1999 Porsche Boxster Starting my car with a dead battery.

To open the front trunk when the battery is dead you can use this method which requires a small screwdriver and flashlight. It allows you to open the front hood lid in about 10 seconds once you learn the trick. This is outlined below:

1. Both trunk levers are cable operated. When the alarm is set, a solenoid latches the two trunk levers. If the battery dies while the alarm is set, it is necessary to open the door with the key. Opening the door with the key does not unlatch the trunk levers since there is no power to operate the solenoid.

2. To learn how to unlatch the trunk levers, examine under the front trunk lever by looking through the slot between the two trunk levers with a flashlight. Look for the tab on the underside of the front trunk lever. Directly below the tab is a small U shaped cutout. When the lever is pulled up, the tab drops into the small U shaped cutout. When the alarm is set, a small white plate slides over the small U shaped cutout from the center of the car towards the outside of the car. This prevents you from pulling up the lever because the tab cannot pivot down into the small U shaped cutout.

3. To unlatch the front trunk lever, use a very thin shaft straight slot screwdriver (I used my wife's nail filer). Slide the screwdriver between the two trunk levers and insert it between the solenoid plate and outside rear edge of the U shaped cutout and slid the plate toward the center of the car and pull up on the front trunk lever. Bingo!

Good Luck!

Bobby Mahal

I did the trick suggested by mmahal and it worked like a charm! THANK YOU AND BIG PROPS TO YOU! I used a steel BBQ skewer! Its thin enough and long enough to get in there and shove the tab over.

Just any FYI, on my 99 Boxster the white tab is on the outside of the hood and trunk release levers. The nail file or in my case long thin screw driver did the trick.

Thanks

Tried the technique that Mmahal gave and even though it took me sometime happily, it worked! I forgot he it easier to work on the back lever as it was easier to reach on my 99 boxster. Awesome advice as my battery was dead and could not be revived without a full boost! Thanks guys, much appreciated!