HELP!! Car battery died, can't open doors with key.

Help please! My car has been sitting for quite some time and today i tried to unlock the car, but it wouldn't open. I tried opening it with the key in the keyhole and no luck. Is there any way i can unlock the doors with now power from the car battery? I tried a jimmy, but that didn't work. My only other alternative is to stick a clothes hanger through the window and hope it latches onto the door handle. thanks, bao

I also did a search, there was another individual that had the same problem. But he hasn't posted in over 5 months to give us an update. If i do get the rear open, where do i connect the positive and negative cables to give the battery some juice? THanks

you should be able to unlock your driverside door with a key.....you might have to fumble and your alarm might go off....if you can't open the door you can open the hood (where the battery sits) with a cable which hangs on the left (if you stand in front of the P) behind the bumper cover (that is where mine is)

I remember someone had similar issue and found out that he couldn't open his driver door with the key is because the dealer found that the mechanical part on his lock was broken. As Nicolaas said you should be able to open it with the key by turning it further to click it. Before I also locked my car but after a few days of inactivity, the car shutdowns and the remote will stop working (to save battery juice) and you have to use the key to open the door. Now I don't bother to lock it inside my garage, there is no need for that. Good luck...

Hi Bao, The last time someone posted this problem, it ended up being a broken lock mechanism in the door and the remote unlock system in "sleep mode.". This might sound condescending but you have to cover all the bases, did you turn the key both ways in the door lock? If so, you will probably have to call a locksmith to open the door for you. As far as jumping the battery to start the car, post here and someone will help you. I haven't done that! Good luck and remember to post the outcome!!

check your pass door, does it have a plug in the key hole? if it does pull it out and try the pass door. IF not you can try removing a license plate light and hooking 12v into the license plate wiring then unlock the car with the remote

My '99 gave me fits when , after disconnecting the battery and (stupidly) closing the front hood for 5 months of absence, I was able to open the drivers door but not open the hood. After trying for quite some time to find the !?@%** cable behind the front bumper, I used a lamp cord attached to jumper cables to open the electronic lock via the cigarette lighter (yes, the center electrode is positive). That 'click' was wonderful.

I've just been through this. If your fob doesn't open the door then it's either timed out or your battery's dead. If your alarm lights are flashing on your dash then your battery's likely not dead. You can check your battery by opening the engine lid and putting a voltmeter on the battery terminal in the engine compartment. To open your engine lid you need to carefully insert a thin blade (like a putty knife) between the top of the left rear lights housing and the bumper. Shine a light through the crack and you should see a thin cable. If you can snag that with a thin piece of wire (I used florist's wire which is very thin and stiff) you can open your engine lid by pulling on it. If you're not deaf after this manoeuvre your battery is dead. Charge it and try the key fob again. If the alarm was on the horn honking will confirm you're battery isn't the problem. You can also try to open the trunk through the right front wheel well by removing the little plugs which hold the wheel liner in place and putting your hand in between the liner and wheel well and finding a similar cable to open the hood. However, if you have 18" wheels as I do it' s pretty damn hard to do. I gave up after an hour. The rear lid took 90 seconds. Anyway, if the battery's good you could try a search on this forum for key resetting procedures to reset your key fob and try again to open the door with the remote. In my experience that didn't work with either of my keys, but did give me another hour's entertainment trying to put the damn keys back together. Finally, you resort to picking the lock. I'd STRONGLY advise against using a coat hanger. Call your dealer and ask for a locksmith they would recommend. The guy who got me back into my car took about a half an hour and did no damage to the car. But he was extremely careful, experienced and still had a hard time getting in the door through the seal which is very tight and then hooking the door handle to open the door. He was real concerned about breaking the glass as was I. The week before I got locked out of my 911 I was locked out of my F250 at the car wash. The guy there took nearly two hours working on my truck before his hand slipped and the window broke (at which point I asked him why he hadn't just done that 90 minutes earlier and saved us all a lot of time!). The point is the glass shatters easily when the rod slips. Once you're back in the car just take it to your dealer and say goodbye to $600. I hope that you've just got a dead battery. Unfortunately, if the battery's not dead your lock is probably broken. Good luck! Tony

small chance of the lock being broken, what usualy happens is someone had the door latch out and missed the key acuation rod, its kind of a pita to get it in and alot of people (indys and bodyshops) dont even know you have to do it.

It's simply amazing how many things can prevent you from getting in your car!

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Update!! I finally figured it out and got the door open!! It was the result of a drained battery just like what Diamond said. The car went into sleep mode to save juice so i couldn't open it with the key fob. As for the door lock, i think it might be a broken locking mechanism that is preventing it from opening up. The problem was fixed by opening the hood with the emergency release wire that was dangling from the passenger side front bumper. THe car has an aftermarket spoiler and it was right in front of my face. Pulled the damn thing and the hood poped up. The alarm went off and wouldn't disarm so i had to unplug the power to the horn (which is right next to the battery on the drivers side). I then attempted to give the battery some juice by hooking up one of those portable jump starters with no luck. The key still did not unlock the doors. Then I had the idea of disconnecting the battery to reset the system and hoping that it would work. As it turned out it was the perfect solution. The system reseted itself and i was able to open the door with the key remote. All is fine now thank God. My last resort would have been to break the window and then file a claim with my insurance company to have them pay for it, but it would have been too much of a hassle. Thanks guys for all your input and help.

