ppressle

(I did a few searches on trunk button which turned up no pertinent hits...)

A friend at work was proudly showing me his new to him 2002 996tt. I tried to open the engine cover by pressing on the (top of the) button on the door sill and nothing happened, so I pressed a little harder and the release button fell down into the plastic panel holder!

What happened? How do I fix this? I looked at the door sill and it looks like there are a couple of plastic caps which probably have screws behind them, but I didn't pursue it.

Thanks for any advice!

Pete

gota911

You did that to someon else's P-car and your still able to type with your fingers? WOW, that must be some good friend!

ppressle

Yea yea... all that really means is that I can run. The least I can do is help get it resolved.

jcnesq

Warranty repair!

evolvedaz

Do you have a pic of it...could be just a clip or a replacement we could get from the dealer. Usually they pop into place like a model car unless the clip part broke. Post a pic if you can.

ppressle

Thanks all.

Don't have a picture or access to the car right now.
Essentially, if you look down on the door sill, there is a black plastic panel which has the trunk and engine cover buttons on it. The engine cover button has dropped down underneath the black plastic panel. You can still actuate it by sticking your finger down the hole to touch the switch that is sitting down there.

It seems like the mechanism that holds the switch into the plastic has failed.

If it is not trivial, warranty!

Lee from Toronto

Maybe it's too late and I'm a bit tired, but don't you pull up on the switch instead of push down on it?

rdstemler

Contracts for "hitmen" take a few days to negotiate!

djantlive

I think the switch panel needs to be pulled and the button needs to be reattached. Not sure if the panel can just be pulled (probly held by clips to the door sill). The buttom is likely to be clipped onto the panel but I'm not 100% sure.

IMO, just take it to the dealer for fix since you don't want to break more of it and it's not your car.

In future, pull these buttons, not push.

ppressle

Thanks for the advice all. At least all that did not involve bodily harm.

My friend has a 30k service scheduled this week anyway, so he was going to let the dealer fix it. Hope it is covered!

Pete

eugkim

I found this thread when I searched how to open the door sill. I gave a friend my 996 TT for the day. I heard that he had to jump start it (I warned him that the battery would go dead if you left the ignition on at all without the car running). The car was in my driveway, couldn't start it. I push started it (didn't know until now that you could do so in reverse; I only ever tried in 2nd), went to open the trunk to attach my battery tender, and found that the trunk release button was pushed out of place. It's now loose in the door sill. My guess is that it snaps in place if you open the door sill. Anyone ever try to open the sill up?

bgrpph

same thing happened to my 02- it popped inward- if you look at the
side of the area where switch fell into- toward drivers seat you'll see 2 holes- it takes a torx i believe- take out the two screws and switch plate comes up-
i was able to just push my switch back in as nothing was broken- if clip
broke off you may be able to use some JB weld to hold it in place (I did this
with my sunroof switch which came loose) hope this helps

eugkim

Thanks bgrpph, I'll give it a try.

PorscheDoc

5mm allen is what you need. 2 holes on the side of the sill, just loosen them up a few turns, and grab the sill and work it upwards (it will take a firm tug) . You may have to slide the seat forward/aft to get in the holes depending on your tool. The holes are notched, so no need to remove the bolts all the way. Shouldn't take more than about a minute to pull the sill and take a look at the underside.

Shark Attack

lol... you should have just looked up and said.. "holy cow your rear hatch lid button is broken, Who was the last one to open it.?. I cant believe they didnt fess up.. The nerve!"

Just kidding.. you are a good guy for finding a fix.