Flat Battery - Locked out. Any Ideas?

[charlieb]

Hi Guys,

Woke up today and was told the alarm on my '91 Turbo had been set off sometime early this morning. My father went out to turn it off but the only way he could de-activate it was by turning the boot lock - the alarm key fob and the front door locks did nothing.

Now, we have just gone out to attach the charger (since we suspected a flat battery) and none of the locks will open the car at all.

Obviously the battery is in the boot. The boot lock is solenoid driven so no luck there, and stupidly it seems the door locks are as well? (I normally use the alarm fob which operates the central locking) so cant recall locking it with the key ever. It is a late car and the door pins have little flashing LED's which are not lit, and the alarm is a cobra set up.

Just done a quick scan on Google and found some guys attaching jumper leads to the starter motor from underneath. Is there a more simple way around this as I am at a total loss. Totally different car but my dads griff has the same boot/battery cobmo and there is a failsafe way of accessing it without going to the jacks and jumper cables on the starter motor as the 944. I wonder if there is a similar solution that could be sent privately via PM.

Obviously PM is you have a quick solution, or if anyone has done the jumpers/jacking etc then any advice would be really appreciated as at the moment it is going nowhere fast!

Thanks in advance,

Charlie

 

[Cater_Racer]

The drivers door is usually mechanically operated.

 

[charlieb]

Well I thought that would be the case but no luck there. Unless I am being extremely thick [&:]

 

[chrisg]

Charlie

you should be able to get into the car via one of the doors - once in you can pop the bonnet and attached charging leads to the underbonnet point = small blue anodised aluminium hexagonal screw off nut next to the vacuum reservoir on the drivers side.

Failing that if you can get into the car you can manually operate the boot activation ,

good luck !

Yours

Chris

 

[charlieb]

Hi Chris,

That sounds like a much better (the only) solution since the car is in gear I wouldn't be able to use the jack/starter motor effort in any case!

Now I just need to get inside to get to the bonnet release catch.

To confirm I have double/triple checked and there is no joy using the key on either side. If i put my ear up close I can hear the 'click' of the solenoid but nothing mechanically after that happens.

So next part of the puzzle - Is there any way to open the bonnet without using the bonnet release catch?

Have thought I could sacrifice a rear window seal with a Stanley knife and pull the rear window but not even sure that would work, and I doubt either of us would be fitting thru the aperture in any case!

Stumped right now.[&:]

 

[944 man]

Charlie, the 'blue' connector is a charging point only. You can connect a battery using jump leads but only to energise the hatch mechanism, but never to try to jump start the car!

 

[charlieb]

OK understood Simon thanks.

So - assuming I can get under the bonnet. It would be

Blue charge point, then key to open the boot (or the doors since they are solenoid as well), then put the charger on the battery - Then eventually start the car.

Obviously at the moment I seem to have have no way in at all, as cant access the interior for the bonnet mechanism and cant access the boot for the battery

[]

 

[Masher]

If there is no under tray on the car it might be possible to pop the bonnet by reaching from underneath. Again, theoretical idea since I've not tried it. Sounds bizarre that no lock can be opened and if you can hear a solenoid clicking I'm wondering if the battery is flat at all. Ever seen the film Christine...?

Sorry can't be more constructive,
Mick

 

[charlieb]

OK! We have closure. []

To all others - Don't let the battery go flat on a late car with solenoid opening doors/boot mechanism.

We managed to effectively "break" into the car which was alarmingly easy with the correct procedure [].

I then opened bonnet, put the +ve charge on charging point under the blue screw on cap (feels plastic on mine - not anodised) and -ve on one of the bolts on the suspension top mount. Then opened the boot with the key with much alarm sounding!

Now got the battery charging on the jump starter unit outside.

Thanks for the advice guys. Very helpful as you saved me clambering in getting to the battery once I was in.

Was a touch worried that I slept through the alarm. However - like I said - the car wasn't going anywhere in a hurry. Built in total shutdown mode.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

[924nutter]

If you turn the key further in the boot lock it unlocks and opens manually, at leat is does on my 944 T cab

 

[pauljmcnulty]

To all others - Don't let the battery go flat on a late car with solenoid opening doors/boot mechanism.

Hi,

Mine is a 1990 car and there is no issue with the doors opening when the battery is flat: you have something else going on there.

I had loads of issues with the battery draining, and can climb in and open a 944 boot in my sleep, but the door locks should work manually even when the battery is drained? Mine always did.

