Re: Did you check the water level?

I put the P-Car away last week for the winter--five hours before it started snowing.

Anyway, I got a battery tender from Pedro and connected it to the battery. If everything is working right, the tender should have been showing the battery as being charged; but the "charging" light was not lit. The tender's manual says that the light will not come on if 1) the connection is bad, or 2) the battery is going bad. I moved the alligator clips around and felt that the connection was fine.

To make sure it was not a bad connection or a bad tender, I connected the tender to one of my other vehicles, which has a new battery. The "charging" light came on, which means the P-Car battery must be going bad.

I am assuming that the battery is the original on that came with the car from the factory in 2009. Although I would think that it should last >4-years, I also understand that there is no hard and fast rule to battery life.

As I see it, I have three choices:

A. Leave the battery connected to the P-car and hope for the best.
B. Disconnect the charger and let the battery die a slow death, then replace it next spring.
C. Replace the battery now, and connect the tender to it.

If "C" is the correct answer, what problems will occur to the 2009 car when the battery is disconnected (radio, GPS, internal settings)?

Driving a new-to-me '09S in Aqua Blue Metallic. It does .5 past light speed. I made the Kessel run in less than 12-parsecs.
Motto: If you have your top up, that storm outside had better have a name!
Motto 2: Having the top up on a convertible is an oxymoron. Don't be a (oxy)moron.

Not sure if yours works the same as mine. With my battery maintainer. The light only comes on when it is charging. When the battery is fully charged, the light goes out. All I have to do is pull the door handle enough for the window to drop. That's enough power used to put the maintainer into charge mode again.

Is it possible your batter is fully charged?

Guenter
2014 Boxster S
GT Silver, 6 Speed Manual, Bi-Xenons, Sports Suspension (lowers car 20mm), Porsche Sports Exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring, Auto Climate control, heated and vented seats, 20" Carrera S Wheels, Pedro's TechNoWind, Sport Design steering wheel, Roll bars in GT Silver
[www.cyberdesignconcepts.com]

does the manual say what are the different light/status? I have a battery tender brand charger and when it's disconnected, the charger blinks red, charging is steady red, charged is green. IIRC, I had a bad battery with a different trickle charger and even though the batt was dead (won't hold charge), the LED on that charger still show charged or charging. So, I guess you should first check the charger's manual. If the batt is about to go flat... it should have trouble starting the car.

Batteries do go bad after as little as 24 months. The Interstate batt that came with my car lasted 3yrs. I've had the batt in my daily driver go after 27 mos. Luckily, Bosch batteries have 3yr replacement policy. The batt life really depends on where you life. In S FL... the avg battery life is 24 months.. due to heat. That's what the battery testing print out says at Pepboys. I've also had battery last 6yrs from factory when I lived up north.

BTW, if you don't plan to drive it in winter... just wait it out. Why buy a battery now only to have it sit in your garage and have the warranty punched.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2012 01:14AM by Cris. (view changes)

Quote

Is it possible your batter is fully charged?

With the Technocharger battery charger/maintainer, the charger senses the battery state. If it is not full-charged, it charges the battery and indicates it is in Charge mode. Once the battery is fully charged, it switches to trickle charge and indicates that it is in Maintain mode. If the battery is going bad, neither light comes on, which is what is happening.

Driving a new-to-me '09S in Aqua Blue Metallic. It does .5 past light speed. I made the Kessel run in less than 12-parsecs.
Motto: If you have your top up, that storm outside had better have a name!
Motto 2: Having the top up on a convertible is an oxymoron. Don't be a (oxy)moron.

The voltage measured at the battery?

Start the car...does it seem normal?

A battery load tester?

Research battery versus an AGM like the Optima?

Do you really never pull it out of storage for the few warm snaps? I never could resist and even brushed snow off sometimes to take a run.

Maintainers sometimes only work over limited voltage ranges meaning the battery must be reasonably charged or the maintainer won't work. Some are just not chargers no matter how trickle they seem to be.

Quote

Aside from maybe a radio code is there any issue with this?

That's my only concern. I need to check to see if I have my radio code written down.

Driving a new-to-me '09S in Aqua Blue Metallic. It does .5 past light speed. I made the Kessel run in less than 12-parsecs.
Motto: If you have your top up, that storm outside had better have a name!
Motto 2: Having the top up on a convertible is an oxymoron. Don't be a (oxy)moron.

