Changing the battery

[bakalos]

Hi,

I removed the battery in order to charge it, but as soon as i reconnect it sparks are coming out and the pole got damaged.

At first i connected the negative pole and when i connected the positive one sparks came out.

Then i connected the positive one ( which is the right order) and when i connected the negative one sparks came out again.

From the above picture which one is the positive one and which is the negative. I am almost certain that the right one is the positive one, right , as you are looking at the car in front of you from outside.

The car is left hand drive.

Thank you in advance

[iborguk]

Looking at the photo I see a + on the terminal clamp on the left hand side of that photo and a - on the right hand terminal clamp...

Edited August 11, 2023 by iborguk

[bakalos]

omg, i got confused with the red mark on the right side.

Could i have burned something now?

Edited August 11, 2023 by bakalos

[½cwt]

Also the right terminal is bolted directly to the shell of the car as an earth.

Try connecting correctly and hope everything works.  If not it could be expensive..

@Richard Hamilton is there any reverse polarity protection in the loom on the 986 for errors such as connecting the battery the wrong way round?

[BrianJ]

I had the battery replaced years ago on my then 5 year old car, possibly 2008. The guy put the battery in wrong way round, I saw the flash. Blew alternator and when that was repaired (new diode pack) most of the instruments including the speedo didn’t work. In the end it went to OPC who had to replace complete instrument binnacle. OPC told me the parts alone were £1000+, plus fitting, recoding the odometer etc. Battery guys paid the OPC direct after initially accusing me of going there to get a new battery just so I had someone to blame for the instruments not working. After that I was very careful changing the battery on my 981. Good luck.

[bakalos]

I got lucky! I connected it correctly and everything came back ok!

I definitely win the stupidity award 2023+ in the forum though!

Thank you all so much! This is by far the most amazing forum i have ever seen.

One more thing. I lock the car but i am leaving the hood closed but not secure, so that if my battery dies i open the hood and change it without having to connect the cables in the inside of the car, at the fuses box. I notice that the light in the hood does not turn off if it does not lock. Do you know if it takes time to turn off on its own?

Should i stop doing this and just lock secure the front hood?

Thank you again all in advance!

Edited August 11, 2023 by bakalos

[iborguk]

Phew. 

Do you have access to power where you park the car ? If so perhaps consider a battery maintainer if you're not driving the car much ? Pick your weapon , I've got a CTEK MXS5.0 with the comfort cable which I can plug into the ciggy socket on my car and keep it charged (the cable allows the door to close on it).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-MXS-5-0-Reconditions-Motorcycle/dp/B00FC42HAA/ref=sr_1_5?crid=35Q3NL2DST52M&keywords=ctek+mxs+5.0+battery+charger&qid=1691753465&quartzVehicle=29-10519&replacementKeywords=ctek+mxs+5.0+battery&sprefix=ctek+m%2Caps%2C297&sr=8-5

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-CTE-56263-Cigarette-Lighter-Connector/dp/B0016LA5O8/ref=sr_1_7?crid=QZ0W81BE1I15&keywords=ctek+comfort+connector&qid=1691753496&sprefix=ctek+comfort%2Caps%2C174&sr=8-7

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-Connect-2-5M-Extension-charger/dp/B00ADIHUVG/ref=sr_1_3?crid=XF1D9OLCV5MJ&keywords=ctek+extension+cable&qid=1691753519&sprefix=ctek+ext%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-3

 

[edc]

Just remove the light unit or close the latch. 

[Paul P]

1 minute ago, bakalos said:

I got lucky! I connected it correctly and everything came back ok!

I definitely win the stupidity award 2003+ in the forum though!

Thank you all so much! This is by far the most amazing forum i have ever seen.

One more thing. I lock the car but i am leaving the hood closed but not secure, so that if my battery dies i open the hood and change it without having to connect the cables in the inside of the car, at the fuses box. I notice that the light in the hood does not turn off if it does not lock. Do you know if it takes time to turn off on its own?

Should i stop doing this and just lock secure the front hood?

Thank you again all in advance!

You got lucky ( or the german engineers saved you) - result - suggest taking for a run and make sure the alternator is happy - have sen a failure after 20 mins or running on a (non porsche) car that had suffered the same issue ( at the hands of Kwik Fit ).

I think the light goes out after 20 mins - but if you are worried then pull the bulb out.  

Of course, if you can - a battery conditioned hooked up to the car if left for extended periods is a wise precaution.

How long do you normally leave the car unused, they should be good for a few weeks at least, so wondering if you have a problem with a current drain if its going flat quickly

 

[½cwt]

The light is on a timer.  People have made a video recording leaving a phone inside to see when it switches off.  IIRC it is less than 20 mins.

[bakalos]

2 minutes ago, iborguk said:

Phew. 

Do you have access to power where you park the car ? If so perhaps consider a battery maintainer if you're not driving the car much ? Pick your weapon , I've got a CTEK MXS5.0 with the comfort cable which I can plug into the ciggy socket on my car and keep it charged (the cable allows the door to close on it).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-MXS-5-0-Reconditions-Motorcycle/dp/B00FC42HAA/ref=sr_1_5?crid=35Q3NL2DST52M&keywords=ctek+mxs+5.0+battery+charger&qid=1691753465&quartzVehicle=29-10519&replacementKeywords=ctek+mxs+5.0+battery&sprefix=ctek+m%2Caps%2C297&sr=8-5

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-CTE-56263-Cigarette-Lighter-Connector/dp/B0016LA5O8/ref=sr_1_7?crid=QZ0W81BE1I15&keywords=ctek+comfort+connector&qid=1691753496&sprefix=ctek+comfort%2Caps%2C174&sr=8-7

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-Connect-2-5M-Extension-charger/dp/B00ADIHUVG/ref=sr_1_3?crid=XF1D9OLCV5MJ&keywords=ctek+extension+cable&qid=1691753519&sprefix=ctek+ext%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-3

 

Phew! you can't imagine.. No, unfortunately i don't have access to power where i park .

