battery trouble

[jonathan]

Hello all - thought I'd get the 944 out today since it's sunny and bright in edinburgh. As usual the battery was flat, so I used my old 16v Mk2 Golf GTI to start her up and off we went. Had a great 60 mile drive round North Berwick etc and decided to stop off at Graypaul to see what was new in the showrooms there. Back to the car after 5 minutes and Lo and behold, no way was she going to start. Used a portable battery booster which got her going straight away and headed off back through town to put her back in my rented council garage. About 5 minutes from the garage came the appaling rotten egg stink - got her put in the garage asap - battery thankfully hadn't overheated but I guess that's that one kaput - my 2nd (OPC) battery in 2 years. Now, the garage has no electricity and with weather like this I don't get out that often, so my questions are these - 1. How do you lot look after your batteries - do you take them out and keep them charged at home ? 2. I presume the alternator is now gone as well so how do I get her to Motortune in Shotts to get it all fixed ? I'm going in June to have all belts done, service and a new water pump (and now, I guess, a new alternator as well.)

 

[jonathan]

Actually, that's a point - if i put in a new battery to try to get over to motortune, is the kippered alternator liable to damage that as well ?

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Why do you think its the alternator as well.
If it was the engine would have cut out, not, just not started.
Is the ignition light on? If not, its not the alt.
Mike

 

[awattam]

'Deep cycle' charging and discharging wrecks batteries pretty quick. Can you disconnect it between drives or does it have to power an alarm?

 

[jonathan]

No - ther's no alarm, just the blade immobiliser and it's in a locked garage. Does that mean i could disconnect it between drives ? If so, do I just undo at both positive and negative or do I need to take it out ? Reason I thought the alternator might be gone was because of the smell - as if the battery had cooked itself.

 

[jonathan]

Also - what make of batteries do you guys recommend - I heard Bosch are pretty good .

 

[Copperman05]

These cars do seem good at draining batteries, also batterries HATE really cold weather, which we've had a lot of recently.

What you need is one of these http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/59293/battery_conditioners.html

They come with a connector you can leave attached to your battery, when you put it in your garage you just hook it up, should solve all your battery related issues...

Edd

 

[jonathan]

Yeah - I know these are meant to be good but the garage has no power supply.

 

[jonathan]

Okay - checked Halfords as they're close to me - they say a Bosch Silver 12V HSB096 should work - 5 year guarantee and £119.95 - any opinions ?

 

[Copperman05]

I see, there was a post recently regarding solar panel conditioners, but perhaps these are more suited to a car kept outside. I doubt there is anything wrong with the type of battery you are using, these cars seem to put a lot of drain on batteries and I assume your car is no exception.

If the car is not used for sometime this will exaccerbate the issue, add the recent cold weather and its a recipe to destroy a good battery. If I were you I would invest in a good battery charger, take the battery out and leave it on charge if you know your not going to use the car for a couple of weeks, I use an Optimate which is really designed for smaller motorcycle batteries but it certainly does the job with my S2 battery and you can just leave it connected indefinately and it will just maintain the battery at full charge.

Edd

 

[andy watson]

Hi Jonathan,

I have had a few days like that myself, nice sunny day go to the garage and diddly squat from the old girl (the car that is!!) presant circumstances means that the 944 is not kept at home in a garage with no power.

I have tried a solar charger, disconnecting the battery but the only way to prevent dissapointment on a nice day when you just want to turn the key and go, I have found is to bring the battery home and trickle charge as I used to when the car was in the garage with power

As Edd said above the cold weather destroys the batteries as does keep full charging after constantly being left flat.

I would think you should be able to get a better price for a battery than £120, my last battery I brought from FPS for £64.17 that was in May 08 but they can't have doubled in price, can they?

Cheers

Andy

 

[Frenchy]

One of my cars is at home with power in the garage, i have another garage at my Mum's, i take the battery off when one of the cars is stored there and bring it home and use a trusty Draper conditioner swapping it weekly from car stored at home garage and the battery from the other........so far so good.

 

[jonathan]

That looks like the way to go - take the battery out and take it home - I'll need to develop some big arm muscles ! As always appreciate all the help - anyway, it was a great drive up until the old sulphurous nastiness and lovely to stretch the car's legs on the roads around Berwick Law - just a shame that's the end of that particular battery - liked the way it said Porsche on the top - sad, I know.

 

[Copperman05]

ORIGINAL: jonathan
liked the way it said Porsche on the top - sad, I know.

Definately nothing sad about that!

Edd

 

[ChasR]

Use will also keep the battery in good shape.

Furthermore, check your earths on the car. Before that, check the voltage at the terminals with the car running. You are right in saying that a duff battery can kill an alternator with the extra stress placed upon it, but I reckon this problem is more to do with either a lack of use (how many miles does the car do?) which a battery conditioner will keep on top of like Copperman05 has pointed out, or that a short or poor earths are present, either of which will be doing your battery no favours.

 

[Reggie]

Having killed my battery with lack of use, I ended up replacing it with the Bosh HSB096 which fitted very comfortably in the boot of my S2. As I kept the car outside on my driveway, I fitted a Sunsei SE500 solar panel beside it which sucked sufficient power from the sun to keep the battery nicely topped up. Worked a treat until my brother parked the Porsche in an Omega

 

[jonathan]

The saga continues - phoned Porsche Centre edinburgh today to let them know what has happened andthey reckon I may have a case to get a new battery gratis, since the current one was a replacement for a previous one bought there which turned out to be a dud. Will take it in on Monday - only thing is I'll have to check the odometer as I've got to have averaged 87 miles a month since it was replaced in October '08, and I think I'm about 60 miles shy. Will check her tomorrow - fingers croseed !

 

[jonathan]

Right, one last thing - didn't really want to mention this as it just sounds a bit odd, but when I checked the car last night to make sure the battery hadn't leaked or dripped or anything I heard what sounded like a ticking/scratching noise which seemed to be coming from behind the glovebox - I know it sounds crazy and I checked there were no mice under the bonnet etc but I haven't a clue what it could be. the only additional electrical bits on the car are an indash satnav and 6cd autochanger fitted by Ray Smith hifi in 2005. Anyone got any clue ?

 

[zcacogp]

Probably a relay chattering.

Often happens if the door open buttons (in the door aperture) don't make a perfect contact. It makes a contact, relay switches, bit dirty so the contact is broken, relay switches .... and so on.


Oli.

 

[jonathan]

Cheers for that - really thought I was going nuts !