The last MY car to have a radio code was MY02. Subsequent MY cars have the (in)famous MOST bus which does away with radio codes.

Bill

Mike: I got your email, thanx. I will get that battery.

To all: My only concern with replacing the battery is what do I need to do to get the car running again after doing so. I probably need to program the radio; will have to check to make sure the code is written down, and to figure out how to re-program it.

Are there any other concerns?

Driving a new-to-me '09S in Aqua Blue Metallic. It does .5 past light speed. I made the Kessel run in less than 12-parsecs.
Motto: If you have your top up, that storm outside had better have a name!
Motto 2: Having the top up on a convertible is an oxymoron. Don't be a (oxy)moron.

Quote
KevinR-MedinaOhio
Mike: I got your email, thanx. I will get that battery.

To all: My only concern with replacing the battery is what do I need to do to get the car running again after doing so. I probably need to program the radio; will have to check to make sure the code is written down, and to figure out how to re-program it.

Are there any other concerns?

There's no radio code for the 987. The radio is programmed to the car. So no worries there. You might have to reset the window stop on each side (quick and easy in the manual). If the PSM light comes on, just a driving around the block with a few turns will reset and turn it off. The ECU might have to re-learn your driving style, so it may run a little rough for the first few miles. That's about it.

Guenter
2014 Boxster S
GT Silver, 6 Speed Manual, Bi-Xenons, Sports Suspension (lowers car 20mm), Porsche Sports Exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring, Auto Climate control, heated and vented seats, 20" Carrera S Wheels, Pedro's TechNoWind, Sport Design steering wheel, Roll bars in GT Silver
[www.cyberdesignconcepts.com]

Kevin:

If your battery is the same as I had on the 987, it does have filler caps that are covered by plastic.
I think these are considered maintenance free but they still need water; check and see if the fluid level is way down.

The battery will generally discharge very little due to leakage.

Aside from maybe a radio code is there any issue with this?

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

IThe battery might be dying . Not having a tender on it for the previous few winters may
have done it in.

I have my Technocharger for about 2 years now, it's easy to use and works great. When I plug it in the red lights come on indicating it's charging, once charged the lights change to green. Sounds like you have done everything right and your battery is just going bad. Some auto part stores will "load" test it and then you will know for sure.

As to A, B, & C. If the battery is going bad leaving the charger connected is only wasting (lots) electricity as the charger will stay in charge mode the whole time. I would want to know now if my battery was going bad. Buy now or later: If you are not going to use the car until the spring, wait to buy a new one then.

Good luck

a relatively low cost device that will provide an indication on battery condition--good/fair/almost dead?
I know shops like autozone will do this for free but would like to have something in the garage that will provide similar--if not exactly the same info.
Thanks for any help in advance.

will mean that the car will run rough for a few trips while the ECU relearns all the norms for your car and its use.

Actual starting the first time will be normal but take a few seconds longer but no different than if you replaced the battery now.

The P-car is just a car. Relax. And just buy a battery, no need for a Porsche-rebranded one.

Then it is out of the circuit entirely.

No drain. No cycling.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

I would do that first.

Last year my battery was flat so I thought it was dead. As a good AAA member I called and when the guy came he said "I won't sell you one of our batteries (not enough strength for some German cars) but I can run a test (for free)". The test result said "neeeds a charge" so I hooked up my charger and it's been fine for the year since then. So, if you are an AAA member you could have them check it for you (but don't buy the battery unless they've upgraded). Tom

Thanx to all for their input. I checked the battery and it was low. I added water and put the charger back on it, but the charger still didn't show that the battery was taking a charge, even after 24-hours of use. Soooo, I disconnected the ground and hope that it won't completely die over the winter. Next Spring, I will re-connect the ground and battery charger and get it running. I will then drive to a NTB and replace the battery.

Driving a new-to-me '09S in Aqua Blue Metallic. It does .5 past light speed. I made the Kessel run in less than 12-parsecs.
Motto: If you have your top up, that storm outside had better have a name!
Motto 2: Having the top up on a convertible is an oxymoron. Don't be a (oxy)moron.

but if disconnected, make darn sure the trunk lid doesn't close.

In the spring either jump it from your other car after connecting it or remove it entirely and take to the battery shop and they will test and replace it and you bring the new one back and install it.

Other option is do the above now and then reconnect the new battery and put the maintainer on over the winter. That way you can shut the trunk and not worry so much about critters getting in and eating wiring and other stuff they do in their hiding places.