Battery Advice - 2004 986

[TimEwins]

Sorry if this has already been said a million times before .... but

How long realistically should the original battery in a 2004 986 last? My original battery is giving me grief.

The car is not used everyday, but about once, or maybe twice a week. The car is left standing, not on charge and seems to drain in a little over a week.

During the winter I accepted this, but now the weather has cheered up (a bit) I still get the same problem.

Is four years too long for the battery ... should I invest in a new one? or is it the standing without being used that's causing my problems?

Cheers

Tim

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: TimEwins

Sorry if this has already been said a million times before .... but

How long realistically should the original battery in a 2004 986 last? My original battery is giving me grief.

The car is not used everyday, but about once, or maybe twice a week. The car is left standing, not on charge and seems to drain in a little over a week.

During the winter I accepted this, but now the weather has cheered up (a bit) I still get the same problem.

Is four years too long for the battery ... should I invest in a new one? or is it the standing without being used that's causing my problems?

Cheers

Tim

Depends on how and where you use your car. I have the same battery that the car came with 8 years ago.

 

[bryno]

Tim,
John's Boxster has done over 100000 miles and gets regular use. Batteries on regularly used cars can last as long as John's, or longer and somtimes even less, there is no definitive "time" for battery life it depends on usage. If yours "drains in a week" are you sure the bonnet and boot are closing properly and not leaving the lights on or are the interior lights not going out or are switched on? You say you use the car once or twice a week but how many miles are you doing? A trip to Sainsburys is no good unless its 50 miles away, I would suggest 100 miles a week would keep the battery in a reasonable condition provided there is no abnormal drain on the battery with the engine on and off, the alternator is working and the terminals are clean. Lets not forget that lead acid batteries are very old technology whose principal design has hardly changed in over100 years, the battery materials have got better if the charge is not maintained you get problems.
We put an article about Battery care in the Boxster section of Porsche Post just before Christmas but people still seem surprised that their batteries fail, or don't work properly when they don't use them as designed. i.e. regular use 250 miles per week or if you cannot do that maintained with a conditioner.
Over the last six weeks I have averaged two phone calls a week from Boxster owners "emerging from hibernation" with duff battery problems. So for all you out there with battery problems either do as John does and use the car regularly or invest in a battery conditioner having checked there is no battey usage when the engine is not running other than the alarm/imobiliser.

For you specifically Tim get a new battery ( £70 and up from any battery retailer & fit it yourself £0, plenty of advice on forum, £200+from your OPC fitted) and a conditioner (from £25) adverts in Porsche Post or Halfords or any decent Motor factor.

I know this is a subject close to my heart or...... Is it me??[]

 

[Mark_Bennett]

The 996 section has a useful article
http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=331718
(you need to be a club member for this bit)

 

[Tool Pants]

As others have said, a battery sitting unused is slow death to the battery. Here in the US Porsche will not warranty a battery on a new car unless it is driven more than 6,000 miles a year.

I made a battery out of a lemon for my Boxster. An electrifying experience....

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: Tool Pants

As others have said, a battery sitting unused is slow death to the battery. Here in the US Porsche will not warranty a battery on a new car unless it is driven more than 6,000 miles a year.

I made a battery out of a lemon for my Boxster. An electrifying experience....

I thought you guys had laws about Lemons? []

 

[Peter_Bull]

Hi Tim

Just replaced my battery - it was 7yr 8mths old and I used a Porsche battery conditioner for most of that time even though its only done 15000 miles.

I got a Varta (Blue Mountain?) 80ah for £85 inc vat from my local National garage and fitted it myself. Never started so good!!

I now use the car every day so no need for the conditioner now - until I go on holiday!

 

[TimEwins]

Thanks for the info ...

I am not able to use a conditioner on the Boxster, as it is on the driveway ... no garage space

I'll charge it up again, and try to get out in it more :0) If that fails, buy a new battery.

As I bought the car s/h I cannot say how the car was used before I bought it. My guess with a reasonably low mileage it was mostly used for short journeys.

When the battery volts get too low ... all hell breaks lose :0( I had the spolier coming up, and the window going down! and of course the alarm goes off ...

Cheers

Tim

 

[colinbythesea]

Going back to the eighties. I worked with a chap who travelled to work all week on a company minibus and only used his car at weekends, his wife didn't drive. Every week we had his saga of his flat battery when he went to use the car at the weekends. New batteries and alternators were fitted to no avail. Eventually he found the boot light switch was stuck on and the little lamp in the boot flattened the battery. OK the car was an Austin Princess so this was probably a feature and batteries now are, no doubt, better. Of course there was much professional pride in offering advice because we were all electronic engineers.