Bao, Good for you. I'm glad it worked out ok, without breaking a window!! I think we all need to go check the operation of our manual door locks.

so this is a common problem? If so..what should we do if we are going on vacation or something? Leave it unlocked? Or are we forced to use a battery tender? Or disconnect the battery and reattach when you get back?

asianimage, if you have a garage then leave the car unlocked or pop the hood open for easy access to the battery, just in case you lose power over a long period of time. My advice would be to buy a battery tender. That's what i'm going to do after this fiasco

OR JUST MAKES SURE your mechanical door lock works

LOL...oh yeah duh....my locks work...I tried them this morning just in case.

Somwhere on this forum is a simple DIY to pop the bumper plug, attach a light line, like fishing line, to the hood release loop and tie off the other end to or near the bumper plug. (Wait, that is the DIY) When the time comes, remove the bumper plug, pull the light line until you have the hood release loop, give it a tug and your in. No breaking your own window and claiming vandalism (could you really do that, break your own window)

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It's not that easy Damian. When you lock a 996 and the battery goes dead, the car goes into "Lock-down" mode triggered by the immobilizer module and the only way to disarm and get the car out of this state, is to have a properly matched KeyFob to disarm it. (What you want to bet the OP does not have a working key fob and only the laser cut key) The keyfob is necessary to send the correct key code sequence to the immobilizer module to get the car out of lockdown mode. Using the keyed portion in the door will give you access to the interior and allow you to turn on the car, but the alarm will sound and the car will still NOT start and you won't be able to access the Frunk. You can order new keys from Porsche, but ONLY Porsche will be able to unlock the immobilized state of the car and this may mean purchasing new alarm and immobilizer modules. It will be a lot more than the $600 per key charge. You're looking at a $3000+ fix and not every Porsche dealership can repair this problem and so the best advice to all Porsche 996 owners is clearly to own two sets of working keyfobs and always keep the car on a trickle charger during long periods of storage. I wouldn't advise people to keep the cars unlocked or the Frunk opened because of security issues, but be thankful the car has this level of security in the first place or you'd hear about more of these cars being stolen every day. Cheers!

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Dude, you are trying to converse with a troll trying to advertise his own business...

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Yea, you're right my friend! I'm just pissin' in the wind with this sucker. Why do I waste my time. uggg.

If door lock can't be opened by the key then call the Locksmith , they have tools to open the locks of car.

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Enlighten us Frank. If the OP has non-working keyfob, but the laser cut key portion still won't open the door, how would a locksmith gain entree into a Porsche without breaking the window?

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IMS, RMS, Chain tensioners, cracked heads, Rod Bolt Failure, AOS and door locks.

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Secret hatch behind rear seats. All the good lock smiths know about this!

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Hahahaha! Nice one!

Hi All, This post is probably a bit old now but here goes. I have a right hand drive Boxster 1998. Mint condition. Battery went flat because I rarely drive it (that's why it's in mint condition Ha ha) anyway I jump started the car took it for a drive and did a basic recharge of the battery. Fitted a battery isolator to stop the battery discharging, while it's sitting in the garage. The car is reversed in the garage so the left hand side (passenger side) is parked about 8" of a brick wall. Locked the car and isolated the battery, then shut the front bonnet, thinking I can open the car with the key. Tried opening the drivers side door (right hand side) with the key and the key just turns in the lock. leaned over the boot and tried it in the passenger door and it opened with the key no problem, but I can barely open the door (6") because of the wall. I then get a piece of 20mm tube and fix a cut down coat hanger to the end and try to open the drivers side door from the inside. Door still won't open. I can probably trolley jack the rear of the car over enough to get into the car, but I still can't open the drivers side door to get access to the Boot/hood lever assembly in the drivers side door sill. Any suggestions . I don't think my model has an emergency front bonnet release under the front wheel arch.

You lock your car in a garage? Trolley jack and move may be your best option...

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3/3/18 Update, Trolley jacked the car away from the wall and was able to open the front boot lid with the lever, even with the door closed. All good. Guess now I should check out why the drivers door lock does not open with the key and get that sorted.

When car is new, the manufacturer may have lubricated the locks with graphite. Over time graphite can gum up and lose its ability to lubricate. Additionally, a lock can become susceptible to the elements which will eventually cause a failure, as I know at wall work repeated usage of graphite can induce a buildup inside a lock which may cause a failure. -Use a small screwdriver to open the weather cover on the lock ( where you would insert your key). -Spray compressed air into the lock to remove any trapped debris or loose graphite buildup. -Spray a small amount of WD40 into the lock.