[iborguk]

1 minute ago, bakalos said:

unfortunately i don't have access to power where i park .

Darn !Then use the car more

 

[bakalos]

3 minutes ago, Paul P said:

You got lucky ( or the german engineers saved you) - result - suggest taking for a run and make sure the alternator is happy - have sen a failure after 20 mins or running on a (non porsche) car that had suffered the same issue ( at the hands of Kwik Fit ).

I think the light goes out after 20 mins - but if you are worried then pull the bulb out.  

Of course, if you can - a battery conditioned hooked up to the car if left for extended periods is a wise precaution.

How long do you normally leave the car unused, they should be good for a few weeks at least, so wondering if you have a problem with a current drain if its going flat quickly

 

Im going to take it for a run now. It's my second car. Im located in Athens Greece, so no many open rides here. I usually take it once in two weeks.

Thats why i removed the battery in order to charge it.

[½cwt]

3 minutes ago, bakalos said:

Im going to take it for a run now. It's my second car. Im located in Athens Greece, so no many open rides here. I usually take it once in two weeks.

Thats why i removed the battery in order to charge it.

Running every 2 weeks shouldn't be an issue for flattening the battery.  If it is going down in that little time you either have a dying battery or a parasitic drain.

Thanks to @Paul P I have a Parasitic drain test 'How To' on a pdf.  PM me you email address and I'll send it over, but I'd probably go for a new 110 (rather than 096) Yuasa, Bosch, Banner (Porsche OE I believe) or Varta battery with a high cold crank current first.  Mine sits outside in the UK in all weathers with no battery conditioner and whilst used most weeks can sit for 3 weeks in winter and has no problems with a 4 year old Yuasa 5000 battery.

[Menoporsche]

55 minutes ago, bakalos said:

Im going to take it for a run now. It's my second car. Im located in Athens Greece, so no many open rides here. I usually take it once in two weeks.

Thats why i removed the battery in order to charge it.

You can get a solar panel battery maintainer, plugs into the lighter socket (check your car doesn’t cut that after 20 mins). Can put it in the car in the windscreen, or in a garage window and trap the cable in the door. Depends if there is daylight where you park (doesn’t need full sun). 

[bakalos]

1 hour ago, Menoporsche said:

You can get a solar panel battery maintainer, plugs into the lighter socket (check your car doesn’t cut that after 20 mins). Can put it in the car in the windscreen, or in a garage window and trap the cable in the door. Depends if there is daylight where you park (doesn’t need full sun). 

Thanks! But no , there is no daylight in the parking, its in a basement..

[Menoporsche]

Portable jump pack then. 

[edc]

Can you run a really long extension cable to it? Out the window down the side of the building. 

[bakalos]

18 hours ago, edc said:

Can you run a really long extension cable to it? Out the window down the side of the building. 

There is a power plug 10 meters away but I can’t leave it long time because other cars pass by. If the battery dies will I be able to open the hood by connecting power cables to the fuse case inside the car ? I think I have read somewhere that it did not work for someone , but I’m not sure..

[½cwt]

1 hour ago, bakalos said:

There is a power plug 10 meters away but I can’t leave it long time because other cars pass by. If the battery dies will I be able to open the hood by connecting power cables to the fuse case inside the car ? I think I have read somewhere that it did not work for someone , but I’m not sure..

Just make sure you know where your emergency cable release pull is and that you can operate the catch with it.

Edited August 12, 2023 by ½cwt

[edc]

If you have a facelift car with the power switch to open the front then you can use the fusebox red tab to pop the bonnet. You might as well test it now while you can. 

[Everywhen]

In the 6 weeks my 986 has been on jack stands for suspension/brake refresh I’ve started it 3 times. Battery was fine.

If you are experiencing a flat battery after just a week or so I’m guessing the battery is on its last legs, not getting charged properly or something is drawing current.

[Rev Ken]

My 2003 Boxster failed to start on several occasions, if so I opened the driver's door 'manually (if not already open!) with the key, pulled the front of the fuse box; pulled out the red tag, clipped the + terminal of my battery charger to the red tag, the - ve to the driver' s side door 'loop' and popped the bonnet open so I could connect the battery charger. (I once tried starting the engine, but it blew the charger's fuze. (My charger was only for 1500cc engines so it took longer to charge than a 'proper' charger.) Then as soon as I managed to start the car I'd take it for a run.

I remember the days when my cars had starting handles and I was very suspicious about the lack of one with the first mini!

[milner]

For emergencies I use a spare battery, a lead with crocodile clips on one end and cigarette lighter adaptor on the other. Open car door with key and connect spare battery to lead, plug in the cigarette adaptor.  Open the front truck with the switch on the floor.

[Lennym1984]

On 8/11/2023 at 5:04 PM, Menoporsche said:

Portable jump pack then. 

I bought one of these for my race car and it is genuinely the best £50 I have spent in ages. I have since bought a lithium battery which I remove each time (it weighs nothing) but the jump pack saved me on a race day when my Varley battery gave up the ghost.