Help! Can't get into 981/GT4. Battery dead and door stuck

[BnB]

I'm sure this is covered elsewhere but I can't find a 981/GT4 specific thread. My battery has died over winter and the my efforts to open the door manually aren't succeeding. I've located the key socket under the handle but turning the key anti-clockwise doesn't seem to be doing anything. Yes, I've tried clockwise as well. Am I doing it wrong?

I'm calling Porsche Assist out, but not until midweek in case they have to tow the car to OPC (it needs a gearbox switch anyway) but it would be easier if they could get the battery going again. Ceramics so not letting them remove wheel to get at wheel arch lever. Is that still the alternative? Any help much appreciated, thanks.

[oo7ml]

Hey there, this is actually a really tricky thing to get right, but quite simple at the same time. I pulled my hair out for days trying to get into my car.

The instructions in the manual are quite poor and don’t work.

I’ve had Porsche Assist our before and they couldn’t even get into however I have it mastered now due to needing to do this so much 😅

If the below doesn’t help, PM me and i’ll help you.

01 - take the key out of the back of the main key

02 - pull the handle up, turn the key all the way to the right while holding the handle up

03 - turn the key back to the centre

04 - take the key out

05 - let the handle back down

06 - pull the handle back up and the door should open

Then you need to charge the battery from the fuse box to get enough power to pop the boot / frunk. Let me know if you need help with this too.

[BnB]

Success. Many thanks. I was putting too much effort into anticlockwise and not enough into clockwise (to the right). You have to give the key an extra push. I've got it at last. Now I can access the cabin, I'll get Porsche assist on the case to charge her up.

Thanks again for such a quick and helpful reply.

Edited by BnB on Sunday 24th March 15:21

[oo7ml]

Great, you’re welcome.

Glad you are in 👍🏻

[GT4 fan]

Thanks for this very useful

[Porsche911R]

BnB said:

, I'll get Porsche assist on the case to charge her up

Why ?

[ATM]

I had this on my 981. Figured it out in the end but it's not easy. Taking the key out and letting the handle down and then pulling it.up to open doesn't feel intuitive. Then once inside you have to fish around in the fuse box for the emergency battery terminals or whatever they are called. Driver's side for us Brits. I found the battery was totally flat which made the modern charger unhappy. Also there was something clicking in the car when I put the charger on. No idea what. In the end I found the best thing to do is use an old fashioned charger to just get some amps into the battery. You know the kind with a big sliding amp meter on the front. Then after one night on the old fashioned you can switch to a fancy modern intelligent charger conditioner. I managed to get my battery working again after it had been flat for a good few weeks just by using the modern charger conditioner on it. Which is a relief as a new battery is not cheap. Dont forget to use the correct connections for the charger which means not just putting the clips onto the battery itself.

[Gary C]

It is a bugger. A lot of modern chargers expect to see a voltage before they will turn on as a protection against getting the polarity wrong, but then refuse to start on a really dead battery

Have it all the time on my 911 because I often forget to put the conditioner on it.

[ATM]

Ok

I thought letting these AGM battery go flat was really bad for them?

[Bincenzo]

oo7ml said:

Hey there, this is actually a really tricky thing to get right, but quite simple at the same time. I pulled my hair out for days trying to get into my car.

The instructions in the manual are quite poor and don’t work.

I’ve had Porsche Assist our before and they couldn’t even get into however I have it mastered now due to needing to do this so much ??

If the below doesn’t help, PM me and i’ll help you.

01 - take the key out of the back of the main key

02 - pull the handle up, turn the key all the way to the right while holding the handle up

03 - turn the key back to the centre

04 - take the key out

05 - let the handle back down

06 - pull the handle back up and the door should open

Then you need to charge the battery from the fuse box to get enough power to pop the boot / frunk. Let me know if you need help with this too.

Thanks so much, really helped. My GT4 was completely dead this morning. Had to get Porsche assist put as the frunk wouldn’t open. Chap said it’s best, when you’ve connected the leads, to use the remote to open the frunk. Worked a treat. Back on the road and had a good run out for an hour to charge it back up.

[7184c]

Does anyone know if I can use a ctek mxs5 to open the bonnet and how to do this.

Battery is completely dead after power tripped out when I was away.

I tried earlier connecting to the fuse but no luck. I only left on for 5 mins or so. I’ve also got the 12v connector and tried that too.

[Scrump]

I doubt a ctek will work. They need to detect some battery voltage before they start to charge, if your battery is dead then the ctek is unlikely to put out any charge.