Just wondering if anyone has done this...on purpose
If you just rremove the motor and cables, etc, I assume the key will still work just fine. My switch works off and on, and I am rarely inside the car and needing to pop the hatch...so just in the interest of economics, and even reducing weight...

Thoughts, comments, experiences?
Thanks to all in advance!

 

Disconnect the battery and then try to open the trunk with the key. It has been my experience this does not work with 944's. 928's yes, not 944's.

 

Good tip...I'll try it after work and see....guess that will answer the question as to whether it will allow the delete to happen

 

EDIT - bad info!!!!

 

I'm interested to know your results.

 

uhhhh NO

My cable on the motor for the rear hatch was disconnected since i bought it... I ALWAYS used the key to open it and it works... no to mention right now my battery is disconnected and i still open and close the rear hatch with the key in the rear.

I have a 86' though maybe thats why

-Ian

 

IIRC You don't need juice to pop the hatch. Just turn the key and pull up the tail.
Now the motor was still there so that does not help you much
Now the 968 for sure has an electronic(no direct mechanical connection) lock...that I have no experience with.
Picture here

 

That is different than the situations I have experience with.

Perhaps having the motor connected, although not functioning, prohibts the latch for working with just the key. If that is the case, I will yank my motor and disconnect its cable to the latch to save some weight on my car. Thanks for the tip Ian.

 

I haven't looked at any 951S cars with respect to the rear hatch release, but all the other 944/951s can have the motor deleted with no problems. I have done this on four different 944's so far. Not only that, but I find that the key release works better without the extra linkage to the motor. You should have no problems.

Don't do this on most 968's. Without power, the key won't work. My 968, which was supposedly untouched since it left the factory, had a 944 type rear trunk lid release on it, and I have no idea what the story is behind that. I am the second owner of the car and got it with 30k miles on. The car had been owned by a lady in her 60's that bought it new and had it serviced at Champion Porsche in Florida only, and they had no record of doing anything with it. I have since switched it out to the "proper" keyed solenoid release.

Regards,

 

I have stripped tooooo many 944s with out batterys in them. You can always open the hatch without a working 12v power source. Think about it, you use the key and there is no power going to the motor anyway unless the switch is being pushed at the same time.
The key barrel is directly connected to the lever that pushes and pulls each rod to each pin clasp.

 

I must be really unlucky then. I'm 5 for 5 on personal 944's not opening with dead batteries.

 

Well mine won't open without power..... Turning the key actually turns a small cam in the boot, which presses a microswitch, which operates the motor to pull a cable, which goes to a little lever mechanism RIGHT NEXT to the boot lock, which splits into two cables to the hatch release pins/bolts/clips (whatever you wanna call 'em)

But then I've heard on earlier cars they were directly connected.........

 

FWIW both my 86 951's work without power

-John

 

I do not know about 88 and newer cars but yes 87 and eariler are direcly connected. There are no micro switches them as well.

 

FWIW, my experience is with an '88 coupe, 2 '89 coupes, and 2 '91 coupes.

I swear I hear a noise when I turn the key, like a motor clicking and doing some work. If I'm dead wrong, I'll be the first to admit. I wish my car was hear so I could go check for myself.