My Porsche Cayman's Battery Is Dead ... And It's Locked In The Trunk!

What do you do when your battery is dead and hiding behind an electrically operated trunk lid? You hook it up like Frankenstein ...

[@jamesmarshall3311]

Enjoyed the video as a Cayman S owner myself. One thing I would mention is that you don`t have to buy a Porsche battery of course, as they are a complete rip off. Any good make like Exide or Yuasa is more than fine and costs about one third of the price. Exact same spec in every way. Definitely do not ask a dealer to do this as they will be more than happy to supply the $450+ Porsche Item !!

[@rg7968]

Thank you !!!! So much!!!! You saved me today. God bless you sir !

[@sgttombailes3380]

FYI, 996 911/ 986 Boxster gen1 does not have a a red pull out in the fuse box. You have to remove a panel by the drivers seat door. And manually release the locking mechanism. Pain in the butt. But it beats taking the wheel off & wheel liner out. The gen 2's have the red plug.. They finally did something smart.

[@JeffAdie]

Thank you!!! I thought I was toast when the trunk shut!!

[@samuelgraydon5488]

If this doesn't work for you try using the key fob to open instead of the internal switch. Worked for me 👍

[@mikefranky]

I’ve had my 997 roughly 5 years and if it’s one thing Porsche ownership learned me is trickle charger is an absolute must for these cars Even if it’s left for only a week always hook up a charger 👍

[@CliffsGarage]

Yeah, for a lot of people it seems they only drive their car once or twice a month. I, on the other hand, drive it 2-3 times a week. So, even though I have a trickle charger, I never hook it up.

[@doubletap85]

My 987 doesn't like 5-7 days, it's always a gamble. I've had it be on the edge after letting it sit a few days, and when I turned the key the spoiler went up, and the windows kept trying to roll themselves down beyond the limit. I keep a booster in the passenger footwell, and I'm way too familiar with this. For anyone wondering, this works even if you disconnect the battery.

[@mikefranky]

doubletap85 .......I’ve fitted new battery,alternator even new starter motor and it still gets battery drain 🤷‍♂️ I went to a Porsche dealership even their new Porsche’s in the showroom had chargers connected 😳

[@l.a.8709]

Thanks for this…I am locked out of my dead ‘07 Cayman. Love the car but c’mon Porsche, why must it always be so difficult? 😖

[@danbrooks3370]

You can also trickle charge via cigarette lighter outlet

[@user-ou8jd8ps2u]

My 06 Cayman S is totally dead. The fuse jump failed. Now I need to have it brought into Porsche on a flatbed truck. Only one MAJOR problem: the Tow Hook is ALSO stored inside the frunk. Porsche wants $55 for a new Tow Hook🤷🏻‍♂️. I’m fortunate that I’ve owned this car for 5 years and have never had to take it in for repairs of any kind. This seems like it should be a lifetime warranty issue as it’s clearly a major design flaw.

[@pervertt]

I'm in the same predicament. Left key in ignition and now have a dead battery. I don't know why Porsche bothered with their sick joke of a short cable release for the frunk. Now I've got to source another battery just to open the frunk so I can get to the dead battery. Grrr ....

[@BrettNoack]

You left your key on and you call Porsche stupid?

[@pervertt]

@@BrettNoack The ignition wasn't on. Leaving the key in the ignition after you've turned off the engine is pretty easy to do, especially if your other car has keyless entry / ignition / locking. The 'key' point is that it is bad design to require a working battery to get at a dead battery. A simple cable release would be cheaper, simpler and far less likely to leave an owner in the lurch.

[@williampotter2098]

I wish people making videos about this problem would mention what years this works for. Earlier Porsches don't have this function ... I'm still looking for a decent video to get my 2000 Boxster started.

[@leehopkinson3589]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6GZq6hmmKurpJY

[@roberthoffman623]

You could charge it by using the Porsche or other brand charger that connects through the cigarette lighter

[@robertjay1179]

Someone stole your yellow clamp to pull the jumper fuse!

[@pageheller9219]

Doing it now. Ha. But, please remove the cable from the negative post when you charge the battery. Otherwise you are also charging all the electrical components in the cabin, which is not recommended.

[@Theandyhumphreys]

If only life was so simple - any ideas for the same problem with a 911 (996) Carrera from 1999. Even hooking the car up to another car (terminals in the engine compartment) does not work - sufficient to power up but insufficient to turn the engine. Looks like the front wheel and liner has to come out..... err.... which side is it?

