeeze the latch but won't actually release anything. After looking at all the schematics and watching a few videos, I'm at a loss as to how that is supposed to work anyway, since the emergency cable is only connected to the secondary latch and does nothing to cause the primary latch (normally released by the electronic actuator) to release. Regardless, bottom line here is that the primary hood release actuator is trying but failing to release the primary release catch, and the emergency cable, despite being in the wrong place, won't release the latch, either. I can't pull off the bumper without opening the trunk lid, and even if I could I don't know if I would be able to get to anything that would help without the trunk lid being up. Just to satisfy my curiosity, I pulled the DRIVER's wheel liner to see if there might, for some reason, be a 997-style emergency release cable behind the driver's headlight and, as expected, there wasn't. (This is a secondary cable that connects to a sort of "hook" on the PRIMARY actuator and will pull on it to release the primary latch catch, not the secondary latch as in the 996.) So, having tried everything, I'm at a loss. I've read countless threads on this and other forums, watched dozens of videos online, and still don't have a viable solution that's working for me. Again, this seems incredibly unique - 1 of 1 - as in every case where someone has asked for help they've been able to either jump it from the fuse box or utilize the emergency cable. Those aren't working on my specific car. I have a new actuator to install as soon as I can open it but as of now it looks like the dealer will be doing it for me if they can even get it open themselves. As an aside, the front bumper was pulled a couple of years ago for a re-spray (hood, too) and I could tell that things weren't put back to OE spec (fasteners missing, not the correct fasteners when they weren't missing, bigger gap on on side of the hood at the bumper than the other, etc). I humbly request thoughts, recommendations, and drink recipes from the group. Thank you in advance, and Happy Memorial Day!

Have you tried having someone push down on the lid while the other person pulls the cable?

Try pushing down on the hood while pulling the emergency release cable. Or also try lifting the hood while pulling on the cable.

I should've mentioned that - I've tried having someone push down at the appropriate point on the hood while pulling the cable, pressing the fob key, pulling the lever inside, etc. I've even tried using a plastic pry tool wrapped in a microfiber cloth to move the lever. Basically, if it has been recommended before I've definitely tried it. This one just flummoxes me. Fair questions, though, and thank you for trying!

I hate to say it but a dealer isn't going to be able to perform some magic trick. Everything described so far are your only options. When using the fuse box method, did you hook it up to a known good 12V auto battery? I've heard that a trickle charger or battery maintainer doesn't have the amps. It's got to be a good 12V battery with some amps/juice. Let this be a lesson to everyone. This conundrum strikes every so often on Rennlist. Take this as a warning to locate the cable pull, make sure it is hooked up right and functions, and relocate the cable pull to just inside the tow hook plug. Do it NOW.

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Appreciate the insight - perhaps I'll try again with a full-up 12V auto battery rather than a jumper. The key to your other comment above is making sure the cable pull "is hooked up right and functions." There's no way to do that until you locate it and test it on a new-to-you 996. I had the luxury of having to test that on Day One to no avail. You can plan on using the emergency cable all day long until you go to execute on that plan. If it doesn't work, you're screwed like me. I just went out and tried the "push on the hood" method while I was pulling on the cable AND pressing the fob button right after letting it run for a few minutes to make sure there was good juice. Nothing.

Just an FYI< the emergency cable in my C2 was "popped" out of the latch mechanism. Luckily mine is an MY1999 and has the cable lever inside the car as well. Not sure what to think if the actuator is bad and the cable is not seated....

Punch the hood at the point where it�s connected to the latch. Try and see if you can jiggle some life into the electric portion of the actuator. if you can�t punch, find something with mass*, but won�t damage the hood/paint, and use that to jounce the actuator. *edit: like a bag of rice in a silk pillowcase.

Have seen a slight misaligned hood/latch jamming the hood closed. If you can hear the latch activating when the button is pulled thats good. Hood striker/latch could be jammed. Try this, Immediately after hitting the button and hearing it work, go to the front of car and at each front corner of the hood get a finger or 2 under each corner. Now apply upward pressure on each corner alternating the sides, and then doing both sides at once. Might take a lot of upward pressure and a finger or 2 doesn't allow for much. This has worked for me as long as you can hear the latch solenoid activating. If that doesn't work have someone hitting the button while you do the up ward pressure thing... If none of that works you'll have to take things apart and go in from the bottom.

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Against my better judgement I did put a microfiber towel down and have my wife sit on the hood right above the latch while I pulled on the cable and pressed the key fob. Added a little bouncing action, still no joy...

Can you hear the solenoid try to engage? If so, as they age the electric magnetic field tends to fade over the years. It's is worse when it is warm. You might try when it is coolest outside with a 12V battery.

tequila. Try teguila. That's all I can contribute to this dilemma.