 

[charlieb]

Well, as I said, if your car is configured the same as mine (solenoid locks,boot mechanism), you wont be getting in using the keys if the battery is flat and the car is locked. Trust me as I spent the majority of this morning trying. []

Weather it is the way the immobiliser/alarm has been set up I am not sure, but in my case the only way in was a brick/other method.

The moment the car was 'live' again the door locks worked using the key and the alarm system worked using the Fob.

I guess something to try for people who think they may have a set up the same as mine is to disconnect the battery with all doors unlocked, shut the boot, and try to unlock the boot or indeed lock the doors using the key in the lock, as that would in my case not work.

Cheers,
Charlie

 

[924nutter]

Mine is a 92 reg, (k) but with an M year letter which makes it '91 build, and I didn't even know it had electric release on the boot key until a fellow member enlightened me with his coupe. It may be your rotten luck that the manual linkage is missing, but glad you solved the issue without using the universal jewellers skeleton key. Infact when my cooling fan switch had a funny five minutes and flattened the battery I was able to open the boot with the key and connect up my battery starter pack, furthermore my battery has a quick disconnect knurled knob, and I have always been able to disconnect the battery and shut the boot then open the boot with the key and connect it back up.

 

[chrisjcoe]

The first 8 months of my ownership involved monthly flat batteries, and climbing through the car to open the boot from the inside because I didn't know about the under-bonnet point! However, with a flat battery, my drivers side door never had any problems unlocking.

The passenger side lock link from the lock to the mechanism was broken on mine, which meant the key never unlocked that door. If I had working central locking however, this would not have been a problem. If your central locking unlocks both doors, is it driven from the lock barrel or the door latch? If it's from the barrel, then perhaps both the drivers and passenger side link is broken, and the doors are actually unlocked by the actuator which is activated by the central locking.

This guide on Clarks shows how to check, steps 3 and 4 show the linkage. If both are missing/broken on yours, getting new parts is dirt cheap and a relative easy (and frustrating) fix.

 

[Veerzigzag]

By way of adding to the various model changes etc, my '89 is electric-only release on the boot key. The lock mechanism has a tab that would engage with and work the latch pushrods manually if I could but turn the key clockwise, but it will only go anti-clockwise and trigger the microswitch.
Driver's door opens mechanically when battery flat. It was very good to discover the charging point from the posting above and will henceforth preclude the requirement to emulate Victorian child chimney-sweeps to get at the battery or open the rear hatch as and when the old girl decides to squander her battery power in secret while I am away.

 

[charlieb]

Thanks for the input chaps,

Next time I am with it for an extended period I will pull the door cards off and take a look at the mechanics of it all. Does sound as if its pretty unique to me []

In the mean time I should think on driving it more so the battery doesn't go flat! [8D]

 

[Veerzigzag]

I should think on driving it more so the battery doesn't go flat!

Yep, that's what 944s are good at !!

 

[chrisjcoe]

Next time I am with it for an extended period I will pull the door cards off and take a look at the mechanics of it all

That's what I did, couldn't see the handle mechanism, then read the guide and discovered I'd just wasted 15 minutes and only needed to take the handle off!

 

[TTM]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty
Mine is a 1990 car and there is no issue with the doors opening when the battery is flat: you have something else going on there.

The small white plastic linkages with the small ball joints may have come off both sides. They can be put back with a flat screwdriver and a mountain of patience. If they came off then it won't be possible to lock/unlock the doors whitout the electric assistance.

 

[924nutter]

ORIGINAL: Veerzigzag

By way of adding to the various model changes etc, my '89 is electric-only release on the boot key. The lock mechanism has a tab that would engage with and work the latch pushrods manually if I could but turn the key clockwise, but it will only go anti-clockwise and trigger the microswitch.
Driver's door opens mechanically when battery flat. It was very good to discover the charging point from the posting above and will henceforth preclude the requirement to emulate Victorian child chimney-sweeps to get at the battery or open the rear hatch as and when the old girl decides to squander her battery power in secret while I am away.

Why would Porsche change a tried and tested mechanism, a system that manually unlocks anticlockwise and go to the major expense of reparting for neglible improvement, to make the key unlock clockwise, when every 924 based porsche I have had unlocks manually anticlockwise. When the man fitting the new hood flattened the battery I didn't have to hook one up the the terminal under the bonnet to get the boot open to put the booster pack on the battery.