Help...Groceries stuck in trunk!!

OK guys, here's the story. I have a 99 996...went to buy all the goodies for Super Bowl and stuck the perishables in the front trunk...When I got home, I went to pull the mechanical release lever and it broke off at the front. I know it broke off because I took off the driver's side wheel and got hold of the cable and was going to pull on it to release the latch....and the cable just came out... So I've got groceries in there and don't know what the hell to do because the cable is busted. I know there's another cable release, and I tried to find it by taking out the sidelight on the passenger's side, but couldn't see any sort of braided steel cable in the opening. I need some help fast...I parked the car outside last nite so the cold would help keep the milk and meat from spoiling...but I've gotta get in there fast. Can I get the headlight out without accessing it from inside the hood? If I take off the passenger's side wheel, can I find the emergency release in the wheel well? I tried calling the local Porsche place and they kept giving me instructions for the electronic release....I kept telling them I had the mechanical release but they had me turning the key in the lock on and off etc. Obviously that didn't hellp at all. I already broke the emergency release to the gas cover thinking the black ring in the passenger's door frame was for the hood release....DONT PULL on that ring too hard....the plastic pin that locks the gas compartment will break off...and that gives me another something to fix!! This is going to put a damper on the Super Bowl plans I had for goodies!! Any help will be GREATLY appreciated......Chuck

Try Loren at Renntech.org that would probably be your best bet. Good Luck!

Sorry tried to do a search on renntech for you but from my computer here in Italy it will not connect.

Tell me where your car will be parked while you are watching the game. And please leave the alarm off....

"....Tell me where your car will be parked while you are watching the game." And please leave the alarm off.... It will be parked right in front of the house...and you can have all the goodies in the trunk if you just get it open. I'm not sure you'll want the milk or the mayo dips...but the meat should still be ok....and yes, I'll turn off the alarm.

Is there a lever in the bumper somewhere? I'd take the time and not worry about the grocery spoiling. You don't want to break other stuff.

I am taking my time...the groceries are now secondary to making sure I can do this right and not break something else. There is no lever in the bumper...I've looked all over there...theres supposed to be a braided cable somewhere on the passenger's side. Obviously Porsche doesn't want to put it in the owner's manual because all the crooks would know how to open the hood. If this is an issue, I would appreciate it if someone would PM me with the info........Chuck

There is a cable that runs behind/to the outside of the passenger headlight. Because you won't be able to get the headlight out, you are supposed to be able to get access through the front of the passenger side wheel liner. I've never tried it and I've only seen it behind the headlight. I would suggest taking the wheel off and pulling the liner to the front of the wheel off and looking for a fairly thin steel wire, when I saw mine it didn't look braided to me, just like a regular metal wire. I hope this helps,

Thanks donuts...I was waiting for directions like this...I'm going out and will take off the passenger's wheel now.....

Never mind. Don't like mayonnaise. Follow the link to your question on renntech and you will see pictures of the cable.

This is a Superbowl Emergency. I have seen the rear cable for the engine cover, but I swear I have never seen my front cable either.

reading this only makes me glad that my installer that did my air horns...when we had the bumper cover off, the steel wire was righ there...he made an "extension" using regular ol insulated wire and we just tucked it under the thermostat. I have peace of mind that the wire is pretty easily acessible if you know to look for it. I hope you get it open. Bummer on a Sunday.

Updates? Did the stuff make it for the SuperBowl party?

Chuck, check the post (about 40 ago) that is titled "what's the purpose of the cable under the...." it should prove to be helpful. Good Luck!

A very decent football game we have today, boys. I'm guessing the mayonaise is expired by now though. Ah, who needs mayo anyways? Beer, pretzels, football... mmm.

Well, looks like the SuperBowl "perishables" are going to perish. I've done just about everything you can do. I took both front wheels off and tried to get to the cable....when I took off the passenger's side wheel and peeled back the fender well lining, I finally found the freakin' cable way up behind the headlight....it's a silver braided steel line....and I pulled on that sucker till my hands were bleeding...and it wouldn't budge. All I can figure is that it's crimped or the latch itself came apart and the retracting lever won't move.....So monday it's off to the dealership where they have a rack and can maybe get to this damn thing from underneath... This should be a lesson for you folks out there to familiarize yourselves with the location of those emergency cables...and make sure they work....or like AsianImage said...put extensions on them so you can reach the dogone pull rings without having to disassemble your car. I've literally spent hours on this, torn into wheel wells, taken tires on and off...and have broken the gas cover emergency opener by not being familiar with what the directions meant when they referred to pulling a ring on the passenger's side....Plus all that spoiled stuff sitting in there till tomorrow. All I can say is Sakka Hachi! The only thing left to go wrong is have the Bears lose and lose my bet. Chuck

Now I bet you wished you lived in New England! It's 20 degrees out. You could park it outside and be all set!!!! Just kidding, I'm sure you are pissed. Hey, I'd be real careful driving to the dealer tomorrow. It would be the icing on the cake if it opened on the highway. Maybe a little duct tape for insurance on the drive to the dealer?

Looks like it's not your day.

Well, looks like the Great Kahuna has it in for me....I said all it would take to make it a perfectly disastrous Super Bowl was for the Bears to get it stuck up their kazoo.....and here we are with 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter and down 29 to 17.....yep...I must have seriously pissed off the Great Kahuna.....

I am sorry man...drive careful tomorrow...and maybe make a donation or something...to change the bad vibes maybe?

OK..found out the problem...the latch was frozen and had bound up...it had somehow gotten so the latch wouldn't open when the mechanical lever was pulled....I took it to a friend's auto shop (not a Porsche fix it shop) and we put it on the rack....we had to go from underneath and take off the front bumper...the emergency wire pull that goes into or behind the passenger's headlight was connected and would move the latch mechanism, but since it was frozen, it wouldn't open. We took out the latch and lubed it up and reinstalled it and it works...also, and I would RECOMMEND this for you folks out there....we rerouted the braided silver wire with a loop on the end from the area in the passenger's headlight....and down thru and out the spoiler on the passenger's front side. Then we tied a black zip tie to the wire loop and stuffed the silver wire loop back up behind the rubber sealing edge of the spoiler out of sight. That way, only the black zip tie hangs down in the area of the passenger side radiator behind the grill and doesn't attract attention. If you need to use the emergency wire opener, you just have to pull on the black zip tie and the silver wire loop drops down out of the rubber seal and is easily accessible. Now, about the groceries.....the dogs had a great dinner.... .....Chuck