If Battery Dead - How to Open Front Trunk?

I just read an older thread about dead batteries after absences. This raised the general question: How would people open the electrically operated lid of the front luggage compartment (to get access to the battery ) without any electrical power? I have a battery conditioner/charger with cigarette lighter connector that would hopefully help recover from such a situation, as long as there is AC power, but not everybody does. Page 260 of the 2007 CS manual delineates a procedure to unlock the lid with an external 'donor battery ', after pulling out positive terminal A in the fuse box. It surely doesn't appear to be a procedure that my wife would want to perform (or ask some good Samaritan to perform for her). However, winter is coming and some dead batteries can be expected. Therefore, I highly recommend Cayman drivers to read this page!!

I thought the switch on the drivers side was mechanical, not electric?

There is a mechanical backup cable release for the trunk lock. It is meant to be used if part of the electrical opening system fails, such as the solenoid, so it's not easy to access. You need to jack up the car, remove the left front wheel, remove the fender liner & you'll see the loop pull handle of the cable. It's much easier to use a 12V power supply at the fuse panel for a dead battery , especially since Porsche doesn't even give us a jack. Of course even if they did, it would likely be in the locked trunk. The fusebox jump method to open the hood has been discussed at length in prior threads.

I read this in the owners manual and couldn't believe that Porsche would do something so stupid. When I get my car, I will try to install a cable pull like that in the 993s.

Gator Bite, Give it a shot. And if you are successful write it up here so that we can all benefit. Porsche did goof up with this.

I would expect this to be exactly like the Boxster .. My uncle's boxter would die all the time, and I remember there being a connection to give it a quick "jump" to get the compartment to open up.

I just found a work-around for the Boxter here: http://www.babblers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=700 The fix appears to also work on Caymans with no or minor modifications. I'm not sure if I like an externally accessible emergency opening mechanism though.

I read about this in the Owner's book...but then saw it in person at the dealer (on a demo). It doesn't seem hard to do, as my salesman let me do the whole thing on their car. Of course, if you are in an inconvenient location ( as I wasn't) without a handy battery ....will be a PIA......

I have a little battery pack that plugs into the cig lighter and should give enough juice after about 15 minutes to do just about anything including starting the car. It is really small and compact, and it has worked well on my Toyota P/U when the battery was stone dead. Russ

View attachment 236 Russ....Is this what you are referring to?

Cool. I'll have to get one of those and put it in my tool kit, inside the trunk........

Gator, No it is not a maintainer. it is just a yellow box called "Quick Start" (I think) and all it has is a cord with the cigarette lighter adapter plug . To charge it you plug it in while driving for at least 20 minute, and then just put it away till you need it. Then when you need a jump start you just plug it in the cig lighter of the car with the dead battery and let it sit for about 15 minutes. The car sucks up enough juice from it to start. Works great and I think it cost me $30. Russ

Russ, Where did you get it?

Would this work? It maintains your battery by automatically disconnecting it when it gets low. Just turn your ignition key, press the brake pedal or turn on the headlights to start the engine and it reconnects the battery . http://www.noflatbatteries.com/

I disconnected the ground on the battery ; it rained; I closed the trunk; now in sticky situation. Because the ground is removed, jumping from the panel will not work.

This is what you need to do to mechanically release the hood... http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-electronics/6927-if-battery-dead-how-open-front-trunk.html#post82424

I hate that fender guard. it's a pain to get on and off. Anyway, here are some pictures to help the next person who has to deal with this problem. Remove the wheel. Remove the guard. Locate the wire. This was really hard to find because it's very dark there. I suggest an extra light. ...also, to say you need to pull hard is a huge understatement. I felt like I was going to break the cable. Even the little rubber piece holding it in place came out, but sure enough, the trunk popped. Please note that you will need to pull the cable back a little and the front latch or it won't close. Thanks for the help guys! Without the above posts I would have had to tow my car... on Monday! yuck. Mike

Jacking up and removing a wheel is a standard Ferrari procedure.

Would a standard 9V battery have enough voltage and current to open the trunk? I thought I heard something about Boxster or 911 owners doing this. It'd be cheap and easy to store one of those, plus a connector cable, in the glove box.

Don't forget that you cannot take the wheel off to open the hood when the wheel lock is in the front trunk, and when you disconnect the ground cable on the battery , it is the same as a dead battery and you can still open the front trunk with a jumper. Either at the fuse box or at the cigarette lighter in the center console which is easier.

I owned a Boxster for 10 years - same problem. I just bought a plug that fits into the cigarette lighter from Radio Shack and then crimped a couple of small lugs onto the wires. I can then plug this into the cigarette lighter, jumper another battery to these lugs. The wires are obviously not big enough to take the current required to start the car but it will provide enough current to open the hood. I can then jumper the battery normally. I keep this in my door storage compartment.

Ok, could some one please confirm this for me. Will the jumper method described on page 260 of the owners manual work if the battery is completely removed or disconnected?

Yes (see post #25 above)

KS-CS, Thank you very much. I'm the paranoid type, I was afraid since the thread was 2 years old, some one may have found an issue with it, or I was misreading something. I just put my car away for winter storage and the last thing I did was latch the lid... instantly got sick to my stomach.

No problem - however, I should add that using a smart charger, instead of a battery to activate the emergency jumper, may not work (as some have learned the hard way).

Can one of you confirm that this works? If so where can I get one and how much? My battery just died and I must have left either left the light on or the door propped open, but my battery is still connected. I may have try the fuse trick in the morning. Ultimately I would like to get a cigarette lighter solution to be able to pop open the trunk to jump the car. Please advise!