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I’ve read somewhere that the #1 revenue generator for any stealership is the service department. Service advisors are bigger snakes than used car salesmen. Some may be more honest than others but they all work for the same cracker. The more expensive the car, the higher the maintenance cost...highway robbery at its best. The truth of the matter is, regular maintenance on modern cars are still pretty simple. I’m on my first Porsche and it doesn’t seem too difficult to DIY the usual maintenance. Oil & filter changes, brakes,, brake flush, and battery replacement all are pretty trivial. I got good laugh reading this thread regarding “reprogramming” after a battery swap. I’ve had a SA from both Audi and Mercedes tell me the exact same thing. They must all attend the same snake oil sales course.
I successfully accomplished the battery swap tonight in about 40 minutes and I was being SUPER careful. I was so paranoid about dropping that one hard-to-reach nut into the mechanics that I cut a paper plate in half and slid it under to catch it if it fell. Turned out I didn't need it. I was able to grab it. I lost ZERO settings with the switch and all looks well. I reset the windows just in case, though.
One potential issue. The negative contact did not go all the way down onto the new battery's post. See image below. Is this a problem? It looks as though there's a little nick in the post that might be keeping it from seating all the way down. Should I pull it off and try to smooth out that nick and get the contact to the bottom of the post? I could also loosen the contact again and try to spread the hoop wide enough to get all the way down, but I'm spooked to go in there with a screwdriver to spread it out...
If you do buy a lithium battery, you need a special battery maintainer for it, correct?
I have used lithium batteries in my track cars, they used to be super expensive like 4-6K 10years ago. I had sponsorship so that helped but still were expensive.
I use it now in my motorcycle. I use a Optimate battery maintainer with that.
$700 is pretty cheap considering the weight savings.
you do need a lithium battery maintainer.
I bought the Porsche Battery Maintainer Pro, which supports lithium battery.
this is a no brainer mod.
Porsche maintenance manual, not sure that’s the correct term for it, says a new battery must be reprogrammed. Saw it with my own eyes today at my local dealer. Suppose your car is under warranty and you choose not to do that. Issues arise from not doing so. Recourse? Avoid paying $300 and warranty is void? Thoughts? Not trying to question those who say it’s not necesaary but asking a legitimate question. If Porsche says it is required, is it worth blowing off on a six figure car to avoid paying an extra few hundred?
Porsche maintenance manual, not sure that’s the correct term for it, says a new battery must be reprogrammed. Saw it with my own eyes today at my local dealer. Suppose your car is under warranty and you choose not to do that. Issues arise from not doing so. Recourse? Avoid paying $300 and warranty is void? Thoughts? Not trying to question those who say it’s not necesaary but asking a legitimate question. If Porsche says it is required, is it worth blowing off on a six figure car to avoid paying an extra few hundred?
That's not how warranties work. They can't void it in entirety. Only with the correlated parts/system. For example, if you put an aftermarket exhaust on, that does not void your radio warranty.
The manual calls for entering the new battery data into the Gateway Control Unit, which includes battery size and serial number etc. nothing to do with function. More about tracking.
it should not void warranty technically but who knows
personally I want to put a small lithium battery in for the weight savings, I will keep the oem battery or a battery maintainer just in case
My S/A said that the battery reprogramming was apparently to let the ECU know the new battery's specs to optimize the charging behavior for the battery and the Auto Stop/Start system's behavior. Apparently the car alters its charging (and discharging behavior for Auto Stop/Start) over the estimated life of the battery. Now you can argue that not telling the car the changed battery's spec may lead to a bit of a difference in that battery's life, but you can buy multiple quality aftermarket batteries for the cost of one Porsche battery with the dealer installation cost... so paying to go with a Porsche battery doesn't still doesn't add up to me.
I should add. A lot of us here have been using non-programmed aftermarket batteries for years now and I don't recall single report of a problem with the second battery or any ill effects to the car from doing this. I used one on my last car and it worked just fine until I sold it.
My S/A said that the battery reprogramming was apparently to let the ECU know the new battery's specs to optimize the charging behavior for the battery and the Auto Stop/Start system's behavior. Apparently the car alters its charging (and discharging behavior for Auto Stop/Start) over the estimated life of the battery. Now you can argue that not telling the car the changed battery's spec may lead to a bit of a different in that battery's life, but you can buy multiple quality aftermarket batteries for the cost of one Porsche battery with the dealer installation cost... so that doesn't make too much sense to me.
makes sense, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much if you are using a battery maintainer.
Not arguing with you all. Having said that, when the Porsche tech manual says a new battery must be reprogrammed and you choose not too, what is your recourse for a car under warranty if issues arise? I had this conversation today with the lead mechanic at Hennessey Porsche in Atlanta. Very frustrating as my car is a cpo and I feel like if I do not do as they say there could be consequences while the car is under warranty.
Not arguing with you all. Having said that, when the Porsche tech manual says a new battery must be reprogrammed and you choose not too, what is your recourse for a car under warranty if issues arise? I had this conversation today with the lead mechanic at Hennessey Porsche in Atlanta. Very frustrating as my car is a cpo and I feel like if I do not do as they say there could be consequences while the car is under warranty.
Under the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act they would have to show that the battery was the cause of the failure. What failure is a quality aftermarket battery going to cause? If this was a problem, the likely majority of us that have been getting aftermarket batteries would have been raising hell about it on this forum by now. I've heard nothing. You have pretty much everyone here telling you it is fine... and we have nothing to gain or lose by telling you this. Don't forget they have products they want to sell you and it's part of their job to encourage you in that direction and it's the lead mechanic's job to do things by the book.
I'm typically glad to pay extra for the official parts when I'm there might be a benefit, but I don't see it here. If you do, and peace of mind can be that benefit, then that's completely understandable.
Don't get bullied by the stealership. All they want to do is scare you and charge you for it. Can understand warranty issues if you did a tune, but a battery? No.
12-11-2018, 09:05 PM
