Battery Dead, Can't Open Bonnet, No Remote Fob - Help!

Hi All, I have a bit of a dilema and hoping someone may have a bright idea I have a '05 (Gen 2) 996 C4S and a couple of months ago I lost my remote key fob and now only have a physical key. I have been meaning to replace the remote but work has meant that I just haven't managed to get around to it. Now the battery has gone flat and of course the electical bonnet release won't work. I have tried the procedure of using a donor 12V battery with the emergency release terminal post in the fuse box. The alarm sounds but the release lever (for either the bonnet or the engine compartment) do not operate. I have tried all sorts of combos of leaving the key in the door as some posts have suggested, unlocking/locking the door, and also turning the key in the ignition...all to no avail. I have also tried to trickle charge the battery via the cigarette lighter but this has not worked. The charge process started but the charger now indicates a battery fault. Can anyone suggest a means of getting access to the battery? A thousand thanks in advance for any suggestions?

You should still be able to open the boot to get access to the engine bay. Look to the back right and you'll see a '+' connection point - it's under a black cap i think. Try hooking up your second battery to that and a solid ground point (the boot latch is a good one). Hopefully you'll have more luck that way.

I'll give it a try in a mo!

Hello, couldn't see an obvious '+' connection point in the driver's footwell fuse compartment, but might be looking in the wrong place...is that where we mean?

No, not in the footwell, in the engine bay. From memory, the boot should still open even with a dead battery.

Ah many thanks! Sadly the boot is not opening either.

Oh, that's a bugger then. Sounds like you'll need fish around for the emergency frunk release cable. I've not retrieved it myself, but my understanding is that it's behind one of the front wheel liners. Have a google and you should find more details. Good luck.

Many thanks for the help I'll keep at it!

I think that there are emergency release cables for the front boot and for the engine cover, the former inside the offside front wheel arch and the latter inside the nearside rear wheel arch, both underneath the wheel arch liners. Probably they will need a hefty tug because it’s unlikely the mechanism has been operated for a while … if ever!?? Good luck! Jeff

I had exactly the same issue with my 2001 996 C4 last week. In the fuse panel in the footwell there is a red tab that you need to pull out and you will see a small metal section on the red tab. I attached a positive jump lead to that and the negative to the door hinge. Connected these to my wife's Fiat 500 and this made it possible for me to pop the frunk to change my battery. This vid shows how to pull the tab out. Yes the video is very poor quality: https://www.google.com/se...ZZvtNbWJhbIPqbORkAE_32

Mine is an earlier car. A 996 C2 of 1998 vintage but has the frunk emergency release wire under the nearside wheel arch liner.

Many thanks for your help. Using the info posted, I managed to open the bonnet and remove the battery.

Good to hear! Just out of interest, did you need to use the emergency release cable and if so under which wheel arch liner? Jeff

Yes, on my car it was behind the drivers-side wheel arch. It's tucked way deep inside against the far inner wall of the headlight 'bulge' and difficult to spot at first...just a small loop of what looks like thick fishing line. I had set of electrical wire pulling rods with a hook on which I used to grab the loop and give it a firm tug.

Thanks for the confirmation that it was where the PET said it was for your ‘05 car as there’s always some confusion … depending upon if the car is RHD or LHD maybe??? Jeff

Yes, I have seen some YouTube videos showing it on the left-hand side of the car, but these seem to be LHD models. Certainly on my '03 RHD C4S it is on the RHD driver's side so maybe it depends on whether the car is LHD or RHD.

Steve Andrews above says that it’s under nearside front wheel arch on his [presumably RHD] 1998-vintage 996. All very confusing!?? Jeff

The cable is normally under the passenger side wheel arch RHD & opposite LHD, IE opposite to steering wheel but it’s not a given . It's Easier locate the cable to open the engine cover and jump from there, this is located under the passenger side rear light, between the light and bumper on RHD and I think it's the normal position for LHD.