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Here's my contribution to your problem. Hope this helps. You Tube

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THAT is an excellent video; thanks for sharing. I'm surprised I haven't found that already. The cable assembly makes a LOT more sense as depicted. What's throwing me off is that I can clearly feel (not see) my cable running into the lower portion of the secondary latch mechanism (with the red tab; the lower portion of that latch is not shown in this video). So, either someone was in there at some point over the last 20 years, reassembled the mechanism, and put it back together all wrong, or I have my hands on some other cable running to the secondary latch and haven't actually found the cable running to the primary latch as depicted. I know one thing: it's not behind the wheel well or the tow hook. Either way, this helps my understanding of how it is supposed to work. Go Dawgs!

My emergency release cable was originally located between the passenger headlamp and the frunk, before I relocated it. I�m not sure if that�s how it came from the factory, or if the previous owners moved it there. I would recommend you to remove the front passenger wheel and wheel liner and look up to see if you can find it there.

​​​​​​​.... pictures or it did not happen. :-)

2003 and newer cars have a lever in the frunk as an emergency opening system. The emergency opening system uses a second solenoid to open the safety catch. That is most likey what you are looking at. I think this started in '03... my '01 does not have it and my '03 does.

Mine got stuck closed and it was opened from the bottom. The cable was undone.

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prf is correct. I had this feature on my 2003 996. (see picture) If you ever get thrown in the frunk by the mafia, at least you have a slight chance to escape being trapped! hahaha Eariler cars did not have the trunk safety release that is now standard on all cars. It was a requirement for cars built after Sep 1, 2001. https://www.federalregister.gov/docu...-trunk-release Anyway, the manual release cable is different and that's what you need to find.

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That's where it comes from the factory, and I have already looked. Pulled the liner completely while on a lift and looked everywhere. No dice.

@ZuffenZeus that explains a lot!!! In the absence of the emergency cable in the passenger wheel well (or behind the tow hook) that is what I found when reaching up behind the bumper. Combined with the video you shared, I now know that there *should* be two cables in close proximity to each other. The one in the pic you posted is what I've been feeling because I can trace it from that secondary latch to that boot. So from what I can tell, that internal handle both electric AND manual; when you pull on that thing, as I have when testing everything out (when I could open the trunk), I noticed it actuates both the primary solenoid for initial release AND manually releases the secondary latch. As it should if you've been stuffed in your own frunk by nefarious people. So, off to continue the search for the real emergency release cable. My 996 had 8 previous owners, at least one of whom did some really slick mods to the factory stereo, so someone likely got really clever and hid that cable somewhere. I'm going to have to get a little smarter myself...

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Reading back through these posts, THIS is what I'm worried about now - the emergency cable not being seated or having been removed for some reason along the way...

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That's what I'm thinking. One of past owners moved it to another location. As stated in the video, that's usually the tow hook port. Another is placed somewhere on the air duct and even some have routed it behind the passenger side marker light. If push comes to shove, you could always buy a cheap bore scope ($30) on Amazon and use it to noodle around the lock to locate the cable. Happy hunting! And,.... GoooOOOOOoooOOOOOoOOOOOOooo DAWGS!!!!

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I've seen the air duct mentioned as a rerouting point a couple of times. Can anyone elaborate on this? Pics maybe?

After studying the picture of the 2003+ mechanism I'm thinking that you haven't found the correct cable yet. As some have mentioned they are frequently relocated, especially by people who have been through the mill with the blasted latch once before (wave!). Many folks say to relocate the cable hoop to the area of the tow plug, but I didn't care for that location at all. Instead I rerouted the cable so that the hoop is accessible at the top of the passenger side radiator air intake. I mentioned this to some other folks and they indicated that they had done the same. I can reach in there and pull it pretty easily. All a long-winded way of suggesting that you reach around / look around in the passenger side radiator air intake. Maybe you'll get lucky.

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Ref. the image below. The red arrows show the normal way the cable is routed which is back behind the radiators and so when you pull the fender well liner, the cable is accessible. Some people like to reroute the cable to the tow hook mount ( green arrow ), on top of the air duct ( yellow arrow ), or even route it through the holes behind the side marker lights ( light blue) arrow.

Hey man! I had this same issue on my 986 boxster, same latch assembly and all. My button doesn't work and neither does my keyfob, previous owner rigged it up and extended the cable so it can be fished out through the headlight/bumper opening, but this proved to be a poor idea since it required a LOT of force to open. Of course, when I bought a new frunk latch assembly, that was the day that cable broke so I had to fight with it. I ended up having to remove as many bolts on my bumper as possible and used the gap between the hood+bumper along with a 10mm wrench I shaved down to fit between the gap. Loosened the bolts to the latch on the hood side and was slowly able to get it open. Absolutely horrible time, would not recommend lol. The reason my emergency cable stopped working is the actuator to the left of the latch never worked correctly. When I use the emergency latch on the inside of the frunk, the actuator will pull the cable to the passenger side, but just leave it there along w/ the latch, making it impossible to pull the emergency cable (or very very difficult). I tried replacing the actuator with a new one and still experienced the same behavior which is very fun lol. For now, I have the cable to that actuator removed so it can't jam my latch again, and I replaced my frunk latch assembly so the emergency cable isn't all messed up. If I fix my immobilizer issue and the frunk latch problem doesn't get fixed with it, I may just wire in an inline momentary switch that supplies power to the emergency latch circuit (since it's on a different circuit vs the normal frunk latch circuit) and run that inside the cabin for ease of use.

