Help ! '99 996 Luggage Compartment Latch Stuck / Broken Cabl

[shoffins]

Hopefully someone can offer some advice here. I have a '99 996 cabriolet and my luggage compartment won't open. (this is not the electric mechanism, just the early basic cable release) I'd say it's a broken cable, but I'm not positive it is since I have located the emergency release cable with loop on the passenger side and have tried pulling it from different angles so hard that if it were going to pop, it would have.

My trunk has been very hard to close for sometime but I just hadn't gotten around to adjusting or taking it in... now it's completely stuck with my laptop inside and I leave for a trip in a day.

Are there any other tricks ?? it's possible that if the cable isn't broken, a bag strap or something could be interfering. Assuming the emergency cable doesn't do it, is there any other way to access the latch ?? you need to get in the trunk to remove the bumper it appears.

Help !!

Steve H

[number9ine]

Hopefully someone can offer some advice here. I have a '99 996 cabriolet and my luggage compartment won't open. (this is not the electric mechanism, just the early basic cable release) I'd say it's a broken cable, but I'm not positive it is since I have located the emergency release cable with loop on the passenger side and have tried pulling it from different angles so hard that if it were going to pop, it would have.

My trunk has been very hard to close for sometime but I just hadn't gotten around to adjusting or taking it in... now it's completely stuck with my laptop inside and I leave for a trip in a day.

Are there any other tricks ?? it's possible that if the cable isn't broken, a bag strap or something could be interfering. Assuming the emergency cable doesn't do it, is there any other way to access the latch ?? you need to get in the trunk to remove the bumper it appears.

Help !!

Steve H

I'd try two people, one pulling on the emergency cable, the other pushing down on the Porsche crest and simultaneously using something to slide into the gap between the hood and bumper cover to catch the safety release.

If the latch mechanism has been lowered over time you may be able to raise it again. try a few lengths of strong twine under the front of the hood, and one person on either side to hoist the twine and lift at the hood. It may pull the latch mechanism to a height where it will release the trunk. Once you've opened the trunk, the latch is adjustable via mounting bolts beneath the trunk carpeting at front.

I'm not sure what the next step would be if you can't get it open. I'd take the car to a dealer to sort it. Good luck.

Mark

[shoffins]

Mark - Thanks a bunch... The string worked !! weirdly, the cable is NOT broken, and there was nothing interfering. The latch mechanism itself seems to be broken... there is no spring action at all and the latching mechanism is weak at best. But the string (like 1/8"rope) put enough upward pressure on the hood to trigger something while I slid a thin sheet of flexible plastic back and forth and it allowed me to get it open...

The alarm went off when it popped, so I had to run in and get my keys, so I lost a bit of detail on what i did, but it opened : - )

But thanks again, I have retrieved my laptop before my trip and can now focus on getting a new latch mechanism when I return. Kind of scary at the same time though that I was able to get into my luggage compartment (with zero damage) of my locked car (forgot it was locked) using a piece of thin rope and a flat sheet of plastic.... maybe that's why they moved to an electric mechanism on later 996's....hmmmm

Thanks again !!

Steve Hoffins

[number9ine]

Mark - Thanks a bunch... The string worked !! weirdly, the cable is NOT broken, and there was nothing interfering. The latch mechanism itself seems to be broken... there is no spring action at all and the latching mechanism is weak at best. But the string (like 1/8"rope) put enough upward pressure on the hood to trigger something while I slid a thin sheet of flexible plastic back and forth and it allowed me to get it open...

The alarm went off when it popped, so I had to run in and get my keys, so I lost a bit of detail on what i did, but it opened : - )

But thanks again, I have retrieved my laptop before my trip and can now focus on getting a new latch mechanism when I return. Kind of scary at the same time though that I was able to get into my luggage compartment (with zero damage) of my locked car (forgot it was locked) using a piece of thin rope and a flat sheet of plastic.... maybe that's why they moved to an electric mechanism on later 996's....hmmmm

Thanks again !!

Steve Hoffins

Awesome, Steve! Glad you got it open. Let us know what your mechanic diagnoses when you get the latch fixed.

Mark

[DKPete]

Hi Steve or Mark

I have excactly the same problem - just with food in the luggage compartment - and a trip tomorrow morning.

I didn't quit understand the solution - How did you release the lock?.I have tried with a piece of plastic but so far no succes

Any suggestions

Br

Peter

[DBJoe996]

This has happened to many people. The first thing to try is to have someone pull the release lever while you pull UP on the hood. The string mentioned is to make it easier to pull UP. The hood latch mechanism has a spring that is supposed to push the hood up when released. It has a tendency (on older cars) to either break or come off it's landings in the hood latch mechanism. That happened to me. I got the hood opened, removed the hood latch mechanism, took it apart and saw the spring had come off the landings. A simple fix and it has worked perfectly now for a long time. I also re-routed the manual release cable from behind the right side light assembly to behind the tow hook plug on the front bumper. Saves hours and hours manually getting the hood open.