Der Tgr

So, took the wife to dinner a couple nights ago, and when I started the Spyder to leave afterwards, I got a "Control Engine Fault - Consult a Workshop, Driving Permitted" warning. Took the car in to the dealer Saturday and had the Master Tech check the code - turned out to be a "Low System Voltage" issue. He asked if I keep the car on a tender when not driven regularly, and I said yes, I use a Porsche Charge o Mat connected via the passenger footwell cigarette lighter socket. He then told me that, new for 2022, the cigarette lighter sockets - both in the footwell and in the smokers package cubby - have the power interrupted after 30 minutes when the engine is off to protect the battery, and therefore neither socket will work for maintaining the charge on the battery. He said that now you have to connect directly to the positive post on the battery and negative to ground point on car. I mentioned that I had noticed that I had found the maintainer flashing a green light (bottom left, under the "Mode" button) a day or two after connecting it - with no indication of the battery status at the top. He thought that this was because the socket was no longer active. Anyone else with a 2022 using a maintainer experience similar??

In any event, I did not believe that Porsche would make this change as many people keep their Pcars on maintainers when not being driven.....so I RTFM. To my surprise, the manual seems to corroborate the Lead Tech's assertion. It specifically states that the charger/maintainer must be connected to the battery directly. As I do not drive the car frequently (and will drive it even less over the winter) I guess I'll be reading up on connecting pigtails to facilitate maintaining the battery.

StormRune

The Charge-o-Mat is giving me correct charge status days after hooking it up on my 2022. I do not see a flashing light but the charge level instead. You just have to be sure to plug the charger in within 30 minutes of turning the car off. It will not shut them down if it senses the charger present.

If the car has shut them down, you just need to turn the car back on for a moment - starting is not necessary - to reactivate them. I just did that a hour ago myself. I am virtually certain that tech is incorrect.

ttcbj

This is how mine looks, no blinking. All the lights are green, though one appears yellow in the picture. It’s been connected for about 2 weeks like that. I assume it’s working. I might test it Tuesday when the weather is supposed

to be good.

i turned the car off, plugged it into the center lighter, plugged in the charger, pressed the button to get the “car mode”, then locked the car. I’ve done it a few times, and it’s never taken more than overnight to progress from the charging light to the maintenance light. I’ve never gotten any blinking.

Bob Z.

I have a 2021 Spyder but I did receive the "Control Engine Fault - Consult a Workshop, Driving Permitted" warning as well on one occasion. My Indy shop told me it is a common fault - mine turned out to be a "Low System Voltage" error as well.

Der Tgr

Yep, always plug in as soon as car is in garage...never a delay. Same Carge o Mat I used for years in my 911 with no issues. I will do some testing this week on the different sockets...

Thanks for the response -- the light in the bottom right of your photo is the one that I found blinking.....could've been that I didn't put it in car mode after hooking it up.....

I read about your low system voltage CEL while researching the error before going to the dealer...but I believe yours cleared after a few days (if memory serves me correctly). Perhaps mine would've cleared on its own had I waited, but I took it in just to be sure it wasn't one of the other CEL causes I read about (fuel system, cylinder misfires, etc.) Hopefully mine will not return either!

Bob Z.

Correct, mine cleared on its own after a short period of time. I picked up a #20 reader/eraser off Amazon after that and it works great - I had a couple more CELs after the exhaust work but I cleared those and they have not returned.

the6

I have a 2022 GT4 and I've been using the CTEK 7002 in both the footwell socket as well as the one in the center console (that comes with the smoker's package).
I too thought that I would have to connect direct to the battery (well not exactly direct, but to the positive terminal on the battery and the special negative post), but I wanted to try the sockets anyway as an experiment.

Surprisingly, the CTEK goes through its charging program as normal, going through the start, bulk, absorption, and maintenance charging phases. I've left the CTEK plugged in for days at a time and it always stays on lamp 4 (maintenance charge) in green.

