disconnet the battery and don't close the hood....put a towel over the latch mechinism so no body will close it while you are away.

 

Welcome to the forum. Theres a similar thread regarding this topic.
http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-boxster-chat/60176-battery-maintainer-disconnect.html

Maintainer is the best solution. Disconnecting your battery for extended periods will still cause it to drain and in the long run may cause a cell to fail due to it going into deep discharge.

A battery needs cylcing to keep optimum performance, and overcharging or allowing the battery to fully discharge for extended periods is the worst thing your can do for its lifetime.

I recommend you buy a battery maintainer.

 

I would just lock the car and leave it at that. The car goes into a hibernation mode when locked which should keep battery draining to a minimum.

Note that if you don't drive the car regularly I wouldn't recommend above since the battery may already be weak.

Another solution is to purchase a battery maintainer

 

Thanks for the replies.
I live in an apartment and my cars are parked in a multi storey car park that belongs to our building. I cannot keep the car hooked to the mains so a battery maintainer is not an option.
This particular car probably gets driven once every 2 weeks and it starts first time everytime.

I'm now thinking either to just leave the battery connected and hope that in 6 weeks time there will still be enough juice in it to at least pop the hood.

or

Disconnect the battery put a rag over the mechanism and leave the hood slightly open. I have an original boxster indoor car cover and an outdoor car cover and will cover the car with both which should mask the fact that the hood is open.

I live in Dubai and car theft is virtually nonexistant here and my apartment complex is quite secure but I still feel slightly uncomfortable leaving the hood open even in Dubai.
(I just hope the guys we have here to hand wash the cars in the car park don't lift the cover and do me a favour of closing the hood thinking that I forgot it open )

Still don't know what to do

 

Well I just got married recently and the wedding was out of state and the honeymoon was out of the country. 4 weeks total. I left my car with my wifes father (yes I trust him with my car). He has a HUGE garage where he started the vehicle up a couple times and washed her too =)
So is there anyone, that you trust, that can babysit your car?

 

. . . I have been told that if I disconnect the battery and close the hood, the only way to reopen the hood is by removing the whole bumper.

The same person advised me to keep the battery connected and let it run flat because if I disconnect it I would be breaking the circuit and then even if I connect a battery to the fuse box/panel in the driver's footwell I still won't be able to pop the hood. . .

Nonsense, and untrue. You can activate the front hood servo using the jumper in the footwell fuse panel whether there is a battery connected or not (I have done it). You just need a 12V battery/jumper cables or similar (e.g. a jumper battery).

If for some reason you still can't open it, the manual release cable is located inside the left front fenderwell lining. You usually will need to remove the left front wheel to get at it (which could be a problem if your locking lug bolt key is locked in the front trunk), but you certainly don't need to remove the front bumper - which you couldn't do anyway without opening the hood.

I would recommend something like this: jump battery which you can use to both open the front hood, and jump start your battery if needed.

 

Nonsense, and untrue. You can activate the front hood servo using the jumper in the footwell fuse panel whether there is a battery connected or not (I have done it). You just need a 12V battery/jumper cables or similar (e.g. a jumper battery).

If you are 100% sure about this then I will make my way down to the car park in the next couple of hours and disconnect the battery, close the hood and cover the car.
When I get back I'll just connect some jump cables to the fuse panel from one of my other cars and just open the hood and reconnect the battery.

You say that you have managed to open your hood when there was no battery connected in your car? please give me more details of your experience.

Regards

 

A lot depends on the condition and age of your battery, but.....

1.) fully charge the battery shortly before you leave.

2) get a charger w/ a 12V "supply" mode with a cigarette-lighter connection (i.e. CTEK 7200). You can open the door w/ the key and hook up the charger to the lighter to open the front trunk to access the battery. You may need a long extension cord, but it's only if the battery dies when you get back.

3) lock everything to allow for full 'hibernation'.

4.) try to recharge the battery before returning to normal. Driving with a weak battery kicks the poop out of an alternator.

BD

 

The procedure is also detailed in the owner's manual, as I remember.

 

Yes you are right the procedure is in the owner's manual but It doesn't say anything about the procedure working if the battery is unplugged.

 

I got back from my trip a couple of days ago and I started the car yesterday.

I can confirm that YES YOU CAN pop the hood open on a Boxster using the previously mentioned emergency hood release procedure even if there is no battery whatsoever in the car (Before laying the car up for about 6 weeks I had totally disconnected the battery and closed the hood).

Once the car started I had a psm failure warning light on the dash so I turned the steering fully to the left and then to the right then I drove in a straight line forward for about 50 feet and then reversed the same distance back again and that cured the PSM fault light.
Th next step was to reset the remote control and I did that by putting the key in the ignition and turning it (I can't remember if I started the engine or not) then pressing and holding the lock/unlock button on the key for a few seconds and seems to have reset the remote key (I am not sure if that's the correct way to do it but it seems to have worked for me )

And finally when trying to pop the hood open it can only be done by the hood release button on the remote key and NOT the hood release on the sill by the driver's leg I only realised that after about 20 minutes of trying and head scratching.

Thank you all for contributing to this thread and hopefully it will be useful for more members in the future.

 

Does the car go into hibernation mode if locked with the windows down?