Hi all. Just been to the 944 to fire her up and run for a bit etc but am locked out. The battery must be flat but the key doesn't appear to open the doors or boot manually.
Any ideas?
Any ideas?
Help!! Locked out
- Thread starter picopro19k78
- Start date
robwright
New member
The key should still unlock the door you stick it in manually. If you an oval dash it won't unlock the boot though. In any case if you hace an oval dash you need to gain entry, pop the bonnet. In the scuttle on the left of the car (viewed from the front) you will see a small blue plastic cap. Unscrew it and put a battery or charger pack on here. This will give you power to unlock the boot. You can charge the battery or jump start the car. DO NOT jump from the small terminal under the bonnet the wiring is not man enough for the job. If you can't gain entry the only thing you can do is get power to the large positive terminal on the starter motor. This is wired straight to battery. This will mean you have to jack the car up as the starter is on the bottom of the clutch housing. It's the only way to access it.
Have you tried the key both ways up? I know it sounds silly, but I always thought my keys did not unlock the tailgate until she who must be disregarded opened it. It turned out that I always, subconciously, orient my keys with the crest on the right but turning the key the other way round worked. The lock/key/both must have been slightly assymetrical - might be worth a try...
Thanks for that. The locks seem dead. I wonder if they are still frozen? Both locks turn through 45 Deg but no unlocking sound and they turn very easily. I seem to remember when the battery was flat before they opened ok. I have a jump starter battery pack. If I put the positive clamp on the starter motor and the negative to ground this will give enough power to open the boot and then get the doors open and strip out the mechanism?
My S2 had exactly the same problem a few weeks ago - left it for a couple of weeks, battery dead and none of the locks will open on the key without power. No way to open bonnet to get to charge point, doors wont open on the key, scratch head, search forums... Jacked it up drivers side, spare battery, jump leads on starter positive and negative on exhaust bracket, enough power to power the bootlid motor and jobs done.
Thanks. At least I know that will work. Tomorrow I will jack her up and proceed.................... surprised though as the keys my Evo worked when the immob drained the battery. Planning to strip out the dash whilst she's not taxed and replace the heater matrix as is not usable in the winter. Have been putting off as I had to remove the matrix at the breakers. Nightmare. Thanks all again.
944 man
Active member
Hmmm. For you future reference, in on order to prevent you from having to do this again: Porsche have provided a positive battery connection (suitable for opening the hatch, but NOT for jump starting the car) under the bonnet. Under the drivers side windscreen youll see a copper connector with a blue cap on it - connect this to your positive lead and connect the negative to ground. Youll now be able to open your electric-latch hatch. Simon
hiya pico, all great advice others have given, whats happening with yours is the same as mine ie boot wont open, if your cable has snapped or lever sheared off you still wont be able to open it ,my cable snapped six months ago and fear the same as happened again or something else related to cable, you can hear mine trying its hardest to open but it wont happen with or without key, thankfully have not had a flat battery, so for me,its off to specialists and get diagnosis, then to elliot,alisdair, or bert for relplacement parts, good luck jason
pauljmcnulty
Active member
Firstly, what model is it? If a later car then this is the terminal you need to attach a charger to: I can't see why the doors aren't opening on the key so you can open the bonnet?
1989 S2. Going to try the battery pack on the terminal tomorrow if its dry. I can't understand why the key doesn't work as I'm sure I've had a flat bettery before and the keys opened the doors. It almost feels like the mechanism isn't connected as there is no resistance at all when turning the key. I think it will be wise to strip/grease/clean the door mechs as I know that the central locking on the passenger door doesn't work as the arm thingy keeps disconnecting (Think its stretched and the socket is too big for the ball) Thanks again everyone. At least I won't have to smash the window!!!!!!!!!
Yes i new about the positive battery connection under the bonnet as i said in my first post, but if you cant get the doors open to access the bonnet release and open the bonnet, its not much use.... hence finding out about the 'jump lead' solution i described above as a last resort [
] As to why my doors wont open without electrical power ive never had cause to test before a few weeks ago when my battery went flat, but rest assured like picopro19k78's they just dont - a job ill look into in the summer. I'm suspecting in my case a previous owner has got something to do with it though, as its got a couple of extra security immobiliser devices with door locking fitted which could be the culprit. Still, always good to know there is another quick, easy & free solution if you cant get into the car itself to open the bonnet and do it the 'proper' way.
peanut
Active member
what an absolute nightmare if you are stuck out in the middle of nowhere in the dark ! On the S2 the rear hatch lock works electrically not mechanically if you check you'll see there is a microswitch attached to the lock. Its basically wired in parallel to the footwell rear hatch switch so if your battery is flat your key won't do anything in the rear hatch lock. Be careful not to create any sparks or arching when connecting a power source to the starter because the ECU is extremly sensitive to current surges and operates mostly on 3-5v internally
pauljmcnulty
Active member
I'm just really confused as to why the doors won't open, needing the window removing! Obviously, with a flat battery the remote locking, central locking and boot won't work, but the doors should unlock with the key without issue? Unless they're frozen solid I guess.
peanut
Active member
yes they should Mine certainly do. The door locking mechanism is entirely mechanical on all 944's that I have used or owned. The S2 has an electrical power assist when the remote is activated but that is just a small solenoid attached to the mechanical linkage assisting the door lock mechanism. Sounds like either the locks are frozen or the op is using the wrong key
944 man
Active member
A small point, made to avoid confusing some owners: Not all oval dash / series two cars have a non-mechanical hatch release. It was only 1989 model year cars onwards (from memory: thisll include a lot of 1988 registered cars too, of course) which had this feature. Equally it will only be these late cars which have the positive connection under the bonnet. Simon
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