Urgent help needed... Car won't start
 

Hello Folks,

Car was parked on a battery tender for around three weeks and after a little hesitation started with out any issues. Drove fine yesterday but today i couldn't start it when i came out of the pizza store with some Papa Johns stuff :D

The car won't crank but the lights on the dash do come on and kinda flicker when cranked. The store manager had the volt meter and the battery read around 12.2, is that normal ?

When i looked at the battery, the cables seem to be connected firmly but then there another wire that was not only conntected to the terminals but had a plug on the other side which wasn't connected anywhere. I will try to get the pictures soon.

He tried to jump start the car but when the jumper cables were connected, i noticed some smoke from the red terminal on my car and some smoke from his battery too. I think he might have connected the cables the wrong way or what else could be the cause of the smoke ?

I didn't look further into it and left for home to ask you guys about your take on this.

I am now waiting on my friend who seems to know the cars quite a bit to see if it's the battery or not and once the battery is ruled out, i would have the car towed to the Porsche.

Any suggestions ?

Almost sure it's the battery!! ;)

sure was. Interesting details to follow

my turbo just started doing this. its on a porsche bought tender if not being driven, started just fine yesterday and after 45 minutes I park it to go into a 7-11. Come out and nothing, no cranking, but all lights come on just fine as normal. I try it three times and then it starts.

going into dealer tomorrow for oil and brake fluid changes and will have them check it out.

I guess it's already answered, but definitely the battery. Lead acid batteries generally die without much warning. Also, a small drop in voltage equates to a much larger drop in current (amps). While at the dealership have them check the alternator too.

In the past when I had battery issues in my P cars, the voltage regulator seemed to die also.

Good luck and looking forward to the full story.

If you still have the OEM battery, this is the way mine failed too.

mine is indeed the oem battery, month away from being 4 years old and 32,000m for reference.

update: dealer blamed a clutch issue, i.e. not registering the clutch was on the floor thus would not start the car. We will see....

That is a strange one! Hopefully that is it and you are back to FUN.

Odds are Im still living on borrowed time battery wise, just going to replace it shortly. 4 years seems to be rare with these things!

I Agree. it will turn out that the battery is playing up.

My 07 TT gives a message to "depress the clutch" on the dash if that is the cause of the starter kill mechanism. Otherwise, if everything flickers/dims/or goes out when you turn the key and hear nothing or clicks(starter relay) then it is absolutely a 1. Bad Starter Solenoid 2. Bad Spot on Starter Motor or 3. Battery too weak (Amperage/not Voltage) to engage the bendix and flywheel.

I did a quick forum search a while ago and it seems with "normal" usage most Porsche OEM batteries die between 3 and 4 years. If your car is above 3 years old, expect the problem to be battery related.

If your car is out of warranty and you do need a battery replacement, check out this thread on the Walmart replacement battery:
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...mendation.html

My battery died on the TT in less than 3 years. The OEM batteries are not very good. Buy something else when replacing. I bought one at Autozone for less than half of the OEM price, with free install, more cranking amps and a much better warranty.

I actually had an OEM BMW Battery last 12 years. I bought the car new in June 99, and died last summer. I couldn't fricken believe it!