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Battery Issues

M

mpowell

PCGB Member
Member
I have a 2000 986 S that looks to be getting to the end of life for it's 3rd battery. The Boxster operates as a 2nd car so is laid up for long periods (mostly with a battery conditioner attached). I am getting the feeling that there is an electrical problem whereby the battery is no longer gaining a full charge from the car when being driven and is systematically draining the life away.

Rather than start an investigation now I am going to buy another battery but I wondered if anyone else has had issues - I am somewhat loathe to put it in the hands of an "expert" and have to replace the electrical system component by component until the problem is solved. Is there a known weakspot in the electrics - would appreciate any views

Regards

Mark

 
The battery is a pretty well known problem across the 986/996 range indeed my neighbor with a 4 year old 997 had the same problem. Prevention is better than cure with these going forward. The use of a battery tender during long periods of storage and especially during the winter months helps. The Porsche one is expensive but you can get exactly the same for half the price from the likes of Halfords etc (The CTEK 3600 is the same as the Porsche one for around 50 pounds the last I looked). I spent a little more on the CTEK 7000 as it does the reconditioning too)

If the battery is shot you could try reconditioning it first, but you will probably end up replacing it soon if it is really bad.
 
Do you think it's not charging, or being drained while the car is unused?

If the latter: I'd disconnect one side of the battery and (while NOT turning on ignition!) put a multimeter (measuring amps) between the disconnected lead and the terminal it came from.

That will show you the battery drain.

Now start pulling out fuses one by one until you find the circuit that is causing excessive drain (obviously you will get some drain on circuits like the alarm).

Does not fix the problem, but at least you know where it is!
 
Have you ever topped up the electrolyte?
The Porsche (Moll) batteries do need this checked and topped up.

I just changed my 1st battery, 8 years after I bought the car, so they do last sometimes!
 
Thanks for the input guys.

My first battery lasted at least 4 years and during this time I never put a charger onto it, even whilst laid up for 4 or 5 months during winter. Steadily things have gone down hill since then

My thoughts are that I do not think the battery is getting drained when not in use. My thinking is that the battery has been weak for a few weeks so I have put it on a charge as soon as I get out of the car. Doesn't seem to be a whole lot better in the morning, but this could be that the battery is justy completely shot

Good point about topping up the battery and I will definately avoid the "maintenance free" option when I renew
 
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