Can you bump start a manual Boxster with a flat battery?

[Pordave]

Battery flat as a fart.

Can I bump start it?

[McDonald]

I can't think of any reason why not. A jump start might be easier.

[Pordave]

Usual problem I’m afraid, it’s so flat I have no instrument lights and the electrical interlock stops the bonnet opening.

suppose it’s time to find the hidden cable!

[mike597]

Donor battery to the fuse box is way easier if you can do that 

[Pordave]

Frunk emergency cable and battery charger found. Now praying as it’s 10 years sine the charger was used!

if all fails what battery do you recommend and who’s the best priced online supplier.

currently got a Varta Silver Dynamic F18 85ah 800a

Cheers for the help Dave now even PoorerDave

[CMA]

Try https://www.tayna.co.uk/

 

[½cwt]

Go to batteries seem to be Bosch S5 or Yuasa 5000.  You can also fit a 110 rather than 096 by moving the battery clamp plate one hole in the tray.  Main thing with these cars seems to be cold crank amps CCA particularly if not used as a daily driver.

Tayna get good write ups but also look out for ECP or CP4L discount codes and Halfords can be fair on price too.

[S2sam]

There's a Bosch S5 on Amazon  on offer at the moment 

[GmanB]

I always keep a jumper battery in the seat pocket. That way if the battery is flat, I can connect it to the fuse box and pop the bonnet. Only thing to worry about is getting the door to open without the window dropping. You can get them on ebay for around £40. 

[Pordave]

New Varta F18 ordered from Tayna at £90 delivered.

Local guys want £106 or much more from ECP or CP4L

Any advice on swapping / disconnecting re key position or attaching jump leads to keep power live?

Cheers Dave

[Nobbie]

Turn ignition to first position before swapping. If you know the radio code I don’t think you need to keep the power live, particularly since your battery was already dead. You just need to drop the windows a couple of inches while the doors open and then close for the to relearn the stop limits. I disconnect by battery between drives, and this always works fine.

[Pordave]

Thanks for the tips Nobbie, it worked like a dream with no problems.

I would highly recommend Tayna for batteries. I ordered  at nearly closing time and delivery was 11.00 next day, excellent service.

[Pacoryan]

Mine has a drain which may have killed the new battery I put on it last year despite the Halfords trickle charger “maintaining” it. Found out at 3am recently when the alarm kicked off.  It’s been sat since disconnected.  Hooked it up today and jumped it, a brief struggle but then it fired right up, went for a half hour blast but then running out of petrol, so came home before being marooned at a petrol station!  I have disconnected the car and put the battery on charge, but I’m not optimistic.  Might look at a better battery monitor/charger, ideally I’d find the drain which I think is probably just the immobiliser but that’s a whole world of pain (key fob kaput too).

Thing is do I buy a new charger or a new battery and a new charger?!! Or just disconnect when not in use?  (Rarely in use in the winter)

[Pordave]

My neighbour lent me a ‘battery fighter’ charger come maintainer, when I plugged it in nothing happened.

It was only when I read the bumf that I realised to kick in the battery needed 3v in it. I thought WTF, what good is that to a flat battery.

it looks like the preferred option for a maintainer is Ctec but I do recommend Tayna for a new battery @£90 delivered.
At least it takes the worry out of a modern battery dying instantly miles from home as happened with my VW Sharan. 
It’s frosty tonight in Chesterfield and the cars covered in ice so a semi knackered battery would be a liability.

[Little Silver]

I second Tanya for batteries, I ordered one for my Land Rover, arrived very fast and was well packaged. I can also recommend Ctek battery chargers/ maintainers, I have 3 of them in constant use, never had a problem with them.

Edited December 19, 2021 by Little Silver

[RedBarediver]

I've been looking for a new jump battery pack since the one that was in the Boxster when I bought it seemed a little past its best. This looks like a good bit of kit and doesn't seem too expensive Portable Car Jump Starter Battery Power Bank 12V 800A Vehicle Emergency Battery Booster for 4.0L Car Power Starter - HotSnap 

I have a large jump pack from Halfords that has worked fine on other cars in the past, but this seems small enough to keep in the boot for emergencies. 

[McDonald]

1 hour ago, RedBarediver said:

I've been looking for a new jump battery pack since the one that was in the Boxster when I bought it seemed a little past its best. This looks like a good bit of kit and doesn't seem too expensive Portable Car Jump Starter Battery Power Bank 12V 800A Vehicle Emergency Battery Booster for 4.0L Car Power Starter - HotSnap 

I have a large jump pack from Halfords that has worked fine on other cars in the past, but this seems small enough to keep in the boot for emergencies. 

