I had the rear of the car apart yesterday for installation of a VRTuned piggyback. Upon reassembly I didn't fasten one of the main connectors that has the actuator for the engine lid, the engine fans and the spoiler actuator (rookie move but I was in a hurry to drive the beast).

Long story short, with no power to the engine lid it would not open to remedy the simple problem. I spent hours trying to look for an emergency mechanical release cable with no avail (there is one in a miserable spot to get to). After searching all over this forum with no information that was useful I almost gave up. Then I remember seeing the cable from underneath while installing the piggyback's cable.

Solution:
One straightened coat hanger with a hooked end from underneath the slightly jacked up rear allowed me to snag the cable from the mid-passenger side (look for the cooling fan connector and it's directly to the left)...with a slight tug the lid opened right up. Snapped the connector back together and went out for a test drive.

I just wanted to post this because I couldn't find any simple remedy for a turbo car in this situation.

 

Good info to have, could happen to any of us, eg, dead battery.

 

That's handy! Glad you were able to get it open.

-Luccia

 

Yep wondered why the cable release was positioned there. Must be an OEM tool to access it?

What are your impressions of the piggyback now that you've driven her.

 

I don't know if this would work in this situation but if you pull the emergency frunk release inside the frunk, the engine compartment lid also releases. Not sure why.

 

Because the actuator was unplugged it did not have power. A mechanical release was the only way to open it.

As for the piggyback so far, amazing results IMO. The car runs hard and the drivability isn't effected at all. It returns to stock easily with a jumper harness that's provided so my next trip to the track I'll be able to run stock and tuned easily for comparison.

 

Wow...just had the same problem. This thread saved me a trip to the dealer...thanks again!

 

OK, a pretty old post but wanted to give BIG rep points to @JesseRohr for the only solution that worked for me...

I kind of freaked out a earlier this evening when my engine cover would not pop after some minor service. There were lots of threads on this and other forums with irrelevant or useless info about getting to this release by removing the rear bumper, fender liners, prying up the engine cover, long screwdrivers, etc,, none of which was helpfull.

But Jesse was right on. I put the car on quickjacks, and though not easy to spot (I used an led flashlight on the end of a flexible rod) or easy to grab (coat hanger, ends cut off, hook put on one end, rest straightened), I WAS able to spot it, snag it with the coathanger, tug on it, and got that lovely "POP" sound!

Picture 1. You can see a light shining up from under the car, and the target area where the release cable will be. It is under the 'Mobil 1' passenger side pop on cover.



Picture 2. You can see a bit more of the emergency release cable here with the mobil 1 side cover off. Most of it is still hidden underneath, and that part is what you are trying to capture from under the car. Theoretically you can grab that cable/ball end through the gap under the spoiler mount? Through a tiny gab, snaked under the mobil 1 cover, and capture that ball? Good luck with that.



This is what went wrong with mine... The cable release popped out of the holder, so it pulled, but without the cable holder to hold the cable sheath in place, it just pulled up slack instead of popping the lid



Evidently another failure mode is for the cable to pop off the latch itself. The newer assemblies have that little safety lever to prevent it from popping off, which is a good thing, because if that pops off, the emergency release cable won't do a thing...

 

Thought I would bump this thread.

I own a 991.1 GT3RS and had a similar issue. I ended up putting the car on a lift, removing the engine shield, and using a flashlight to locate the cable. Once we found it, it was easy to fix by pulling it until it popped. However, upon further inspection, we discovered that the mechanics had failed to plug the latch/actuator connector back in after maintenance. After reconnecting the connector, everything works great now. It was quite a hassle to get it fixed, but I hope my experience will help others who may encounter a similar problem.