2002 / 911/ 996 Battery issues

[britdave]

Once again my 2002 /911 996 battery let me down. Why does this seem to happen so often to Porsches ? I have a 97 BMW M-3 , a 2003 Ford Escape, and a 2005 Dodge Dakota, all of those have batteries that are several years old,

and all those vehicles ALWAYS start without any problem. Several years ago,my friend got rid of his 2001 911 simply because of this issue alone. Someone told me it's because "the electronics in the 911 are running all the time " is

this true ? So again it was back to the store for a new battery. Do I have to keep the Porsche battery tender hooked up all the time on this vehicle ? Also , even if I do , once I leave my garage ,and then park it somewhere, I worry that

it will let me down again,as this has also occurred on numerous occasions, what's a guy to do ? HELP !!!!!

[therock88]

Once again my 2002 /911 996 battery let me down. Why does this seem to happen so often to Porsches ? I have a 97 BMW M-3 , a 2003 Ford Escape, and a 2005 Dodge Dakota, all of those have batteries that are several years old,

and all those vehicles ALWAYS start without any problem. Several years ago,my friend got rid of his 2001 911 simply because of this issue alone. Someone told me it's because "the electronics in the 911 are running all the time " is

this true ? So again it was back to the store for a new battery. Do I have to keep the Porsche battery tender hooked up all the time on this vehicle ? Also , even if I do , once I leave my garage ,and then park it somewhere, I worry that

it will let me down again,as this has also occurred on numerous occasions, what's a guy to do ? HELP !!!!!

Yes...Porsches will kill the battery while sitting at the dealer. Mine (dealer) has told me that. The easiest solution is to buy a high CCA quality aftermarket battery (I have had no luck with the Porsche batteries). When you are not using the car for a while at home you should keep it on a trickle / maintenance charger to keep it strong. Then when you do need to leave it elsewhere you should have no issues. If you do not trickle charge it, then park and leave it, it is likely weak....That is about the best you can do for battery life.

Another option would be to install one of the cutoff switches that is placed inline, right near the battery poles, then you could basically "break the link" when not in use and the battery would not drain.....Only issue there is the memory would get lost including the radio code(unless it is 987/997).

Good luck.

DC

Edited September 6, 2010 by therock88

[mikefocke]

No Porsches don't kill batteries, owners do. By not using the car, installing aftermarket stuff that draws on the battery even when the car is parked, or the like. My car is 9 years old and needs a battery only about every 4 years despite intermittent use (similar to my 3 other-brand cars). That kind of use is hard on a car's battery and we expect all sorts of things like automatic light turn off circuitry, alarms and remote keys to be on our cars that drain batteries. I expect my car to start easily after 2-3 weeks of non-use. If I expect to be parked longer, I use a battery tender/maintainer.

So lets start with the basics...ever tested the charging circuit? Ever load tested the battery once fully charged? Ever tested for current drain in a parked, key off condition?

[Tool Pants]

It is sometimes an issue with the car not being driven enough to keep the battery charged. Then as the battery ages it does not hold a charge like when it was new. There is a Porsche bulletin floating around that Porsche will not warranty a battery if the car is driven less than X miles a year. I think 6,000.