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Battery problems?

nwhear

nwhear

New member
Hi

Advice please. Car was fine on Saturday, drove it to the shops but when I tried to start it this morning battery seemed flat in that it wouldnt crank over (twice very weakly) and the lights flashed repeatedly. The dash informend me of various failures includeing PSM and the radio will not turn on.
Car is Boxster 2.9 and is not quite 3 years old I have had it from new and the battery looks imaculate and all the conections are clean and firm. I didnt leave anything swithchen on AFAIAA.

Had to take my wifes car to work. Porsche assist are coming out this afternoon but does this sound like a sudden battery failure?

Thanks

Nick
 

ORIGINAL: nwhear

Hi

Advice please. Car was fine on Saturday, drove it to the shops but when I tried to start it this morning battery seemed flat in that it wouldnt crank over (twice very weakly) and the lights flashed repeatedly. The dash informend me of various failures includeing PSM and the radio will not turn on.
Car is Boxster 2.9 and is not quite 3 years old I have had it from new and the battery looks imaculate and all the conections are clean and firm. I didnt leave anything swithchen on AFAIAA.

Had to take my wifes car to work. Porsche assist are coming out this afternoon but does this sound like a sudden battery failure?

Thanks

Nick
Click to expand...

No battery failure is not uncommon at the 3-4 year point, if you are lucky you may get a new one under your warranty. However, this depends on your relationship with your dealer and the type of use of your car.
 
Hi

Thanks for the reply Nick. I think I get on OK with my dealer (Porsche Solihull) and I have extended my warenty for 2 years last September. Car is uese most days for the commute so certainly not left for long periods between trips.
Also the fact that it was fine on Saturday sugests sudden failure rather than just knacked and time expeired!

Will
 

ORIGINAL: nwhear

Hi

Thanks for the reply Nick. I think I get on OK with my dealer (Porsche Solihull) and I have extended my warenty for 2 years last September. Car is uese most days for the commute so certainly not left for long periods between trips.
Also the fact that it was fine on Saturday sugests sudden failure rather than just knacked and time expeired!

Will
Click to expand...

Hi Will,

Just be aware that the first two year (New Car) warranty is not the same as any 3rd year or onward extensions. The extended warranty does not usually cover the battery.

Nick
 
Hi Nick
My battery failed likewise after driving 1.3miles to Fuel station and then wouldn't start again so had to drive to Halfords who happen to have a battery in stock (HB110 - 75A/hr) and has lasted till last week when I left the key in the ignition with the radio still ON but turned down to 0 so my fault really

The Standard battery lasted 3 years and the Halfords one lasted 6 years, I've now bought an Bosch S6 (85A/hr) from Euro Parts while they were 25% off

The Porsche Centre kept telling me I had a non standard battery fitted when I had it serviced each year but the Porsche battery sudden failure cost me £450 for a new tracker

Mo Williams

Boxster S owner 9 years
Electrician by trade
PS - Normally a battery should last 5-7 years depending on usage
My car lives in a lockup with no electric so no charger connected
I personally think the standard Porsche battery isn't quite up to it
[;)]
 
As an electronics engineer for over 35 years I can tell you why in my opinion batteries go on cars that are not used everyday, reason a lot of people let the battery go flat and therefore the voltage drop below 11 volts, this kills the internal resistance in the battery and end up often buckling the plates. Best to try and keep the car on a battery conditioner, even Porsche and Ferrari use the same one with a sticker over it, pm me if you don't know which one to buy.

However saying all this I am surprised the Porsche one does/did not ast as long as a Halfords cheapie or even a Bosch one, I would spect a battery to last 4 years min.

There are several ways to kick start a battery back to life and if anyone's wants to know then happy to inform, again though guessing most of us want reliability then don't expect a battery to ast longer than 4 years.

Ps should add the older lead acid batteries will last longer than the modern gel pack types
 
My original Porsche battery is now 11.5 years old and starts first turn every time. I check water level each spring and autumn and simply connect to Porsche conditioner when put in garage as may be not used for a few weeks during winter. If no electrics available, obviously difficult, but if outside could be connected to mains supply with wire through polystyrene piping conduit as many camper vans are over the winter months.
 
Very surprised that the battery has failed without any warning signs of low voltage or slow turnover prior to the failure, It is so easy to blame the battery but a common weakness it seems on the Porsche is the alternator diode pack, the pack is internal to the alternator and if this fails it allows current to drain to the alternator and in effect makes it behave like an electric motor - in that it tries to turn but obviously is prevented by the drive belt - this quickly discharges the battery.
Before changing the battery have it checked - and the car to ensure you have identified the correct issue, indeed this could be the battery but not yet three years old and a sudden failure make me suspect something else.

Good luck
 

ORIGINAL: Glyn


Before changing the battery have it checked - and the car to ensure you have identified the correct issue, indeed this could be the battery but not yet three years old and a sudden failure make me suspect something else.
Click to expand...
Good thought Glynn always a good thing to do is diconnect the battery, charge it and make sure the charged voltage (with the charger off is about 13.5V).
 
