DEAD BATTERY

Hi All As the car is parked up and despite me promising myself I would go and run the engine once a week, its not happened. The battery is now completely flat, so much so that I cannot even open the lid to get to the battery. I know this has probably been covered hundreds of times, so I do apologise for bringing it up again! So today, I tried to put some power in through the connection in the fuse box via leads whilst attaching the negative to the door hinge running the lead to my other car battery. After half an hour with the other car's engine running, the alarm started to go off endlessly. A good sign I thought, as, at least there was some power going to the battery and hopefully the bonnet release switch would work. I left it still running some more but the alarm was driving me mad and, nothing from the lid release switch, nothing at all. So, back to square one and I am wondering what other ways are there to get the lid open so I can connect some leads directly to the battery to give it some life!! Any responses would be appreciated. Thanks

What year is the car?

Hi, its a 02 996c4s

If you haven't got it going yet then here is a possible solution. If its the same as my 1998 996 and you have access to the rear, then under the nearside lamp cluster there is a pull wire to open the rear engine lid. Just slip a hooked wire under the plastic near the lid side and hook it out and you can then open the engine lid and put some power in via the connections in there. Pictures are the best way to understand it so search online for dead battery and you'll find some or here is one and if you look down the page to the para under "rear release" there are pics of the wire hoop and the positive charging point. The negative could be any earthed bolt etc. http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=56267&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Best to use the airbox mounting bolt as the earth - as it says in the manual.

Hi Steve, thanks for your advice, much appreciated. Yes I have tried both now, power through the fuse box in the front and as you suggested above, fishing out the cable behind the rear light cluster and connecting the cables via the engine. Sadly, not enough to release the switch. I assume the battery has drained itself completely and will not show any life. Unfortunately this doesn't help when trying to open the front lid! Seb

Seb, Isn't there a front lid cable release behind the R/H front wheel arch liner? http://www.porsche.com/all/media/pdf/originalparts/en/E_996_KATALOG.pdf See item 803: cover, front Jeff

I thought there is also a front lid manual release pull behind the offside front arch liner? This thread refers to an 01 Boxster but I imagine it's the same on the 996 https://www.renntech.org/...r-a-year-off-the-road/ See this video. Again for a Boxster but I'm pretty sure it's the same for the 911 [link]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o3X7DaHrxw[/url] Secondly, is the cigarette lighter socket live with the ignition off on the facelift 996 as it is on the 997? If so you could try connecting a Ctek battery conditioner but it would take a long time to get enough into the battery! Thirdly, I don't suppose you have any breakdown cover/AA etc.......?

Thanks for your responses . I believe there is a cable but haven't quite got to that yet. I don't think you can plug in a ctek without the ignition on, plus I haven't got a power socket nearby. The guys who service the car have kindly offered to come over to sort it out. It needs an MOT and service anyway so they will take it away there and then. Thanks Seb

Finally! The guys who look after the car arrived. They still couldn't release the front via the switch when connecting power - strange as they had never had this before. As I had located the cable behind the rear light cluster, I popped the engine lid and they connected power and miraculously started the car this way. They have now taken it and I am waiting for the service and MOT bill to arrive!! Thanks for your advice.. Seb