Dead Battery with Broken door key cylinder

[Renaeg0]

Hi All, Im hoping you can help me with my dilemma. I have a '99 Boxster. The day before Thanksgiving the door key lock cylinder broke suddenly with no warning. I had my purse in the rear trunk as well as not being able to get into the doors. I had to have it flatbed towed to Porsche dealership. I watched them from the guest lounge go under the drivers side wheel well and pop open the front hood. Turn off the alarm (didnt see how) and slimjim in the passengers side window and get in the car. This took 2 technicians over an hour and then they took another 45 mins to get in the trunk using a drill in the lock of the door to trick the alarm. (Later when I got home I saw the posts on how they could have gotten in with the pull cord) That cost $250.00 to get me in the car and another $360.00 for a new keyless remote for my key. They said it would be about $1300.00 to fix the cylinder lock and 2 weeks for the part. They told me if my car battery died I would be in the same predicament. I didnt see that happening in the near future but here we are today not a month later and my car is in my garage seeming to have a dead battery. I havent driven it in maybe 5 days and when I push my remote it lights up but nothing happens inside the car or no noise. The only light that will come on inside the car when I hit the remote is still the blinking red light that is always on when the alarm is activated. So, Im still assuming its the battery, am I correct do you think? I have done few repairs myself to the car one being changing the headlight lamp bulbs but I havent saw the battery in this vehicle and my many searches have shown up with nothing. Can someone please send me a pic of it? I have searched for the answer to my dilemma but havent come up with one that has the exact senario as mine with the broken key cylinder as well. I want to make sure that I get the steps right before I start. I have saw the posts about rigging something to C3 fuse but I cant wrap my brain around that one. I have saw posts about leaving jumper cables behind the passengers side seat but that doesnt pertain to me because of the broken door lock. (I just want you all to know I have searched for HOURS so im not being lazy I just want to get this correct) I also saw a post and I want to get your opinion about this PLEASE about buying either the entire cylinder or will it just have the parts need to fix mine off EBAY its a Volkswagon repair kit cylinder. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OEM-VOLKSWAGEN-DOOR-LOCK-CYLINDER-REPAIR-KIT-MK3-VW-GOLF-JETTA-CABRIO-/160700302658?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item256a7c0542 It wouldnt be the exact one I purchase just wanted some feedback if possible as the cons to using this type of thing to fix the door lock versus $1300.00 porsche wants to charge me.

So after I find the hood release tab and get that opened I would find the battery and use a wrench and get a terminal off to stop the alarm. Now this is where I get confused because I cant stick my key in the door to get in the car and also to stop the alarm once I have either replaced the battery or charged it. So, when I put the terminal back on the battery will the alarm go back on again? And do I have to have both terminals on the battery to put a charger on it? After I have replaced the battery or just charged it (which is better?) can I then use my keyless remote to get into my car?? Oh Gosh I sure hope the answer is yes! OK this is enough to get me started. I appreciate ALL your help and sorry this is so long.

[Renaeg0]

I went out to find the emergency handle for the hood and It is obviously more detailed than what I thought. I need to go buy a jack and take my wheel off to get to the plastic that holds the emergency handle?

Edited December 19, 2011 by Renaeg0

[Loren]

If you have small hands you reach up under the wheel well housing and grab it or use a hook to grab it.

[Renaeg0]

If you have small hands you reach up under the wheel well housing and grab it or use a hook to grab it.

I looked in the wheel well after looking at pics of the pull handle and I dont see it I believe that it is behind the black plastic parts that look like they have to be removed.

[Renaeg0]

I got this top "bolt" off photo #1 but I still cant get the plastic piece to come off wide enough to get back to the wire. What tool do I need to get these plastic pieces off shown on photo #2-please see next post as it wont let me attach both files. It looks like they could break off easily. Am I doing this correctly is the wire gonna be back there? lol

[Renaeg0]

Here is the "plastic pieces" im not sure what to use to get off.

Please answer my questions above about what I do once I find that relase handle so I am not having the alarm blowing for hours. Thanks.

[Renaeg0]

I may not even have a dead battery. I read someplace and Porsche didnt tell me that this may happen - that if I dont use my car the remote goes into a battery saving mode and the only way to get it to work again is to put the key in the door. Is there any other thing to try since my lock is broken?? I stuck my key in the door and it did nothing (because its broke). Thanks

[logray]

Yes the alarm remote receiver goes to sleep after a certain number of days of inactivity. At that point you must use the key to unlock the car. (it's in the user manual, which I recommend reading).

If your car has an alarm, the part for the door lock is 99653800104 and costs $375 from a source such as sunset Porsche. There could be more work involved such as cutting keys, not sure.

To get easier access to the pull cable for the hood latch, you can remove as many of those plastic nuts as you can and then pry the plastic back. Even if you can't or don't remove the wheel it does help to jack the car, the wheel will drop somewhat. If you have another car you can use it's jack to jack the car at the jacking point on the frame (don't jack anywhere else, it is covered here under DIY). Once you are in the hood, you can remove the large black plastic cowling near the windshield (two plastic nuts) covering the battery. Then a simple wrench to disconnect the negative lead from the battery.

