Some very modern cars (ours ain't one of those!) do have an external 'positive' charging point, but, I wouldn't charge any battery still connected to the car.

Personally I'd get the trunk lid open.
You sure the cable hasn't broke just near the trunk release handle? If it has, remove the trim piece & you could maybe use some pliers and pull the inner cable to open it.
If it has broken at the back, or you can't manage opening it from underneath through the hole (which I have not found on my S4!), drilling a small strategic hole behind the numberplate and levering with a screwdriver against the latch will do it.

When the hood cable breaks you are in double trouble, so fit emergency hood & trunk cables asap...lots of ideas in the 'spider technical FAQ Digest' at top of spider page.

 

Some very modern cars (ours ain't one of those!) do have an external 'positive' charging point, but, I wouldn't charge any battery still connected to the car.

Just curious, why not? I do this all the time, both with a standard charger and with trickle chargers.

To the OP, if you need to charge a trunk mounted battery from the engine compartment, then I'd connect the positive lead to where the heavy gauge red wire connects to the alternator, and the ground to any suitable ground (the engine block should work fine).

bs

 

Hey everyone! Glad to finally join the community. Been an avid follower for over a year.

I have a '94 Spider and my battery died. Can't get into the trunk because of a disconnected cable...Still trying to get that taken care of from underneath, but as of yet, no luck. Anyway, I remember hearing that one could connect battery charger clamps to the engine block to charge the battery. Problem is: I don't know where exactly. Can anyone help out? Thanks.

Phil[/QUOTE

Hey Phil,
The engine is a great ground (black), and you can connect the red (12V) to the terminal under the hood on the left fender. Use an automatic charger that reduces the charge while charging, or use the 2 amp source for a slow charge.

 

Huggy's advice will work fine: use the engine as ground and the junction box on the left fender (nut with a bunch of red wires under a black plastic cover) as positive. There are no issues charging the battery in the car with a modern charger.

 

Thanks everyone,

I'll give it a try with a trickle charge. My mechanic has also given me the ok to SLOW charge the battery through the engine. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Phil

 

Success!

I hooked up the pos. clamp to the alternator (wasn't an easy reach!), and the neg. clamp to the post on the engine. Set the charger to 2 amps and after a short while began to hear that magical sound: the ticking of the clock's second hand. Started her about 3 hours into the charge and voila!

I know this was a last resort, but hopefully if anyone else is ever in this situation, i.e. trunk issues...with a dead battery (quite a possibility with our cars), you'll know now that all is not lost.

Have a look at the pics. The point on the alternator where I attached the pos. clamp has the red around it.

Take care,

Phil

 

Glad it worked! But you didn't need to go all the way to the alternator: there's a black plastic box on the left side fender in the engine bay that will work as well. This has a +12 nut that goes directly to the alternator and the rest of the electrical system.

 

Picture of the junction box on the left inner fender.

 

Thanks Tom and Eric! Great idea. I'll remember that for next time.

Phil

 

Neat trick. Thanks for sharing.

Hopefully the cable is broken just inside the cover as suggested.

If not there are a few threads around here showing how to open from underneath.

After a few hours trying that, I drilled a hole through the license plate area and used a screw driver to pop it open.

Will post a couple pics tomorrow.

Good luck,

Vin