MichaelL

You would wish there would be some way of punishing the designers for doing this. A simple manual release for the trunk would seem to be a no-brain solution.

I have had to have the car flat bedded when the emergency trunk release did not work and the battery could not be charged. The added enhancement is that the steering wheel lock does not release or allow the steering wheel to be turned. Very helpful in getting the car on to the tow vehicle. If the battery appears dead, do not put the key in the ignition.

slicky rick

Good ground is critical. Manual states the hinges. I actually prefer using the unpainted door catch bolted to the door. Once you have a good ground everything the manual states is easy. For everyone looking at this post. There is a small metal"stick" on the door of the fuse box. Use this to pry the cover off the ignition key socket. Put the stick in and release the key. Very easy peasy.

slicky rick

I agree a manual hood release would have been a simple design to prevent any issues with that frunk and battery.

targaC4S

Mine is on passenger side.

Smitten

I learned the hard way that a battery charger won't release the frunk. I tried 3 chargers; 1 small 1/3/5A semi-smart charger, a battery maintainer, and a true smart charger that also will boost to 70A. If you use a charger that has any smarts at all, it sees that there's no battery and doesn't produce enough current to release the solenoid. A battery, with booster cables, or a jump pack, works best.

For a ground point, my manual says to use the door arrestor strap (which really is steel) and that works fine.

slicky rick

i think the passenger side strap is for the fuel filler door. of couse for carswith the steering wheel on the left side

Todd in PA

I searched this forum and found out you have to use the little plastic pliers in the fuse box in the driver's footwell to pull out the red positive jumping terminal and then hook up a 12 volt source, using the door latch as a ground. My key was also stuck in the ignition and I couldn't get it out. I hooked up my Deltran battery tender but it wouldn't charge, damn. I did end up using my huge jumper cables and a second car to get juice to the car. I had to separate the ends of the jumper cables to accommodate the distance from the fusebox to the door latch. After getting a good connection the frunk release worked and I opened the hood and jumpstarted the car at the battery. PS I used bunch of towels to protect the car from the jumper cables in the interior.

fskof

as per the owners manual

Rotmilky

I wanted to highlight that point. I have had the battery go dead on my 2005 several times now. The first time was a frustrating hour or two episode trying to get the frunk lid to pop. I did things like the manual stated, but nothing was happening. I was sure something else was broken too. Then I by chance managed to move my clamp onto a piece of bare steel and the lid just popped open. The problem is that there is a lot of paint and such on the door hinges and door strap. That was blocking a good ground. Once I found a good one (hint, look for bright shiny metal), then it was easy.

The last couple of times I've run the battery dead, it took me maybe 30 seconds to pop the frunk lid.

87turbo911

For mine (twice, actually...once when the battery went dead and once when I disconnected the negative terminal overnight to reset the computer...), I did as shown in #23 except that, instead of a battery, I used a portable jump starter as the power source. Really simple.

Note: Set the jumper box to the ON position after cables are connected and you're ready to pop the lid.
Turn it off after popping the lid then disconnect. Cake!

Chrono

I wonder if 8 D-Cells tied together with some Radio Shack gimmick would work? I'm sure a small 12V gel cell or motorcycle battery would work, but they'd require routine charging. Alkaline batteries have a long shelf life these days, so yeah, 8 D-Cells. Worth a try.

Petza914

Also, be careful with your windows. If the battery is totally dead then the microswitches in the door handles won't activate to drop the windows below the weather stripping. When opening the door, there's usually enough play in the window and door squeegee to open OK, but don't close the door hard with the window up or you risk breaking the glass and then getting to familiarize yourself with door panel removal and window glass replacement. Luckily, I've never had to deal with this issue and if I know I'm going to be disconnecting the battery for any type of service work, I always pop both the engine lid and the trunk and drop both windows 1" before doing so.

The other thing that might be of interest that I saw in the Coding options with my Durametric Pro Cable is that I think there is actually an option to disable the positive post that's in the fuse box - why anyone would want to do this and then really have themselves locked out I don't know, but I remember seeing something in one of the coding menus in one of the modules. If I remember next time I hook it up, I'll grab a screenshot and post it here.

usmm1234

That sends shivers down my spine to think someone would do that! I had to use the pull out positive post this morning and after struggling to get a good ground under the dash. It worked perfectly.
I wonder if the 997.2 has the cable in the wheel well like the earlier model, or do you only have the electrical back up?

Doug Rasor

I too suffered the Dead Battery problem. Mine was SO dead, no click click; no nothing. I followed the manual's directions and clipped a new battery to the fuse box red pull-out terminal and door latch ground. Heard a faint click; but lid still wouldn't open. Talked to my Porsche advisor who told me the 12V battery voltage wouldn't be sufficient to pop the lid. He told me to get a Jump box. They roughly put out 14 volts. Sure enough; hooked up the jump box and BOOM; lid opened.

Doug Rasor

I too had the dead battery problem. Bought a new battery and jumpered in to the red pull-out connection in the fuse box. Lid still wouldn't open. Talked to my Porsche service dude who said 12V from the new batter might not be enough "juice" to overcome my TOTALLY dead battery. Advised me to use a jump box instead. I did that and BOOM, worked like a charm! Now new battery is in, car started and runs fine; 'cept I can't get my key out of the ignition switch! Can't arm/disarm the alarm with my spare key either. Don't know what to do next.