My Turbo Gen2 wont start!

[APH]

I've had many years faultless motoring in my 911s but my latest 997 Gen2 Turbo PDK wouldn't start this morning. Lights flashed and 'click, click, click' nothing. Ignition and PCM all came on if I didn't have my foot on the break.

I use it as a daily runner (the Turbo was a stretch enough without leaving it on the drive every day) do you think a few too many short journeys in the cold at the moment have left me with a little less battery than needed? Is this how it presents itself to start with?

Andy

 

[SimonW]

My 2011 C2S a couple of months ago was exactly the same. It was just the battery. And I changed it myself as I'd opted not to extend the warranty. £80 vs £300 or so. A simple swap and no need to reset lights or windows etc with dealer.

 

[STiG911]

Morning - sorry your day's off to such a bad start
Yes, if you've been using your car for short journey's (how short is short? Don't forget this is really bad for the oil if it's not warming through properly before you turn off again) in this weather then you've almost certainly drained the battery too much.
Bear in mind that not only are you using (I guess) the Lights, Heater, Radio, Heated Seats, etc. as well as actually running the engine, but when its left locked both the alarm and tracker are also draining juice.
If it's practical enough it sounds like time to invest in a Maintenance Charger to top the battery up when you're at home - unless you take this as an excuse to take the long way to or from work. Or both ;-)

 

[David Lloyd]

Sounds like a dead battery to me.
Mine did it to me before Xmas even though I had it on trickle charge. The battery just didn't want to hold a charge, popped a new battery in and as right as rain again.
cheers
Dave

 

[tscaptain]

Seems most likely to be the battery. Get a voltmeter across the terminals and see what's happening. If it's 10 or less than a cell will have packed up. They do fail suddenly. I have a little portable voltmeter which can be plugged into the lighter socket to check voltage - very handy.

 

[Lancerlot]

Ditch the intended exhaust upgrade and buy yourself a new battery! But get the present battery tested to verify its duff, first.

Buy a Porsche approved new battery if you want to preserve Porsche Extended Warranty, otherwise buy Bosch. Treat yourself to a smart charger too (there's plenty of info on these in the Technical Section) and get into the habit of connecting it whenever you park the car up for a couple of days or more.
There's so much electronics going on in 997's, the battery will soon drained if the car is left idle.
Regards,
Clive.

 

[PJ63]

Ditto re the above as my the last 997 I had did the same thing as I was using it for short journeys & it killed the battery. So a new decent battery & you should be fine.

 

[APH]

Sounds like the best excuse for a long journey to me. yeah I think I like the heated seats too much.!

 

[APH]

lol yeah I've already talked myself (and a lot of people on here) out of the exhaust. Evidently there are some real pitfalls with sensors etc that can affect resale.

 

[rholyoake]

Ditch the intended exhaust upgrade and buy yourself a new battery! But get the present battery tested to verify its duff, first.

Buy a Porsche approved new battery if you want to preserve Porsche Extended Warranty

I had Porsche UK confirm that the battery isn't a dependancy for the warranty. Don't get suckered into this lame excuse - you'll also find "better" batteries with much longer warranties for much less money. My Turbo S had exact same problem last month - new battery, all sorted. I only do daily long drives in it and it lasted 5 years to the day almost.

 

[JCX]

Hey Rob, did they say that an alternative battery will still enable you to extend the warranty? Or is it the case that it will not invalidate an already active warranty?

and did you get it in writing or just verbally?

 

[APH]

Tried it again when it was a bit warmer (6degrees rather than around zero) and it started. I'll take it on a long run tomorrow and I've bought one of those CTEK chargers with the cig adaptor with built in monitor to save it happening again.

Thanks everyone - much happier now that it's running!

Andy

 

[Lancerlot]

The path of extended warranty discussions is very well worn on this forum. []
A 5 year lifespan for an original Porsche battery seems perfectly acceptable to me, so why would I want to potentially risk my expensive warranty, which incidentally is a contract with insurers not Porsche UK, by fitting non Porsche approved parts prohibited under its terms. Makes no sense.
Regards,
Clive.