This looks like a handy bit of kit. Let us know your impressions when you get one. I'm definitely interested.

[iborguk]

9 minutes ago, McDonald said:

This looks like a handy bit of kit. Let us know your impressions when you get one. I'm definitely interested.

There's a whole raft of such devices on Amazon. I picked one up for about £30 a while ago (not as powerful as the one linked in the previous post).

Not had to use it on the Boxster yet but it did get me out of trouble on a 2.2L car a couple of times.....captain obvious here,  just make sure it's regularly charged, otherwise it becomes a nice paperweight in the glovebox (ask me how I know).

Edited December 29, 2021 by iborguk

[Pacoryan]

I ended up buying a CTEK charger and binning my ancient Halfords one, have to say it does a great job and has resurrected the battery I thought I’d killed. Am now putting every car battery I can find through the reconditioning process!

[Paul P]

1 hour ago, iborguk said:

There's a whole raft of such devices on Amazon. I picked one up for about £30 a while ago (not as powerful as the one linked in the previous post).

Not had to use it on the Boxster yet but it did get me out of trouble on a 2.2L car a couple of times.....captain obvious here,  just make sure it's regularly charged, otherwise it becomes a nice paperweight in the glovebox (ask me how I know).

I equipped the fleet (pork and daily)  with these. 
 

NOCO Boost Sport GB20 500 Amp 12-Volt UltraSafe Portable Lithium Jump Starter, Car Battery Booster Pack, And Jump Leads For Up To 4-Liter Gasoline Engines https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015TKPT1A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_5DZNTAKVNAR9TRQ7S44H?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

also have an older generic one that saved the day on the previous daily - think that’s in the wife’s car currently.  Probably due a recharge.  
 

i like the noco one above because it has an override to force a decent output. Some won’t wake up enough to pop the frunk on the emergency connection if they don’t detect enough “demand”. Bit chicken and egg   This has a JFDI button.  
 

Again to date not needed it but handy to have when you have a few cars to look after 

[GmanB]

8 hours ago, RedBarediver said:

I have a large jump pack from Halfords that has worked fine on other cars in the past, but this seems small enough to keep in the boot for emergencies. 

What happens when it's in the boot and you have a flat battery?! Keep it in a seat pocket. Personally I keep a jumper battery in one pocket and jump leads in the other as the leads on jumpers won't reach the door latch. 

Edited December 30, 2021 by GmanB

[BBB]

14 hours ago, Paul P said:

I equipped the fleet (pork and daily)  with these. 
 

NOCO Boost Sport GB20 500 Amp 12-Volt UltraSafe Portable Lithium Jump Starter, Car Battery Booster Pack, And Jump Leads For Up To 4-Liter Gasoline Engines https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015TKPT1A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_5DZNTAKVNAR9TRQ7S44H?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

also have an older generic one that saved the day on the previous daily - think that’s in the wife’s car currently.  Probably due a recharge.  
 

i like the noco one above because it has an override to force a decent output. Some won’t wake up enough to pop the frunk on the emergency connection if they don’t detect enough “demand”. Bit chicken and egg   This has a JFDI button.  
 

Again to date not needed it but handy to have when you have a few cars to look after 

I have the Noco one as well. It sits in a carry case on the floor behind the drivers seat. I take it out every few months and check its charge and it has always stayed full. 

[McDonald]

3 minutes ago, BBB said:

I have the Noco one as well. It sits in a carry case on the floor behind the drivers seat. I take it out every few months and check its charge and it has always stayed full. 

The Hotsnap seems to be about £100 cheaper and very neatly doubles as a flashlight. Pretty neat.

[BBB]

1 minute ago, McDonald said:

The Hotsnap seems to be about £100 cheaper and very neatly doubles as a flashlight. Pretty neat.

The Noco has a light too, it seems pretty standard to have them integrated.

I can’t make a direct comparison, but a smaller version I had, that looks more like the hotsnap, failed to start my 2 litre engined camper van. It might have worked if the battery was just low, and the starter motor was sluggish, but from fully flat it simply didn’t work at all. I connected the booster and it emptied it completely, whilst the starter motor tried a few times but the engine never fired up. We now keep it in the van just for topping up mobile phones if we’re not able to get a hookup.

The Noco may have the same flaws, but I think it’s a safe generalisation that the smaller the unit, the less charge capacity you have. 

[RedBarediver]

15 hours ago, GmanB said:

What happens when it's in the boot and you have a flat battery?! Keep it in a seat pocket. Personally I keep a jumper battery in one pocket and jump leads in the other as the leads on jumpers won't reach the door latch. 

Mine is a 1998. Nothing more elaborate than pulling a cable from inside the car to get the boot open