Re: Locked Boxster Trunk

I disconnected the negative terminal on my battery to put my 2012 base Boxster in storage. I then did one of the dumbest things I've ever done and closed the trunk. I asked for help on this board on how to open the trunk and was told to remove the cover on the fuse box, using the yellow colored extractor pull out the red fuse and apply power to the fuse with a positive cable and then ground the negative cable on the door hinge. I did that yesterday and nothing happened when I tried my key and when I tried the button next to the driver's seat that is used to open the trunk. When I pushed the key to open the trunk, I saw something I've never seen on the key before - a red light appeared on the key that I've never seen before on the key. When I tried my second key the same thing happened. I'm locked out of my trunk and I'm not sure what to do next. I'm wondering if the fact that I disconnected the negative terminal on my battery before closing the trunk prevents the above procedure of applying power to the red fuse from working. Anyone have any ideas on how to solve my problems? Thanks much.

I'm not sure that having the negative cable disconnected to your battery makes a difference. I'm sure someone else can chime in on that.

The flashing light on your key is normal when unlocking the car or trunks. You probably don't usually watch your key when unlocking your car or trunks.

Are you sure that the donor battery is OK?

Here are the instructions for emergency trunk release from the 2010 Boxster manual, which I believe is the same for the 2012. From you description it sounds as if you've connected everything correctly.

Having the battery disconnected won't allow for the opening of the trunk with the lug on the fusebox.
You have another option:
Remove the front left tire and pull on the emergency release cable to open the trunk. If you have a safety bolt on your wheel and the socket is locked in the trunk, then you may have to destroy the security bolt by removing it with an extractor.
Once the tire is out you need to remove the wheel liner. With the liner out of the way you will see a small braided wire noose sticking out of the bodywork (Red arrow on image).
Pull this cable and your trunk should pop.
Lesson learned. Don't do it again.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Pedro, Thank you for your information. Just want to confirm that I should remove the left tire to reach the cable that will open my trunk. Thanks again for your help. Our group is fortunate to have you as a resource.

Yes, pull the left front wheel liner to access the pull chord. If you don’t have the security lock for the wheel bolt, you can borrow the dealership’s security bolt key (they have all of them), but you’d have to get your car to the dealer. Or, you can destroy it like Pedro said, to get it out.

could there be an alternate circuit that would supply power and provide a ground? Like another fuse, once pulled, and a male blade connector of sorts coming from the 12V donor, inserted into that fuse location. Also some other, more direct (?) grounding.

I have decided to have the local Porsche dealer solve this problem and I have an appointment this coming Wednesday. I hope they can get the trunk lid open. What an avoidable mess!!! I will let you folks know how things turn out. Thank you for your suggestions and a big thank you to Pedro.

Quote
Sayle
I have decided to have the local Porsche dealer solve this problem and I have an appointment this coming Wednesday. I hope they can get the trunk lid open. What an avoidable mess!!! I will let you folks know how things turn out. Thank you for your suggestions and a big thank you to Pedro.

They will do exactly as we described so you won’t have to go thru any trouble or headache. The only headache will be what they will charge you for this service. In the future, maybe just use a battery maintainer instead of undoing the battery cable.

Well, here’s the rest of my locked trunk saga. As I mentioned above, I couldn’t get the trunk to open by applying power to the appropriate fuse and grounding the power source to the door stop hinge. I tried a self contained power unit and I tried using jumper cables attached to a car. The trunk wouldn’t open. I understood that there is a backup cable buried behind the left front tire that can unlock the trunk, but removing the tire, taking cladding out of the tire well to get to the cable was a task I decided was more than I wanted to undertake at my age (81). I therefore had the car towed to the nearest Porsche dealer. The earliest appointment I could get was 5 days out! When the car finally arrived at the dealer I was advised the dealer was backed up but they would have my car fixed 3 days later. The good news is the dealer was able to open the trunk. When I spoke with the service technician, I asked how difficult was it to get to the back-up cable. He said he applied power to the appropriate fuse and that opened the trunk. I asked him how he was able to do that when I couldn’t. We confirmed I was using a 12 volt jumper unit and the car I tried also used a 12 volt battery. He said some power units turn themselves off when they meet resistance to avoid doing damage. He said the dealer had a special unit that won’t shut down and it did the trick. My stupidly ended up costing me $81 for the row to the dealer and $240 to have the dealer use his power unit. I shudder to imagine the cost to remove a tire and open up the wheel well. I remember reading somewhere, probably on this site, that when you open your trunk to work on your battery, throw a towel over the trunk lock mechanism so you can’t accidentally close the trunk. Good advise. Thank you for your suggestions as I worked through my self-induced problem.

Glad to hear you got it fixed. Wish you many more years of enjoyment of your Porsche!

Pedro--Please explain how the dealer "special unit" will open the hood with the battery being disconnected.

Only thing I could of is that you could put 12V on the solenoid valve via the fuse panel but don't know if a fuse is available for the front hood.

That's what they did.
They applied 12 volts directly to the circuit.
It's not a DIY job because it's very easy to fry the ECU or CLU if you miss the correct side of the fuse.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna