My battery died. I didn't drive the car for 4 days and my kid left the interior lights on for too long. Luckily it had enough juice for me to pop the hood so I have access to the battery.

I've never jumped a Pcar before, do you guys have any advice or anything I should know before I do it?

EDIT: bad news, my battery is toast, see the latest post. Can someone help me with some new battery advice? See the latest post down at the bottom. Thanks?

 

Nothing special to it, if your battery is a servicable battery, check the water level in the 6 cells to make sure none of them are dry and have the meniscus curve as you look down the cells. This will help the battery keep a charge. Once it has started, take her for a little drive and that should have her all back to normal. At least you were able to pop the boot.

 

A battery is a battery so I wouldn't see that there would be any difference from the way you would normally jump a battery. Positive to the positive and negative to a solid ground.

 

Ok thanks guys, for some reason I thought I read something about popping the cover off to reveal the terminal in the driver's side footwell -- but I think that's for when you don't have access to the hood.

 

Correct, when you need to access the front boot you are going through the fuse panel tab with the positive and grounding to the chassis door latch.

 

yes sir, this is when you dont even have enough battery to open your hood up.
Took me forever to figure this out when I left my lights on one time, haha

 

Bad news, my battery is toast.

So basically I jump started the car with some jumper cables and took the car on a 20 minute drive and it was running like a champ. We pulled in the garage, shut it off and I tried to start it up a minute later. DEAD.

I've never had a car older than 36 months (I've always leased) and I bought this 2005 997S in August of 2008. My question is, do I need a new battery? Do they normally last about 4 years?

If I need a new battery which one should (what size), does it have to be a Porsche brand battery or can I get an aftermarket one? How much will it cost?

Sorry these are such rookie questions, I've never needed replaced a battery before. TIA

 

Go to a reputable battery place and find one with identical specs.Does not need to be a Porsche battery..I heard 2 years is normal for the Porsche one.And here in Canada that Porsche battery is expensive.I did an aftermarket battery(no idea of specs at this time) and it works great.

Stacy

 

Did a similar thing with my C4S (left the key in the ignition). Battery was completely dead. I bought a dealer battery, I think it was about $120.00.
Started up immediately. No problems since, and I only drive it about once a week. Good luck.

 

It still may not be fully charged..my batter died and I drove it around for 20 minutes, attempted to restart it to no avail. Jumped it again and took it on a 30 minute cruise on the freeway with higher revs and all has been well.

Dave

 

Hi to jump your car there is a + and - screw on the engine compartmen the negative is in front of the airbox and the positive is under a brack plastic box on top of the engine on the left .

 

If you take it to the dealership they can replace it for you. If you are trying to save that hassle then do not buy one through Porsche. You will have to add the acid and water.

Just take the old battery out, which is only removing the gold colored bracket off the tray. The battery will slide out in the direction of that bracket. Just take the battery to the auto parts store and get a replacement. They will usually take your old battery and give you a core deposit in return.

When working with the battery always take the ground cable off first when removing; ground cable hooked up last when installing. The auto parts store should have a load tester that they could hook up to your old battery just to confirm if it is dead.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. Dave, I'm going to jump it again an take it for a longer drive with higher revs (great excuse to go on a spirited drive). If it still struggles, I have an appt at the dealership tomorrow morning. They said the battery "could" be under factory warranty still and depending on what's wrong with it they may replace for free. If not they'll charge me $350 which I'll just jump it and head home and get a cheaper one

I need them to reset my spoiler control failure code warning with the PIWIS device anyway so I'll knock both of these out tomorrow. Thanks for all the help!

 

If not covered by warranty, Interstate has one that's the right size (same size as OEM) and less expensive. Can't remember the part number but if you search for info here you'll find others have used it successfully.

 

I took my car to the dealership this morning and as it turns out I needed a new battery & they are looking into replacing the alternator as well (both under warranty!). I am driving an 09 Cayenne as a loaner for the next couple days. I feel like a grandma with these 17" wheels. (no offense to all the grandma's on 6speed)

Thanks for all the tips & advice!