HELP: Not getting any electric power at all

[ubergeek]

My 996C2 (MY1999) was left parked for 1 hour and would not start as if there was no battery at all. No lights would turn on. First I thought it was a dead battery so I tried to jump on an external battery pack. With it, I was able to open the door remotely. However, when I turned the key on, the engine would not start. No lights at all on the dashboard either. There was no sign of electiricity thruout the car. I've done all possible troubleshootings i could while waiting for the towtruck to show up.

1. Disconnected the terminal from the battery

2. Connect the terminals directly to the external powersource ( did not work)

3. Connect the terminals to other car using a set of jumper cables (did not work)

4. Connect the jumper cables to the battery for 10 mins to charage (did not work)

5. Check all the fuses (fine)

6. try to turn on hazard light (did not work)

yes, polarities were connected appropriately.

The car was finally towed to a local porsche dealer and the tech spent 10 min doing a simple troubleshooting as he had 4 other cars he was working on.

I asked him there was such a thing called "Master fuse" in the car, and he said there is one but it almost never blows up. If it does, he said it would take all day to replace it as he has to remove the entire dashboard + more.

I hope this is not something dramtic. If you have any clue what the cause could be, please let me know.

Thanks.

[Tool Pants]

If it were me I would have checked the simple stuff. Take the battery to a parts place and have it tested, more so if you have the original. I have in the back of my mind that something can go wrong inside the battery and then you cannot use jumpers to start it. If the battery is ruled out then I could suspect the ignition switch, a known problem.

Since your car is out the dealer you will find out if it is not something so simple.

[ubergeek]

If it were me I would have checked the simple stuff.  Take the battery to a parts place and have it tested, more so if you have the original.  I have in the back of my mind that something can go wrong inside the battery and then you cannot use jumpers to start it.  If the battery is ruled out then I could suspect the ignition switch, a known problem.

Since your car is out the dealer you will find out if it is not something so simple.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi

I already tried to connect to the terminals directly w/o going thru the battery.

Also, even if I have a bad ignition switch, I would think other small lights should come on, right?

[ar38070]

I have in the back of my mind that something can go wrong inside the battery and then you cannot use jumpers to start it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Batteries can develop an internal short at which point you cannot charge it.

ubergeek. It sounds like the master fuse to me though how you could have blown it is not clear to me. Did the courtesy lights come on when you opened the door? Did the hazard lights work when you had the battery disconnected and the battery cables connected to your external power source? Both of those should work without the key in the ignition. If those worked with your external power source then I do not think it can be the master fuse. How powerful was the external power source? Was it another known good car battery?

[1999Porsche911]

I would check the fuseable link located in the distribution box in the trunk. Under the carpet on th left wall. There is no master fuse that would require removing the dashboard to fix. Dealer obviously is a rapist.

[ubergeek]

AR38070 - when I connected the external power source, none of lights would work. The external power source is the 12V portable battery that that I have been using for years. Also, I tried to use a battery in another car. Neither worked. We've tried total 3 different power sources with and without the battery in my porsche. Nothing worked.

Now as to what caused this i have no clue. Like I said, the car was parked for about 1 hour and after I came back from lunch, I was able to remote open the door and got in. When I put the key in and turned, I saw no sign of electricity (no hazard, courtesy lights)

1999porsche911,

I will ask the quesiton to the dealer. They will call me on Monday as they dont work on weekends. The initial conversation I had the tech got me worried quite a bit. This is a first electric related problem I had with a car out of warranty and I wonder how they determine the labor.

I really appreciate everyone's helps here. Thanks.

[ar38070]

If you were able to remotely unlock the car then at least at one point the car had electrical power. It almost sounds like the alarm has faulted somehow and has shut down the car. This of course assumes that your car has the alarm. That or check the fusible link as 1999porsche911 suggested.