Quick Update: - tried the jumper method again with a fully charged 12V Optima Red Top. No dice (properly connected/grounded, etc). What this tells me is that the actuator itself is indeed bad and needs to be replaced - which I will do the moment I get the trunk open. - checked behind the passenger side marker, nothing there. Looked as deep as I could with a bright light. - did a quick check of the air duct, felt nothing (yet). Next Steps: get my hand back under there and feel deeper around the air duct and see if I can find the actual cable routed up behind the OTHER emergency release cable I was previously pulling on. After that, I plan to jack up the front passenger side, remove the wheel and liner, and explore again to see if I missed it the first time. Appreciate all of the helpful comments, pics, and videos thus far!

Well, my worst nightmare was realized: the emergency cable is gone. Got my fingers up in there and found the hole in the latch assembly housing that the cable should be coming out of, and nothing's there. So, gotta get creative. I looked around the garage and spotted my shore fishing rig with a somewhat heavy leader. Cut the leader and then cut the swivel weight to preserve the loop on the end. Flattened the loop slightly and managed to somehow feed it through the hole and into the assembly. Going to try to hook that latch and pull it. Wish me luck!

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Good luck! It's rare but owners have been known to break the cables and not replace the lock mechanism. Hope you find a work around.

I drilled a small hole in the passenger duct and put the cable through and used a pieces of black Gorilla tape to hold the end in place.. I also wrote it in the front of the manual for the car with the radio code..

HI All - for those that were following along and/or trying to help on this one, I wanted to share my happy ending! I've been living with the stuck frunk for almost three months now, figuring I'll sort it sooner or later. Today, I was working on my old Land Cruiser when I took a break at my shop bench. Sitting on the stool right in front of the 996, I glanced over at the hood and for some reason decided to reach out and run my finger in the hood/bumper gap and slide over the red-tabbed secondary release (can barely fit in and reach it). It didn't go far, but I gently pressed down on the hood while pushing that over - something I've done in various ways a thousand times before - and it miraculously released! It makes no sense that this should have happened based on how the mechanism works, but it did. I had a replacement actuator sitting there ready to go so I quickly installed that as well as a new emergency release cable (you'll recall that, inexplicably, mine was gone). I removed the hood latch from the hood and tested it multiple times - including by using the "new" emergency release cable - and it worked every time. Buttoned it up and re-routed the emergency cable to a safe place and all is right in the world ( @DBJoe996 will be pleased!). What I diagnosed is that the grommet that fits into the mechanism and actually pulls the primary latch failed; seems the electrical part was fine, not weak. If you look at the pic, it's hard to see without a reference but the outer "ridge" is gone; it's like it finally disentegrated over time. The part I removed is stamped as produced in March 2004 and my 996 was built in April 2004, so seems this was the original 20 year old actuator. Anyway, appreciate all the help and wanted to share the outcome. Thanks!

Hey Dozer, I am glad you got it open! I recently got an '03 C4S, and as part of the post purchase inspection, I took off the front bumper (and both headlights). My emergency cable terminated under the pax headlight, which would require opening the front hood to remove... I added a short extension and now it terminates behind the side marker (so I don't have to take off the wheel and liner) if the solenoid fails. And I tried it, it works great! When the rear bumper was off, I moved the rear emergency cable (it was under the left tail light, which would also have required opening the hood to remove...), to the stud in the left wheel well liner. Yes, I will have to take off the wheel and liner to access it, but will only need to do that if the electric solenoid/cable fails... like YOUR front failure. Thank you for letting us know the point of failure on your front latch! Paul This is my rear cable, looking from the latch toward the driver side (the secondary air pump is removed) This is where it terminates in the rear wheelwell

I think I'm in the same boat as the OP above. New to us 996 model year 1999 with a manual frunk pull that pulls but does not open. I think the wheel nut security special tool is in the frunk..... I'll try to borrow a friends who has a 986 and see if the emergency pull works.

Update just went to get gas on some of our pretty rough local city roads that seemed to shake it loose. It opened fine once home, I'll now check out the emergency pull in the wheel well and set that up .

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Unfortunately, there are about 20 different spline patterns. I keep an extra one for my car in my garage (along with the lug centering pins) See my post about moving the emergency cable for the 996 (not the one for the 958) there are a few places where it is actually useable. Paul