First I added 2 gallons of gasoline in the Boxster. Then I tried to start it with the key in the ignition.
The Boxster was completely dead. So probably the battery was dead and needed a jump-start.
The battery is in the front trunk and the trunk does not have a manual lever to open it, in the event that the battery is dead. The Boxster fuse box (Figure 1) has a special red terminal (Figure 3) for a spare battery to turn on just enough electronics in the car to pop the front trunk. Once the front trunk is popped, you can access the battery and jump-start the full car.
Since there were Labor day weekend sales yesterday at Harbor Freight, I purchased a portable battery pack (Figure 7) for $50. Then I plugged it in overnight to charge it fully.
Step 1: The next day I took off the fuse box lid (Figure 2), in front of the driver’s seat in the Boxster, and pulled out the red terminal (Figure 3 and 4) which is marked with the front trunk open logo.
Figure 1. The Boxster fuse box cover in front of the driver’s seat
Figure 2. The Boxster fuse box opened up
Figure 3. The red terminal in the fuse box for opening the front trunk
Figure 4. The red terminal in the fuse box pulled out
Step 2: Then I clamped the positive terminal (Figure 5) of the portable battery (Figure 7) to the red terminal, and the negative terminal (Figure 6) of the portable battery to the door latch to act as ground. This information was available in the Boxster owner’s manual which was a good reference.
Figure 5. Connect the positive clamp of the battery to the red terminal in the fuse box
Figure 6. Connect the negative clamp of the battery to the door latch
Figure 7. Harbor Freight (CEN-TECH) portable battery pack
Step 3: Once the connection was made and the battery pack was turned on, I quickly hit the switch for opening the front trunk, and it popped open as in Figure 8.
NOTE: The rear trunk cannot be opened with this method, only the front trunk can.
Figure 8. Front trunk opened
Step 4: I then disconnected the portable battery pack from the red terminal in the fuse box and the door latch, and decided to try jump-starting the car with it.
Step 5: The battery is covered with a plastic lid (Figure 9) which is held by two plastic screws (Figure 10). I turned the screws a little and the lid came off.
Figure 9. The plastic battery lid
Figure 10. Battery lid plastic screws
Step 6: Next I connected the positive (red) clamp of the portable battery to the car battery’s positive terminal (seen in Figure 11 as having a red color below the terminal), and the negative (black) clamp of the portable battery to the car battery’s negative terminal as seen in Figure 12. If it is not obvious, the car battery’s negative terminal is towards the driver’s side and the positive terminal is towards the passenger’s side.
Figure 11. The dead car battery
Figure 12. Trying to jump-start the car
Step 7: Then I put the keys into the ignition and all the dashboard lights, air conditioning etc. started working as seen in Figure 13. First I popped the rear trunk as seen in Figure 14. I turned all of them off and tried to start the car. It did not start.
Figure 13. The lit up dashboard
Figure 14. Rear trunk open
Step 8: The Boxster has an electronic dash indicator that shows how much oil is in the engine (in Figure 13 it is the indicator next to the mileage), and it was low. I purchased high mileage 10W-40 oil (Figure 15) and topped up the oil tank (Figure 16) which is in the rear trunk. Remember to use a good funnel (Figure 17) and cover up the area with a rag to avoid any oil spills on the trunk carpet.
I then retried starting the Boxster and the indicator showed the maximum level of engine oil was reached (Figure 18), the gasoline levels were at 1/4 tank, but the battery was still down.
Figure 15. 10W-40 high mileage engine oil
Figure 16. Engine oil cover in the rear trunk
Figure 17. Pouring engine oil
Figure 18. Dashboard engine oil indicator shows maximum level
Step 9: Eventually, I took out the car battery and took it to an auto parts store to get it load tested. The battery had a leaking cell and I ended up buying a new one. Once I replaced the battery, and cranked the ignition hard the car started up.
Since I did not have license plates on the car, I just drove it on my street to make sure everything moved and brought it back into the garage. The car definitely had some rattle noises coming from the back, possibly from the rear bumper which is loose. More to come, but first I need to fix the dent and the broken tail light, and get a rebuilt title for the car so I can drive it with registered plates.
