copey007

I just got back from a business trip to find my shark won't start. I have attempted to find out the best course of action before posting this, however I have found conflicting information. Some say replace the battery and not to jump-start.

Any idea's?

Cheers

Mark

JEC_31

Option: remove battery from car and charge it up with a battery charger.

Bill Ball

Jump-starting with another vehicle is not a problem. I just avoid those "quick-start" 50amp chargers. There is a charging post in the engine compartment - no real need to pull all the crap out to get to the battery unless the car is parked so you can't get to the engine compartment post.

You really need to charge the battery, for which you can use the same remote post. If the battery will not take or hold a full charge, then replace it.

With a good battery, you should be able to go at least 2-3 weeks and still be able to start the car. If not, then you have something that is drawing excessive power. The resting current draw on a 928 should be 30ma. Aftermarket alarms or sound systems often screw this up, but bad switches, window motors and other wiring issues can raise it as well. This "parasitic draw" can be diagnosed with an amp meter and a few hours pulling fuses, relays and wire connectors at the CE panel.

Anyway, I would try to charge the battery with a 2-10 amp charger overnight. If you need to move the car right away, then use standard vehicle-to-vehicle jump starting.

copey007

Thanks guys!

Cheers

Mark

copey007

OH NO!!!! Tried to pop the hood and the lever broke!!!!!

I had to call AAA and had to have the Shark towed to the shop I use, it feels expensive, is it?

Cheers

Mark

Lizard928

if you use a shop to have the car worked on, of course it will be expensive.

Nicole

Oh no - that's unfortunate with the broken hood lever! Hope you get the bwaaaaah back soon!

I also just got a new battery. In fact, as I write this it's waitinig in the garage to be installed. I knew my old battery was weak, but the car still started. So I took it for a spin and thought I could run a quick errand. Needless to say it no longer started when I came back.

Sad thing is that looking at my records, I hardly ever get 2 full years out of a battery. That has been true for all three 928s I've owned... It's probably me not driving the car enough. All my fault.

copey007

Does anyone know what's actually involved here? Has this happened to anyone else?

I appreciate that using a shop will be expensive, however I have no other option, so constructive feedback pertaining to my plight would be useful! :-)

Nicole

I have never done this, but in such cases you can always do a search of rennlist, or sites like this, before you get the car towed to a shop - if you can't figure out how to do it yourself, you can always call the tow truck later:..

http://www.nichols.nu/tips.htm
http://members.rennlist.com/dbise/
http://members.rennlist.com/v1uhoh/index.htm
... and a few more great resource sites that have basic procedures

In this particular case, you could have dealt with the battery from the hatch, as it is located under the folding spare wheel. Then you could have dealt with the hood release later. That would have given you time to figure out how to do it, order the parts, and decide whether you want to do it yourself or have a mechanic do it.

Hope this saves you some money in the future.

weirdscience

You can also install a battery maintainer, such as the CTEK Multi US 7000. I use it and they work great.

dr bob

That lever pulls on a cable that pulls on the release lever on the latch under the hood. Often it's the plastic handle inside the car that gives up first, so you will have the option of using a vise-grip style of locking plier to pull on the cable and get the hood open.

On the battery issue: As much as we like to refer to the jump start post by the term "jump start post", that might be the least desirable place to attach cables from a running car to jump-start yours. I'm comfy using jumper cables to that post, just not having the donor car running. Here's my thinking. The jump start terminal includes wires from the battery via the starter terminals, the alternator, and the feed to the central electrics panel. The battery is a ways away electrically. Get a spike while jump-starting from a running car, and you risk damaging the brains. Do it from a non-runniung car where the voltage will just be battery potential of 12 to 12.5, and you are plenty safe. I still wouldn;t do it except in an emergency, and stranded in your own garage doesn't quite qualify.

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The battery sits in an enclosed box named the battery well, under the spare wheel, accessed through the rear hatch. Porsche recommends that you do your battery charging with the battery removed from the car. Probable reasoning is that you don't want those explosive gasses (hydrogen and oxygen) accumulating in that enclosed space. You also don't want any of those corrosive acid fumes in there either. So you can pull the battery, put it on a piece of wood rather than the on the cold concrete, and use a charger to restore it to somewhere near the capacity it had before it was run down to dead.

Batteries are funny machines though. Each time you run one down to less than maybe 1.5 volts per cell (9 volts net in a 12 volta battery) you rob it of a measurable percentage of its remaining capacity. Let's say 10% for discussion. 10% of total capacity on the first drawdown, then 9% of total capacity (10% of the 90% remaining) the next time, and so on. At the same time, each regular use of the battery to start the car gets closer and closer to that critical drawdown capacity, so eventually normal cycles are damaging the battery more and more.

So what to do? Charge the battery out of the car until it no langer takes more charge. Let it set for an hour to settle. Then use a battery fluid tester to measure the specific gravity of the fluid in each cell individually. The little testers cost as little as a couple dollars for a simple one with the little colored ***** from the battery rack at Wal-Mart, to the mayve $10 one with the graduated float from the NAPA store. If fluid from --any-- cell tests low or even marginal, replace the battery. It's as simple as that. If it tests OK, put it back in after cleaning the terminals and wires that connect to it.

-----

I travel a lot and leave the car for weeks at a time sometimes, so I use an automatic battery maintainer that I attach to that jump-start post in the front. The one I have is a 1.5 amp unit I found on that same battery rack at Wal-Mart, from Schumacher in central Illinois. It keeps the batery up between trips home. These are a great way to keep batteries up over the winter for cars that are stored too.

JHowell37

Real men can hold the cable in one hand and pull the lever with the other. Vice-grips are for sissies.

copey007

Fantastic, most helpful, thanks guys.

Cheers

Mark

RngTrtl

I have used a small battery trickle charger (.5 ~ 1 amps maybe) that I got from wal mart years ago to keep my motorcycle batt charged up. It came with some permanent batt plugs that you install on the battery. I always keep my battery plugged into the charger when I am not driving it and have never had a problem with the battery. I have had the car 2 years, and I know the battery is at least 2 years older than that. Best 20 bones i ever spent i think.

FlyingDog

If you do it from a running car, you can connect the cables and leave it for a few minutes. The running car may actually charge the 928 battery enough to start on its own. If not, the 13-14V from the other car is the same that your alternator would be producing so it shouldn't cause any damage. In fact the second battery and electrical system would be somewhat of a buffer against any starting surge.

I have never successfully jumped a 928 from a non-running car. Even running cars with small engines can be a problem unless you step on the gas. Jump start packs and running cars work fine on either end of the electrical system.