Those pieces in your picture above just pull out. You can pry the small circular piece against the plastic base underneath. They simply slide straight out. I like to use a door panel tool to do this, but a pair of pliers or even a screwdriver should work.

Once the alarm is disabled by disconnecting the battery, I would have a locksmith jimmy the door open.

At that point you can reconnect the battery and either drive the car to have the lock repaired or attempt the repair yourself.

So you don't get stuck in this situation again, make it a point to use the remote every couple days, or leave one of your windows slightly down so you can access the inside door latch to unlock the door. Or leave the car unlocked until you fix it.

Edited December 19, 2011 by logray

[Renaeg0]

Thanks for the help. I cant get that plastic piece off for the life of me. I already ripped the round front piece off of it. I went and bought a floor jack and that gave me enough room to get my arm in there feeling around but I cant find the release. I pulled something else out of place that felt like it eas to the headlights or something. I cant get that back in yet. Im pretty discouraged at this point.

[logray]

Sorry to hear about the trouble. You can safely pry those clips off. Grab from the larger outside plastic piece or pry it out from underneath using the plastic wheel liner as the leverage point. Forget about the thing in the middle. The whole clip will pop out and it will be broken but they cost just a few cents each at an auto parts store or even from Porsche.

Do you own a crow bar? Or a locking pair of pliers? Even the back side of a standard hammer would work. Those would be my best choices at this point, don't be afraid to use some force. Treat it like you are prying out a nail.

If you can get the wheel off that will really help here (maybe your wheel locks and tools are locked in the trunk also). It's not required though. If the car is jacked up a little you can get to all of those plastic rivets and the nuts and the entire wheel liner will come out. There might be a few phillips screws to remove under the liner as well (under car).

Another option might be to just forget about getting in the trunk and unplugging the battery. Whoever is jimmying the door open could just deal with the alarm while they are doing it.

Edited December 19, 2011 by logray

[Renaeg0]

Thanks for being helpful. I thought that you had to disarm the alarm before you can get into the vehicle? Because the doors wont allow you to jimmy them open until the alarm is disactivated. I think I found the release handle because I was looking for a different wire according to some pictures I had saw on a website. The mechanic that worked on my vehicle at Porsche told me this morning that its rubber and its pretty long. I have been yanking on it but I guess I someone stronger because its not doing anything. I hope I dont have the wrong wire. He also said that he didnt need to take anything off my car to get to it so I dont have to worry about the plastic pieces. How hard do you have to pull on this release wire?

[wvicary]

The alarm doesn't have to be disabled to jimmy the door lock mechanism. An easier way then the " slim jim " method is for the lock smith to hook the inner door handle and open it. The first pull will unlock the door and then it can be opened using the outside door handle.

The manual release cable for the front trunk is a small diameter steel cable similar to the size/shape of cabling used to operate the shifter or brake of your standard bicycle - it should be looped at the end. It is not rubber so I think you've been yanking on a electrical wiring harness.

I understand your desire to try and sort this issue out yourself but you must also realize when you're out of depths which could lead to expensive damage and the vehicle off the road for a longer period of time. If in doubt, seek professional help which will lead to a positive result.

Best of luck.

[logray]

I PM'ed you pictures of the release cable on my car. I've heard the exact location can vary on different cars, which is why it's important to get a visual on it before you pull on it. If you are unfamiliar with it's location, this is the reason why you would want to remove the wheel liner.

As stated above, you don't want to yank on the wrong cable, for example if you damage a wiring harness for the lights it could cost you a lot more money. You might be pulling on the drain for the lights, or possibly the wiring harness for the radiator fan.

[Renaeg0]

The Porsche tech came to my house and got me squared away and into my car. So grateful for everyones help! He showed me where he grabs the hood release cable and it was so much simpler. I have attached a pic. in case anyone else would like to try there first. I just nw have to find out what exactly I unplugged! Oops.

Edited December 20, 2011 by Renaeg0

[logray]

Glad to hear it had a happy ending.

Yes, the location and type of cable has been reported to be different depending on car and model year.

I am guessing once the battery was disconnected / reconnected you were able to use the remote fob?

[Renaeg0]

Thanks. Once the key was inserted in the ignition and I believe turned the wheel to the right, It was activated again. Very happy with Porsche right now. Initially when they gave me my new remote entry the trunk wasnt programmed to open and now thats working now also. That saved me a trip over there that I was planning to make next week. I am also going to try and buy one of those "air pumps" for the window that allows room in there to use the hanger to jimmy the handle on the door. The tech and I each had a wire hanger on the door handle and we each pulled simutaniously and then the door unlocked. We tried it a few times with the battery off but when he hooked the battery back on (alalrm was going on) when we tried tugging together on the handles it opened right up. Learned some great tips and where my battery is too!

[wvicary]

Are you going to repair the door lock so you can operate the lock via the key? Get that sorted and save the money on the air bag.