My battery died a few days ago. Had to jump start the car. Sat in idle for half and hour and drove on highway at 3K+ RPM for about 20 minutes continuously. Still won't start. Should I drive some more or get a new battery? How did it go out all of a sudden?

Also it was mentioned somewhere to keep the old battery connected while swapping in the new one, why does this have to be done this way?

 

get a new battery

I changed mine and didn't keep anything connected

 

The heat and the cold will kill a battery. Take it to the auto parts store and the can check it to see if it will still hold a load.

 

I found the best price and best cold cranking amps from NAPA. They have an exact replacement for your Porsche at less than half the price. You may need to keep power to your car to prevent loss of radio codes, depending upon year. Hope this helps.

 

Pepboys sells a Bosch battery that is the exact replacement for the OEM battery for about $120. Same size and rating as the OEM. If you don't keep power to the system you will loose the radio code and the ECM settings. If you have the radio code it is no big deal. If not you will have to get the radio code. As for the ECM, it relearns the settings fairly quickly

 

You might want to check out your alternator as well. If your alternator was responsible for your battery dying in the first place (you didn't say how old your battery was), your new battery could be dead in a week too.

 

ALTERNATOR! Hope you have a spare $800 or so laying around.

 

how old is your battery? if it's 4+ yrs old, then there is no reason to suspect it's anything else than the battery. of course, you can have it tested.

when car is running, take a voltimeter and measure the voltage at the battery terminals. you should read about 13v. if not, then it's your alternator.

for battery replacement, you can get a group 48 battery sold at any autoparts stores. they are pretty much same. i found good price at walmart of all places, plus they are open late.

after the battery swap, enter the radio code. no problem. make sure you find the radio code before you do the swap or else your radio won't work.

 

I was having clutch work done and after the car was ready it keeps asking for the code, which I don't have. So I guess I can disconnect the battery.

Next day the battery died. The battery is at least 4 years but probably more than that. I'll take it to my indie to check if the load holds.

Otherwise will get one from Walmart (I don't see any other stores near downtown). What type of tools will I need to change the battery myself?

Thanks to everyone who responded.

 

I recently replaced a customer's alternator and it wasnt that high. Maybe stealership pricing though.

 

Sorry how do I change the battery myself (where is the battery?) and do I need to buy any tools in addition to the battery itself? I plan on going to wall-mart.

thanks again everyone.

 

Battery is in the front... Open the front hood and towards the back (a little left of the windshield washer reservoir) at the centre there is a plastic cover that is held in place by small plastic taps, turn them and remove it battery is under that cover... you don't need any special tools they are regular bolts.... i think its in metric so if you have a set it should do the job.

 

@TT996al - ok thank you very much, I'll give it a try.

 

Do the newer battries still have the vent tubes? Do we need a battery with a vent tube connection?

 

On my turbo, I put an Optima Red Top in...you need to get the anode and cathode reversed model...don't remember exactly which model...but I think it ended in "R" to reflect this fact.

I admit it, the advertisements got me.... :-)

Been fine so far....


Jeff