I guess the only way to know for sure is to check with a multimeter?

Ramon Vennik

On my 2021 Spyder I've seen several low battery messages (due to popping up msgs of Maximum Oil Level in closed car). Connected it first with the porsche (ctek inside) charger, but after charging it doesn't tell me diddly. Connected weeks later after first low battery message (got several distinct msgs like "Low battery 12V socket off" "Low battery Start engine and run for extended period" and "Battery protection was active during parking") with Ctek MX 5.0 on cigarette lighter connection.
Within a short period 4th led was show on Ctek, after several hours, the 8th led was shown (full cycle charged).

Discharge is different than my 981 (doesn't really need a charger).
If 2022 MY is different on cigarette lighter , who knows, but I can't imagine.

slilley

I plugged my CTEK charger into the footwell lighter socket on my '22 CGTS, and the CTEK went through the normal cycle of charging (based on the lights) over the couple of days that I left it plugged in. I'm pretty sure it would show an error if it was no longer communicating with the battery. So I think the technician is wrong in this case. Although that doesn't rule out a problem with the OP's Porsche charger.

Der Tgr

This morning I plugged in the Charge o Mat into the footwell socket, and selected "Normal Battery Program" (car mode). It started the sequence just like always - progressing through the indication lamps to the third one (from left to right) within the first few minutes - but the lights were always yellow -never got to a green light state. I checked it every half hour and it continued for 2.5 hours with no problem, but at my 3 hour check, all lights were off except the green power light, which was illuminated solid green, which indicates that the charger was disconnected. I cycled the ignition to reactivate the sockets, then pressed mode again to "Normal Battery Program", and the charger progressed again normally, stopping at the third light - but, this time, the charger was disconnected within an hour. So, at least for my car, the footwell socket is not an option as the charger never gets to the "maintenance charging" stage.

I will try the center "smoker's package" socket this afternoon. If that fails, then I'll rig up pigtails to the positive post and ground point on car, and hopefully, be able to route them up near wipers so I won't have to open the front trunk and remove plastic cover to access battery every time I put on the maintainer.

Incidentally, an online search found several threads here and on other forums that indicated others were having this same issue, on multiple different platforms and across a range of model years. The posters speculated that perhaps the charger wasn't snug in the socket (double checked mine, and it was) and there was also some threads where it was debated whether or not the doors needed to be locked for proper operation (I've tried both locked and unlocked without success).

I do not think my Charge o Mat is suddenly no longer working - but I guess you never know. If I do end up needing to replace it, I think I will look at other options such as the NOCO Genius rather than the CTEK product (Porsche branded or not).

Thanks for all the insight -

Westcoast

FWIW, I have been using CTEK units since 2006, I now have 3 of them, one each for all three vehicles, 2 of them currently Porsche (2016 Macan S, 2020 Spyder), as long as they are connected within a few minutes of parking they have always stayed on and maintaining the batteries. No need to lock doors and both are plugged into the smoker's outlet in the console.

I would try your CTEK in the smoker's outlet or connected directly to the battery works (or not)... and IMHO if it doesn't I would still buy another CTEK, my current (pun intended) favorite is the MXS-5.0

ausgang

Groan.
Guess you couldn't resist.
Won't ask on what grounds you prefer the MXS-5.0.
Guessing it's that you prefer the latest generation.
Yeah, watt he said.

Westcoast

Hey, you're good, but brace yourself for some shocking information, besides being latest, this is why I like the MXS-5.0 the comprehensive display lets you know how the process is going. (much like my MUS 4.3 Test and Charge)

Archimedes

Not new. Been an issue for years. I did the immediate plug in, I had Porsche try to reset the settings. Always shut down in all my 981 cars and my ‘14 991. I just put pigtails on the battery.

SwanSong

Odd … I just plugged my CTEK MX5 into the passenger floor outlet on my ‘22 Cayman GTS4.0 for the first time today, and it’s still connected and charging 2 hours later. Seems to work just fine for me.