Dead battery, frunk access problem - Solved

After reading about the difficulties accessing the frunk while dealing with a dead battery , and Porsche ’s less than ideal solution of the emergency frunk release located in a very hard to access location, I began exploring options to avoid the need to jack up the vehicle, remove the left front wheel and inner fender liner and attempt to grab the tiny stub of a cable protruding from the body, which by the way, you will probably need a pair of Vice grips or strong pliers as it needs a rather significant tug to release the frunk lid. And praying that I won’t need to do this on the side of a highway, in the dark, possibly raining or snowing. And yes, I know about the other Porsche provided solution of the retractable Positive terminal in the fuse block in the drivers side footwell. And I’ve read the numerous failures when attempting this with battery packs, trickle chargers and other devices. I also fear the rare occasion when/if the frunk electrically-actuated release fails, or there is a blown fuse. And exploring how the emergency release is engineered, it appears, as others have mentioned, that it may only work once, requiring an additional, expensive repair. Hopefully I will never need to even resort to this, but I feel much better having this backup plan. This is where the emergency release cable ‘grabs’ the sheath of the cable connected to the electrical release actuator. Where the cable exits the frunk, behind the carpeted frunk liner, and enters the wheel well. Location of the cable ‘stub’ once the wheel well liner is removed. Cable sheath, plastic, which will most likely need to break to allow the cable and sheath to move the latch, unlocking the frunk lid. Pulling the release under the fender will not pull just the cable, but the entire assembly of cable and sheath, breaking the plastic collar that secures the sheath to the latch housing. I unbolted the latch assembly from the front wall of the frunk, after pulling back the carpet liner to expose the nuts securing it. Then disconnected the manual release which is inside the frunk, the white-ish handle, which I guess is if someone were to become locked in the frunk. Huh! Must be safety regulations. Rear view of latch assembly. Top is where existing cable attaches, bottom is where I attached cable I bought at local bike shop. Just a standard brake cable and sheathing. I routed it towards the passenger side, there is plenty of room, and brought it out into the space above and behind the fog/parking light housing after removing 2 screws securing it to bumper cover. Used a piece of scrap metal to secure cable sheath to bracket holding inside frunk release actuator. Location where new auxiliary cable exits bottom rear of latch housing. Made a loop to grab to release frunk using new, added auxiliary release cable. Will fabricate a more permanent loop in cable using proper cable clamp in the future. Plenty of unused space to tuck loop above and behind fog/parking light housing. Can not be seen or accessed once light housing is reinstalled. To address concerns about security: My vehicle is garage kept, so I’m not worried about someone trying to access my trunk. Nothing in there anyway. I figure if someone really wants to get into my frunk, they could just as easily slice open the top. I’d rather sacrifice whatever is in the frunk than have to replace my convertible top. - For added security, one could replace the Philips head screws holding light assembly to bumper cover with tamper-proof torx screws, which I would keep the bit and driver in my small tool pouch inside the vehicle. And in the case of a dead battery the vehicle could opened manually using the key. - And since this is a one-off solution, I highly doubt the odds of anyone coming across my unique setup in the real world, and the astronomical odds of encountering my vehicle in the wild. And they would have to be reading Planet 9 to even know about its existence. I’ll take my chances, and sleep well knowing I won’t need Porsche’s less than satisfactory provisions for accessing a dead battery under adverse conditions.

This is excellent, thanks!

This is awesome as I thought about installing something like the above. One lessons learned, those jump packs, battery starters DO NOT / DID NOT work for me, HOWEVER, a back up sump pump battery with constant 75AMP worked within a second. I guess there is a reason why manual indicates the "donor" battery . https://www.planet-9.com/threads/opening-frunk-when-battery-dies-lessons-learned.256215/

That is exactly what led me to find some other solution to this much-written-about issue. I had been scratching my head for the past year or so to find a way around Porsche ’s less than ideal design, especially when the use of the ‘emergency’ release would most likely result in a newly created problem by breaking the latch release mechanism. My original plan was to install a remote positive battery terminal somewhere under the passenger side wheel well and I had pretty much figured out how and where to accomplish this. The only thing giving me pause was the fear of a short either at the terminal or the cable leading to it, which could fry anything in contact with it at best, or burn to car to the ground, hopefully not while parked in my garage, at the worst. And for the cost of a shifter cable at the local bike shop, under $20, and some MacGyver’ing with the latch mechanism, I feel confident I will never be on the side of the road wondering how to access the battery for AAA or a passing Good Samaritan with jumper cables.

I extended the cable on my 981C and there is a little bit that sticks out into the front wheel well that I can grab with a pair of pliers, etc. Just in case...

I thought about that also, but if you dig deeper into it, you will find that the cable does not pull directly on the tang inside the latch mechanism. It pulls on the sheathing covering the cable, which in turn will break the plastic collar which secures the sheathing to the latch housing. That’s what concerns me, and others have commented on, that it may only work once. Good for an emergency, but will require a repair post-use. That is the reason I went for a solution that will allow one to open the frunk without damaging the cable. The cable under the wheel well does not exert force on the actual cable connected to the actuator when you lift the button on the door sill. It only pulls the entire cable assembly, sheathing and all, which in order for the latch to release, must pull everything at once. Possibly breaking that white plastic collar circled above. In any case, I don’t want to pull it and find out the hard way. If anyone has had to resort to using the wheel well release cable, please weigh in on how that worked, and did it result in any damage. I’m only going on previous posts where people have speculated that it may be a one-time use. I’m curious, waiting to hear. You mention that yours is a 981C, maybe Porsche has changed the way it works on that model, but the 987 appears to have this Achilles heel.

I've had to use it a couple times, and it hasn't broken the sheathing or anything, but I like your solution far better.

Thanks for the feedback. You’re the first I’ve heard that has actually used it. Anecdotally, others have claimed to be afraid to use it since the common belief is that it is good for one, maybe two uses. Now we have firsthand experience. Almost would like to plant a camera in that space and see how that little metal ‘lasso’ pulls on the cable and sheath to effectively release the latch. But nice to know it will when needed.

This is brilliant AF!!! Worth the membership to Planet-9!

Great - we'll see supporting member next to your name soon?

Is the problem with the Porsche fuse box solution that one needs to use a sufficiently strong power source? That a trickle charger or portable power pack isn’t enough? I‘ve seen example where folks tried those power sources with no luck, but were successful when using another car or old school battery charger?

In most cases, the trickle charger or portable pack won't supply power when it doesn't see a voltage on the existing connection. So, they simply don't deliver power at all, until they see something first. This is because they have circuitry to prevent backwards connections or bad connections. Old-school stuff didn't have these features, and so they just provided power immediately. Another car, also, doesn't have such a feature, so straight jumper cables provided power immediately as well. That's often why those won't work on the fuse-box points . Some chargers/packs do offer an override button to bypass the check... but this has to be engaged with a separate step.

I recently added an SAE pigtail to my battery and have the connector routed out the driver's side of the hood. I can now periodically use my Battery Minder to keep the battery charged without opening the hood. I can also use the connector to connect a second battery to open the frunk if needed.

have a pic of your setup?

Easiest solution seen so far. Do you have pic?

This seems to be the easiest and best of all the solutions I have seen here! Thanks!