Boot release cable broken! Help!

Hi all. Have a 02my 996 coupe. Had it for 7 years now without any issues to speak of....until this morning. Got to work and went to open the boot but nothing. Now, the solenoid/actuator thingy in the front is whirring so I used the emergency release inside the drivers door shut/rear of front wing....which promptly snapped leaving me with a 6" piece of plastic cable with a loop in my hand. So at the moment I'm stuffed. Can the remainder if the emergency cable be reached from inside the wheel arch liner? Or am I going to have to take the car to my local indy? Thanks in advance for any help. Peter.

Hi there the cable you pulled is for the fuel flap not the boot. The front boot emergency release cable is sitting above the passenger side radiator intake. It should be lying on top of the rubber duct if you put your hand in the duct and push the rubber duct out the way. It's hard to explain but it lies on top of the duct and under the front of the headlight.

Please be aware of security issues regarding our cars. Some people accessing the site might not be as honest as we would all like. Perhaps this could have been answered by private email !!!

Not on an 02 car. Cars with electrical release front lids have the emergency pull cable on the driver's side. You have to unclip the wheel arch liner, and grope around under the headlight tray, where you should find the loop of the release cable. If the car was locked, it would set off the alarm, by the way.

Ah good shout Richard, I responded quickly via my phone so didn't see the "02" part in the OP ! And yes Kevin the alarm still functions even if you open using the emergency release plus its really not an easy thing to access. infact a thief would be just as easy to smash your window to get into the car so I really don't feel there is a security issue especially since anyone can find out the information given by simply looking on the net these days anyway !

I was lucky here. My OPC said 02my cars have been known to have the bonnets trashed to open in the same scenario. However. Spent the afternoon with the wheel arch liners off on the o/s. The emergency cable is routed from the door shut into the boot space before the arch so no luck there. After several hours rummaging with the car on axle stands I was laying under the front PU looking through the little openings upwards towards the lock area with a torch when I spotted a tin loop of shiny cable. I can only assume, that on breaking, the emergency cable had gone slack. Armed with a wire coat hanger I got enough purchase on said cable to draw it down a little. That enabled my teenage son, who is good for very little else whilst home fron Uni....to just slide his skinny student arm through the gap in the apron and pull on the cable. Bonnet open. New part bought from Design 911 which is only down the road from me and £50 later the car is all good again. The cable from the actuator had broken at the release. You have to buy the actuator which comes with cable and grommet attached as one unit. Next job is to replace the emergency cable. Thanks to everyone for the input. Kind regards, Peter Hak.