Maybe the Great PET holds the answers...or the service manuals

 

It looks like in 88 Porsche came up with yet another "bright idea"

 

My '89 will not open with a dead battery, so you're not alone. It's been long enough I can't remember how the others did.

 

I think you can just use a hammer.
Apply deliberate but directed force to rear hatch glass*.
*note shield eyes
Now retrieve objects from rear deck.
Replace
Repeat as necessary

I agree...Porsche engineers sometimes have too much time on their hands.

 

This came up the other day. It was changed in 1988. My 1987 will open with a key.
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I believe some track guys have used a bicycle cable mounted to actuate the mechanism. I'm getting around to it as soon as somebody finishes the interior...

 

I guess some 944/968s came with a solenoid key and some came with manual... MIGHT have some thing to do with the security system!!!!

Ill get a video proving that it work on my 86' with no battery connected if i have to

-Ian

 

In my 1991 coupe, i cannot open the rear hatch if the battery is disconnected. The key seems to control a motor and not directly the mechanical system...

 

My 86 works just fine without the motor....in fact it never had a motor since i've had it. You just need to make sure the hatch is positioned correctly. I have to give it a little pop with my knee under the spoiler to get it to open, as i still haven't gotten it adjusted correctly.

 

While you could not open your hatch, I'll bet I could in about 2 minutes.

 

My 88 S also needs the batter and motor's to open. My other cars do not and have pulled the motor from my 84 spec car.

Yep looks like Porsche "upgraded" the cars in 88.

 

My -91 S2 needs juice to open. I've had the little lever on the motor break 2 times by now, you have to get in from the front, unclip the trim and pull on the wire that goes to the locks to open the hatch.....
The hatch lock is connected to the alarm system - you can open the hatch with activated alarm w/o any problems.

Tommy

 

They made a change in 1988, before then it was a key that turns a small cam, which pulls on the cables which frees the pins (the knee bone connected to the...). From 1988+ the key is a microswitch. You cant open the hatch without the key.

I did not know that until a few weeks ago, when it came up in a thread. Went to check out some cars and wouldnt you know, it is true. What a dumb way to open the hatch. It could be worse, it could be a Boxster
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Mines an '89 s2 and is the key/micro switch version. Talk about an over complicated system.
I had problems with mine recently. Firstly, the cable snapped near the motor. I made the brass cam to sort that out. Next, the cam on the motor snapped when I manually pulled the cable after my battery had died. Bought second hand motor just for the cam but this broke in my hands testing it. So I made an ally cam and put an ally handle in the mix with a bias to help pull it the correct way.

 

Like tommye says, alarm system senses the current to the motor and disables the alarm, according to my '89 O&M manual. My alloy (pot metal?) arm broke twice, I cut/ground one out of steel and put some slack in the cable. Trouble free since then.

Lou