[@donventura34]

hi Cliff, I have 987.1 Cayman 2009 manual. I know this method and have done it several times no problem. But I would like to know if its possible to pop the front bonnet by plugin a small 12v battery ( small 3amp 12v battery, same one I use for the fuse compartment method) directly into one of the 12v outlet sockets, there's two in centre console. Would this mess up something or actually work and give the needed 12v to be able to pop open fronk bonnet with the bonnet lever. ./ then I use my NOBO jump starter gizmo to car battery terminals to start car. Then take it for a spin to charge up battery, then ideally trickle charge overnight to properly charge battery. all the Best from London UK ,

[@user-nb6kq3yy2f]

Didn’t work. When I did hook up the cables…all I got was 1 blinking rear driver light blinking. Nothing else

[@grigsbypoland3203]

Will this process release the key if stuck in the ignition with a dead battery?

[@siebevdc9403]

i have the same problem here..

[@cankonukoglu5016]

Hi Cliff mine finishes if ı don't drive 2 weeks during winter is that normal?

[@philipmorton2538]

Trickle charge finally solved my problem. But I didn't know you need to turn the ignition on and off after hooking it up otherwise the cigarette lighter disconnects after 15 mins

[@CliffsGarage]

Really? The one in the console? I tested it and found it was still active after about 45 minutes.

[@tulisalas6023]

I do that on my 2003 911 and the alarm sounds and cannot open the hood/trunk. What to do??

[@maroonglass5943]

What di I do if I've tried this multiple times and it still wont work? The only thing that happens is the key light on the center of the dash slowly flashes

[@happyswissjoe]

120V charger? OMG

[@orojaz]

excellent video, thanks a lot!

[@CliffsGarage]

Glad you liked it!

[@johnenriquez1439]

I got the hood open. I connected the jumper cables to another as I normally would. The porsche still won't turn over. I assume the dead battery is completely drained. Do you know at what battery voltage is needed to actually start a 911?

[@CliffsGarage]

A fully charged battery should be at 12.6 volts. Generally, once you drop below 12.4 volts things start getting iffy. Many cars won't even turn over below 12. Check out my video on slow-starting cars, there's some great info on batteries in there. kzbin.info/www/bejne/enbOlIyffs6WeqM

[@pasadenahome9864]

Hi Cliff, I tried connecting jumper cables from another car to my Porsche's frunk fuse but neither the key fob nor the frunk button in the car is working. Do you have another suggestion?

[@CliffsGarage]

Make absolutely sure you're making good connections on both the positive and ground. See if the emergency flashers work to check. Don't put the key in, though, because you won't be able to remove it without power.

[@pasadenahome9864]

@@CliffsGarage I was able to figure it out. My key was already in the ignition when the battery died. The order of when to clamp the positives and negatives matter. Had to clamp good battery positive to bad battery positive then good battery negative to bad battery negative ground.

[@hawkinsjon]

Thanks for the video Cliff. My father-in-law is having a similar issue. He removed his battery (to replace it), shut the hood by accident and is now stuck. Given his battery terminals are not connected to anything, would pulling out the little terminal in the fuse box and connecting a battery pack to a ground + to the fusebox terminal work? Or would the circuit still remain open because the battery terminals are not connected. Thanks in advance!

[@ipogo74]

I have the same issue.. how did your father-in-law solve this? by battery terminals are not connected to a battery at this point

[@jonhawkins3025]

Sorry @@ipogo74 he had it picked up by a local dealership. I'm not sure if they used a work-around or if they had to use the method where you remove the front wheel and then trigger the hood release. If I remember correctly there was some release mechanism you could pull on but you had to move heaven and earth to get to it first. Best of luck to you.

[@philipmorton2538]

I have the same problem on my boxer but i have tried using a battery charger and a battery pack and neither allowed me to open the trunk release. I can't get to it through the wheel arch because the special locking nut key for the wheels is with the spare wheel - you guessed it - in the front trunk. Any ideas gratefully received

[@mikefranky]

Make sure the battery pack is fully charged and get a good connection on the positive point and earth point if the button won’t open the bonnet try the button on the key my 997 got one but I’m not sure about boxster keys Trickle charger is a must for these as I learnt the hard way in the past 👍

[@philipmorton2538]

@@mikefranky Thanks for this, a borrowed trickle charger solved the problem

[@DyingOvaColorz]

Hey Cliff I own a 2014 911 and mine just died from just sitting in the garage collecting dust. I’m an idiot . I was wondering if you got any pointers for me or could I use this video. Right now I’m having difficulty getting into the car. It seems to have no key holes.