Thanks everyone. As an update Porsche assist came out and jump started the car then checked everthing which seemed in order charging fine and no current drain. As advised took it out for a spin next morning battery flat again!

New battery supplied by Porsche Solihull £195!!!!

Porsche Solihull have said that when I get the old battery to them they will see what can be done as regards a warrenty claim. So who knows.

They were keen to know my milage and how much I used the car and I pointed out it was used every day for the commute of about 25 miles and that my wifes Susuki that was used very infrequently still had the original battery after 7 years!
 
My original battery lasted me something like 8 years. The car was used very infrequently, but when it was used tended to go on long drives (a few cross-europe drives keeps the mileage up [;)] )
The car was ALWAYS connected to a battery conditioner when at home in the garage, and I'm still convinced the only reason the battery failed was that I forgot to check the levels in the cell for a long while - when the battery wouldn't turn the car over one day one cell was well down below the top of the plates.

 

ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

My original battery lasted me something like 8 years. The car was used very infrequently, but when it was used tended to go on long drives (a few cross-europe drives keeps the mileage up [;)] )
The car was ALWAYS connected to a battery conditioner when at home in the garage, and I'm still convinced the only reason the battery failed was that I forgot to check the levels in the cell for a long while - when the battery wouldn't turn the car over one day one cell was well down below the top of the plates.
Click to expand...

Congratulationa Mark you last post made you are Number One (11111) poster[;)]
 
Hi All,
Thanks for the heads up on this one...as a new owner this type of info is so useful. Just ordered the CTEK MXS 3.6 3.8A 12V Multi-Functional 4-Stage Car Battery Charger and adaptor from Amazon...
 
I'm an owner of a Porsche Boxster 3.2S 2002 with 35,000 mls. i've now had the car exactly 2 years and when i bought the car the previous owner had a new battery fitted as he used the car infrequently. Since i've owned the car i had the altenator pack up a year ago and was quoted by Porsche main dealer some £800-00 to replace. I found a 911 owner who runs an altenator / battery shop and i had the unit replaced by him with a Bosch. I had problems in a previous life when i had a Ferrari 308 GTS which i owned for 18 years. After replacing the battery a 3rd time in 8 years, i decided to buy an Airflow battery conditioner which clipped onto the side window and plugged into the cigarette plug. i installed a Varta battery and it was still in the car healthy after nearly 10 years.
If this Moll battery in my Prsche goes i shall replace it with a Varta. Meanwhile i still use the Airflow conditioner on the Boxster.
Regards,
Martin
 
[FONT=Trebuchet MS"] Don't know why but my experience with Porsche batteries is that three years is about par for the course. Generally change for a BOSCH battery and they last as long as we own the car. Louises 2005 Boxster S, owned it virtually from new. Battery changed after it started playing up at circa 3 years. BOSCH battery has been fine. Even my 997 GT2 (2009) has already had a new battery installed. Wonder if the new generation of 911'S & Boxster have this issue sorted at last? [FONT=verdana,geneva"]
 
Don't want to tempt fate ...but my battery is 6 years old have used a conditioner since i have had the car CTeK 3600 it goes off the road for 6 months in the year and have had no issues at all .The Lidl one at £14 does the same job i have one attached to another car for years and no issues in fact they are excellent value , i have a spare one .Loads on this forum have bought them the last time i gave them the heads up they are on special at only certain times of the year ,so look out for them .
Brian
 
Hi Nick,

Had my 987 new late 2005 and the battery failed after 2 1/2 years. Like you my dealer quote around £180 which is a heck of a lot considering Porsche will only warranty it for 12 months. I bought an alternative for £79 which came with a 4 year warranty and now after nearly 4 1/2 years it's still going strong. Although I would agree with Martin, strangely I have used the car far less often in the last two years than I did in the first two years when I drove it every day to work.

Hope your replacement lasts longer than the original.

Stewart
 

ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

My original battery lasted me something like 8 years. The car was used very infrequently, but when it was used tended to go on long drives (a few cross-europe drives keeps the mileage up [;)] )
The car was ALWAYS connected to a battery conditioner when at home in the garage, and I'm still convinced the only reason the battery failed was that I forgot to check the levels in the cell for a long while - when the battery wouldn't turn the car over one day one cell was well down below the top of the plates.
Click to expand...

Similar issue with mine. Annoyed with myself as I should have realised, to late after the event. Went in garage to check everything was ok as I normally do. Noticed the battery conditioner lights oscillating, which indicated that the battery was either sulphated or had lost its charge completely. Realised straight away that the battery cell level probably needed topping up!!
Well that was an understatement, it took a whole litre. Needless to say after 6years its now dead!
Anyway, just been out and bought a Bosch Silver S5 with 5 year warranty and my pocket is now £100 lighter!
 
Just an update on this I returned the "old" battery to Porsche Solihull and they felt failure after only 3 years was really not acceptable and suggested submitting a claim on my extended Porsche warranty and they got me a full refund!

So top marks to Porsche Solihull and particularly Des in servicing.
 
I replaced my crappy Porsche battery with a Bosche one. I told my OPC that just because it says Porsche on the side of something it doesnt mean its better!

My battery cost me £80 fitted from my local battery shop!
 
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