I've noticed that"Dead Battery Locked Hood 996" is anever-increasingly popular Porsche Tech Q&A search. For that reason I've provideddetailed instructions in 12 steps on unlocking the lidsand jumpingthe battery with easy to understand pictures to solve this modernPorsche Carrera driver's dilemma. I believe this applies at least toall 996 911s &Boxsters manufactured 2001, 2002, 2003and2004.
Please make sure toread through the comments as there have been updates since this wasoriginally published.
It'sinevitable. Like all cars I know, eventually your battery is going tofail. Chances are pretty good that it's going to failwith the doors locked and your Owner's Manual inside the glovebox. Chances are also pretty good that the Porschedesignersresponsible for engineering the luggage compartment lid (aka"Boot") electronic release were oblivious to thiseventuality. Seriously, if the battery is dead how good is aelectronic release going to be to get battery access. Luckily, theydid engineer a way around the problem but it is slightlycomplicated ("...the lids can only be opened with the aidof a donor battery," meaning, you must jump your996 in order to get into the trunks so that you can jump start your996) and the Owner's Manual on the subject is somewhatconfusing (besides it's locked in yourglovebox).
Step1: Unlock your car using the manual door lock, and leave the key in thedoor. Be aware that your 996 key is programmedto enter into a remote-control battery saving StandbyMode after five consecutive days of inactivity. To many,this will be confused with having a dead car battery because noneof the remotes will unlock the car. In either case, unlock your carusing the manual door lock keyhole on the door. If you see lightsinside then your issue was the remote-control battery savingStandby Mode. If so, press the key button on your remote toreactivate the remote. You are now good to go. If youdon't see any lights on the inside you in fact probably have adead battery.
Step2: With the key still left in the door, remove theplastic cover over the fuse box in the driver's sidefoot-well.
Step3: Pull out the positive terminal in thelower left of the fuse box (next to the manual rear spoilerrocker switch).
Step4: Attach the positive red clamp of yourjumper cable from your donor battery to the exposed positiveterminal in the fuse box. Note: If you are using a donor battery, aminimum of 12 volts is required. If you are using anothercar's battery, now attach the positive red clamp to thepositive terminal on that battery.
Step5: Note: thealarm will sound when you attach the negative blackclamp of your jumper cable coming from your boosterbattery to the exposed door latch striker. Turn the alarm off bylocking and unlocking the car at the door lock.
(Note:I found this handy battery jumper at Costco for about$60.)
Step6: Unlock the rear engine compartmenthood using the switch. Although the battery is located inthe front luggage compartment (under an additional lid),the terminals forjump-starting the 996 are located in the engine compartment.These terminals are much easier to access than trying to jump thebattery directly.
Step 8: Push the positiveterminal back into the fuse box and replace the fuse box cover.Turn off allaccessories such as stereo, wipers, headlights, etc, movethe gear shift into neutral position and set the parking brakebefore attempting to jump start your 911.
Step9: Locate the positive (+) and negative (-) jumperterminals inside the rear engine compartment lid.
Update 11/1/10: I discoveredthat most auxillary jumpers (like the pictured) do not have enoughenergy to turn over a 911. You best bet is to get a jump fromanother vehicle as described.
Step10: Open the cap of the positive terminaland attach the positive red jumper cable clamp.
Ifyou are using another car's battery as a booster, now attachthe positive red clamp to the positive terminal on the boosterbattery.
Attachthe negative black cable first to the booster batteryand then to the negative terminal in the Porsche enginecompartment.
Step11: Run the engine of the booster car at a higherRPM and start your engine. Any attempts to start your car shouldnot last more than 15 seconds with a waiting period of oneminute between attempts.
Step 12: Withthe engine running, disconnect both jumper cablesfrom both cars in reverseorder.
If jump-starting thecar did not resolve your problem then you'll probably need toreplace the battery which is located in the Porsche's frontluggage compartment by now you have access to yourOwner's Manual for complete instructions on replacing your 996battery (see page218 of 911 model year 2003's manual).
Please see additionalcomments below by PCA 993 & 996 expert, JoelReiser.
See you down theroad.
Written by Perry &Co. CEO Jon Larrance.
I've noticed that "Dead Battery Locked Hood 996" is an ever-increasingly popular Porsche 911 search. For that reason I've provided detailed instructions on unlocking the lids in 12 steps with easy to understand pictures to solve this modern Porsche driver's dilemma. I believe this applies at least to all 996 911s & Boxsters manufactured between 2001 and 2004.
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