I drove my car 3 or 4 days ago and all was well. Yesterday I tried to start it and got the dreaded clicking. I put a 12 volt battery charger on it for three hours and it showed it was charged. The driving urge had passed so I put the battery maintainer on it over night and was going to buy a new battery today because this one is 5 years old. This morning I tried to start it and got the clicks again. Got out the jumper cables and hooked it to a running car. The motor starts to turn over and then the clicks. Left the two cars hooked up for a while and tried again. Motor starts to turn over and then the clicks. Every time the same. I checked the fuses and don't see any are burnt. The dash gauge shows the battery is discharged but when we put a voltage meter directly to the battery, it shows charged. WTF? Any ideas? Car is the 2002 996TT with 10,000 miles.

 

Is there any corrosion on the terminals? If so, try cleaning them off and getting good contact to the battery. Also, when the clicking starts are the interior lights on, do they dim? It could be the starter. IMO.

 

most likely shot battery if it's still the stock bat. I'm surprised you got 5 years out of it.

 

Oak is correct and "he da man"

MK

 

Yeah, replace the battery and I bet it will start right up. I've had vehicles before where the battery was so dead it wouldn't start even with a jump start. Put a new battery in and it fired right up.

 

Thanks for your help guys. I changed the battery and she fired right up. All is well again in "go fast land". But I have to say, that is the first time I have ever seen a car not start from a jump start, because of a run down battery. That really had me stumped.

 

I didn't think that should happen either until it happened to me. I guess maybe the battery is so dead it isn't even capable of conducting the power from the other car. I'm glad it worked out for you.

 

I think its from the Battery because friend of mine has the same problem and he change the battery and every thing is good i hope its a battery only

 

Landjet, Glad you got your car up and running. just thought id share some knowledge after the fact. You said you checked the batt. and it had 12v but the car still wouldnt start, even with a jump. Heres why: a starter requires amperes to turn over, not volts. its possible for a very deteriorated battery to sill have a 12v supply, but when you need it to supply amps it simply cant produce . This happens from the led plates inside the battery breaking down. Even putting a jump box or cables to the car wont help due to the plates not being able to sustain the amp load. If you only have a volt meter and you want to check the battery, watch the batt voltage while cranking the engine. a good battery will hold 10/11 volts while cranking the engine.

 

I just had the same problem. WIth a jump right to the battery I was just able to get it started. My guess the battery has a shorted cell and is drawing a lot of current. GLad you got it working, this is my 2nd porsche battery in 4 years. I put in a diehard this time but was tempted by an optima.

Kevin

 

Silly question: Where is the battery??

 

The battery is in the front trunk under a plastic panel near the windshield... I have replaced two in the last year.. Just got a battery maintainer. A wise purchase!

 

Thanks Jonny....I thought it might be wise to know this

 

i would just go with the optima red. been using it all year and have no issues... but then again i drive my car almost everyday so.. yeah.