How to open a Porsche bonnet when the battery Is dead

Porsches are renowned for their quality engineering, nimble handling and powerful motors. Modern Porsches rely on electric door releases for the bonnet and the boot (on the Boxsters) and the front boot on the 996s and 997s. This is usually not a problem, unless the battery goes dead, in which case the button that releases the boot will not work. Fortunately Porsche designed a method of opening the bonnet and boot on vehicles that have a dead battery.

Locate the small rectangular piece of plastic on the corner of the plastic wing line that covers the inside part of the wheel arch. This is to the rear of the suspension spring near the edge of the wheel arch.

Reach under the piece of plastic until you locate a thin piece of cable about 3 mm (1/8 inch) in diameter. Pull the cable out from the behind the piece of plastic. This cable is a manual release for the bonnet. Pull the cable hard once away from the headlight. The bonnet should pop open.

Disconnect the negative battery terminal with a 10mm (3/8 inch) spanner if the alarm starts going off from the opened bonnet.

Locate the fuse panel cover on the left side of the driver's foot well. Remove the panel. There will be a red plastic contact with an icon of the front bonnet in the open position.

Connect the red (positive) clamp of a pair of jump leads to the red contact and the other red clamp to the positive terminal on a 12V battery. Connect the black (negative) clamp to the metal door post on one end and the other end to the negative terminal on the battery. This should provide enough power to pop the front bonnet open.

Disconnect the negative battery terminal with a 10mm (3/8 inch) spanner if the alarm starts going off from the opened bonnet.