[@CliffsGarage]

I don't know about a 911, but some Porsches have a little slot on the bottom rear of the handle. Insert the key into that and the rear section of the handle pops off, revealing the physical key hole.

[@DyingOvaColorz]

@@CliffsGarage thank you very much cliff i manage to find the key hole underneath the handle.

[@BrianCooley]

Hey, Cliff, good explanation. Mind if I use a few seconds of it in a video I'm doing for CNET, with credit to you?

[@CliffsGarage]

Well, that certainly sounds intriguing! I'd want to know more about exactly what the video's about, what you'd want to use, how it'll be used, etc. Please contact me at [e-mail] and let's chat about it!

[@tedstallard8175]

Is there another to get power to frunk. Have no terminal to hook to

[@CliffsGarage]

Try using a battery maintainer plugged into the power socket in the passenger footwell.

[@KennethCrawford1970]

Mine won't charge from the fuse box. The "left front wheel"? Driver or passenger side? (American style steering wheel). Thank you.

[@CliffsGarage]

Driver side. From what I understand it can be kinda hard to find. I believe on the Boxster it's on the passenger side.

[@BrettNoack]

You don't charge the battery from the fuse box... It's just to supply power to open the bonnet (Frunk).

[@rg7968]

@@BrettNoackthanks . Worked to open frunk… I was wrongly trying to boost the car battery using same method… will do direct from battery now. Thanks!!!

[@ronaldsoriano9679]

ok thanks for the info i try if work😊

[@kc4ril]

Great but i do have that problem and i also have the key stuck in the ignition, could you tell us how to deal with that?

[@OnlytheBrave360]

For your key stuck, theres a Little button on the ignition barrel remove that push the reset button inside and turn key should pop out, hope that helps.

[@thomasryan5394]

@@OnlytheBrave360 Also, the jumper battery will let you remove the key

[@thomasryan5394]

@@OnlytheBrave360 The jumper battery will allow you to remove the key

[@thomasryan5394]

mine still won't open!

[@CliffsGarage]

Make sure you're getting a good ground on the negative clamp. As you can see in the video, I had a bit of a hard time getting it to grab on.

[@RyanNX211]

Cliff's Garage The connection allows me to insert and remove the ignition key. I can’t do that if the battery is removed. But, the frunk still won’t open.

[@pierredansereau8255]

I have a Boxster 2015. The car was on a battery charger for 5 months which does not seem to have worked (perhaps I did not connect the cord to the lighter correctly). We are living through coronavirus confinement and the dealership is closed. The ignition key (which works) cannot open the two trunks. I can unlock both doors but since the windows cannot lower because the battery is dead, I cannot open the doors or access any hood or trunk opening mechanism. What can I do ?

[@CliffsGarage]

I just checked on my Cayman and there's a little bit of play in the window mechanism. I would try getting a glass suction cup like at amzn.to/2Vwptnv and try to wiggle the glass down. You *might* be able get enough clearance to get the door open. Or, you might break the window regulator :) I would try asking this first in a Boxster-specific group on Facebook.

[@pierredansereau8255]

@@CliffsGarage Thank you. In the meantime I found that you could push the window in a tiny bit while lifting the soft top and the door opens. the next problem is that the trunk unlock mechanisms are all battery powered so you cannot access the battery. However you can access the fuse box and apparently there is a way to charge that to get enough power to open the trunk and properly charge the battery which may ultimately need to be replaced. All that to say you need to make sure the battery charger works properly when storing the car for the winter.

[@CliffsGarage]

@@pierredansereau8255 Yes, accessing that battery terminal in the fuse panel is what this video is about. It'll show you exactly how to do it and open your trunk. You don't actually charge the battery, you're just providing power to the system so the locks will work.

[@GilFermin]

im using my 12v charger to open the front trunk and connected the red cable to the battery terminal copper sides in the fuse panel and the black(-) to my door's hinge coz the wire is short to reach the door clamps that u used in your video. i have been waiting for 15 mins now and the frunk still wont open. im waiting for another 15 mins....

[@byronmaddox4771]

My 07 Boxter would not open with the ground hooked up to the hinge (as in some videos). It apparently did not get sufficient ground through the painted surfaces. I hooked the negative clamp to the chrome door closer on the back of the door opening (as in the video), and it opened. Good luck

[@noobrefinisher5443]

I'm not even 20 and just bought a 2007 porshe cayman for my second car is that bad idea?

[@totoroto3000]

Weird flex

[@noobrefinisher5443]

@@totoroto3000 but true