so I drive my car maybe 1 day a week... commute is just 10 miles. Not a lot of time to charge batter... after a few months, battery is too weak to start the car.

Is this a normal problem? Sounds like a newb question but who knows maybe it's a quirk with the 996TT alternator not charging as well as with other cars...

KJ

SY 996 Turbo * 944 Turbo - sold * M3 SMG - sold * Lancer Evo 8 - sold * Boxster S - sold
Misc. Cars Forum

 

Yup, normal, every Porsche does that if you dont drive it.
The dealership sells a maintainer for $60, just plug it into the cigarette socket and your all good, it will shut down when its fully charged.
If you dont put allot of "miles" on your car, Porsche won't warranty the battery replacement. Even if you let it idle forever, mileage is what they are looking for.

 

thanks Brian..

I got the first one replaced thinking it might be old but a few months later this happens so I knew something was up.

Here was my old set to be replaced by one of these.. (I chose the smallest/lightest to save weight haha):





Original post here: http://www.karljay.com/main/index.ph...ic&p=3614#3614

 

I got one of the first 996tts, in August of '00. I have only
put 10,000 miles on it in that time (though I covered the
break-in miles in about 5 days ). I have always used the
Porsche battery maintainer with it, and I *just* replaced the
original battery with a Sears series 48 DieHard international.
Joe

 

I used to drive my 01 Turbo everyday, but I just bought a beater to drive to work in. Anyway, I bought a sears 2/10/50 amp charger for only $40 this past Christmas. If I don't drive the Porsche, I just plug this in at 2 amps, and the charger shuts off when the battery is fully charged. Before the sears charger, I took a plug in transformer that had a 12 volt output at 500 ma and added some clips to plug into my M3 during the winter months. I never has a problem last winter with this $4.00 setup, but it would have to charge overnight to get the car started. That is why I bought the sears one.

 

I bought a black & decker 2amp maintener for $17 at walmart. The Porsche one is $78. Arent they basically the same? it doesnt shut off. But when charged, it goes from orange light ( charging) to green ( charged) back & forth.

 

becareful,
most DieHards leak.

I'd go with the factory battery or Interstate battery.

Unless of course your looking for a lightweight battery,
then go with this http://sharkwerks.com/products.php?pid=13

 

Does the B&D maintainer plug into your cigarette lighter outlet?

I'd be careful with something that doesnt shut off automatically

 

I went with a Duralast battery and have had nothing but good things to say about it. The Porsche OEM battery is junk.....and very heavy.

 

yes it does go into the lighter. But it does not shut off which I guess is a problem. wheres a good place to buy the porsche one or one that does shut off?

 

What about a dry cell? Wet cells are nothing but trouble and are potentially very messy. I'd suggest this option
http://tech.rennlist.com/boxster/Por...tall_Oggie.pdf Still have the same problem as to the maintainer though. One of the best things WRT maintenance that you could do.

 

WELL a little off topic I passed my car through a touch free car wash and my battery/generator light comes on ! Is this normal (I normally do and hand wash all the time but I was in a hurry) after I shut the car off and turned it back on the light turned off.

 

I replaced my OEM battery (I agree with Ruiner, they are junk) with an Optima yellow-top, which is a relatively lightweight deep-cycle battery designed to survive several hundred discharge cycles. I just added a battery maintainer called the Battery Tender that plugs into the lighter like the Porsche one. It has 3 modes: an eval mode to check the charge level, a bulk charge mode that will charge the battery at .75 amps up to 14.4 volts and then shut off, and a float charge mode that will maintain it at 13.2 volts. It was a lot cheaper than the Porshce one (which was over $100 at Stead's, BTW); cost something like $45 including shipping., from batterymart.com

 

Spoken like a true Porsche service writer

 

My battery is weak, and it's almost brand new.
When I was up at SharkWerks having my car worked on, I found the answer. They found a really strong battery that will fit in the 996TT. Alex has it in his 996TT. I'm taking my car up there to have that battery installed in my car. My recommendation is to call them and do the same thing.