To Tims problem; have you fitted any aftermarket accessories or a different radio that present a higher parasitic load than normal? Is the problem getting slowly worse, in which case the battery is probably slowly decaying. Asking the obvious, are the fluid levels OK on the battery? It might just need a top up. How is the charging light behaving when you do drive the car?

 

[Tool Pants]

Once a battery goes bad there is no cure. Time to replace it.

There are solar trickle chargers. In fact, the Audis shipped to the US have a solar charger to keep the battery charged on the boat ride. I see them for sale on ebay. Don't know how ebay sellers get them because they are supposed to be removed before the vehicle is delivered to the customer.

Problem with a solar charger is .... you are in the UK....

 

[TimEwins]

Charged it up for 5 hours on saturday, then a further 2 hours on monday morning.

Tried to start the car in the afternoon .... it wouldn't turn over :0(

Put it back on charge for an hour, and it started !

Verdict ... I think the battery is not holding charge, and so I need to replace it

Will I need a radio code for a 2004 Boxster S with PCM?

Cheers

Tim

 

[Bluebox]

You don't need a radio code as its coded to your ECM, and you need a PST2 to change the radio.

Sounds like one of the cells has gone short, its common problem with the poor quality OPC batteries.
Go for a Bosch Silver or even the Halfords one I fitted is an excellence battery but its £99, both come with 4 warranty.

 

[911sse]

Just replaced mine, went for the Bosch Silver series.

 

[Bluebox]

Quick tip: Don't forget to ensure the ignition is turned ON when disconnecting the old battery or you will go deaf from the battery backed alarm system. Ensure the ignition is turned OFF before connected the new battery.

A quick test to find out if one of your battery cells is short, just measure the battery voltage after charging and check its not around 9.5 - 10V.

The Bosch Silver Calcium battery is a very good battery and are cheap from Eurocarparts, the Halfords is also a Calcium battery, both have very high cranking current compared with the OPC battery.
I only went for the Halfords battery because it was a Sunday and I had to have the car working that day, still very happy with the Halfords battery just the cost was the problem.

 

[TimEwins]

Thanks for the help guys

 

[TimEwins]

Ok .... call me a fool if you wish ... but I bought a genuine Battery from a Porsche Centre

The question is ... why is the battery vent hose on the car, the opposite side to the battery ?

The vent on the car is on the left (viewed from the front of the car), and the vent on the battery is on the right.

Ray N fitted it for me (thanks Ray) and all he did was pull out the internal 'plug' from the left side and put the existing vent hose in the hole.

Looking closer, I now believe I have an open end on the right, and a not so good fitted pipe on the left :0(

I feel worried about this, because the battery from Porsche should have fitted perfectly .....

I am worried about corrosion now

Anybody else seen this ?

PS I have also asked Porscxhe for an explanation as well

 

[Mark_Bennett]

I have to admit I thought that the hose was swappable left to right.

I've not changed mine though (nearly 7 years now [8D]) so I may be wrong.

 

[TimEwins]

According to Porsche ....

The moving of the vent is the correct procedure , all batteries arrive from PAG set up for LHD cars , the process you undertook is the correct set up for all UK cars (swapping one end for the other)

But what concerns me is that before we started I had a battery with a pipe on the right, and a bung on the left, and what I have now is a pipe on the left, and no bung on the right.

The idea of the pipe is to vent the gasses, but if the other end is open surely thats an easier path to get out than down the pipe :0(

The other issue is that the vent pipe doesn't fit as well as it should. The left hand side of the battery is recessed, the right hand side protudes. So the 90 degree pipe fitting now has to go into a recess, and its just not quite long enough to be neat (but probably functional) :0(

Sorry to be so obssessive about this sort of thing .. but its my nature unfortunately

If Porshe UK had fitted the battery and I had paid my £252 then I would have been none the wiser.

Even my Bosch battery on the 924 has a vent at one end and bung at the other

Are we just experiencing another Porsche 'cheap' solution .... I mean left hand drive batteries for goodness sake

Of course I could be mistaken, and when purchsed both sides are bunged up and you simply remove the bung where you wish to fit the pipe, but I doubt it

Caustic gasses escaping means rust .... something I wish to avoid at all costs

I am interested to know what other people have experienced, or am I the first one to (care) notice :0)

BTW Mark ... remember I told you that my roof didn't go all the way down when opening, until I drove off ... well the new battery fixed that !

 

[Mark_Bennett]

Don't you remove the bung, and "bung" it in the other side?

Has Ray missed this by mistake, or wasn't the bung (money) you gave him enough, and he's bungled it?

(I'm sorry! [])

 

[TimEwins]

The bung was removed with a pair of long nosed pliers ... I don't think its condition after debunging was good enough to be reused.

However I have just asked Porsche the same question

Do we have any Porsche mechanics on this forum ?