DaveinGigHarbor

I just got a great 2013 Carrera S cabriolet and have been driving it a lot this summer. Recently had to start using a parking garage to store it and there is no place to plug in the trickle charger. Was not able to use the car for three weeks and went down today to use it Car started, but the world ended with all the fault messages.

I am guessing the battery is low as it has not been on a charger. I had a fault saying the start stop was disabled, a check engine light and a fault warning about the engine, and last, but not least, a fault showing there is a transmission issue and reverse will not work.

Sure enough the car, which is nosed in, would not go into reverse. That makes it tough to do much, other than roll it back and try to remove or jump the battery.

Is this normal? Low battery causing this?

Thanks all for the help. I did do a search and not much came up other than these cars are very sensitive to battery condition.

Porsche_nuts

Most likely the battery.

chuckbdc

Likely low battery. Charge it for an hour with a maintainer and it may be drivable- but replace the battery!

DaveinGigHarbor

Thanks all. Just got the larger of the two battery's from Costco. Total cost including core charge was $159. Label on it says "Made in Germany". Found an electrical outlet a long ways off and so I will run some extension cords from there to the car and plug in the battery tender. Hope that saves everything in the memory. Will swap out the battery and hopefully that will get everything back to normal. Thought my first girlfriend was crazy, but this car has her beat big time.

JimEb

Low battery can make all sorts of stuff freak out.

Sometimes the dash lights and gauge needles will go berserk like you need to consult a priest to perform an exorcism.

barncobob

the "priests" get $350 hour,takes a week to get appt..and they dont give loaners.

koala

And they'll make sure you know they're doing you a favour by providing such amazing service.

Sporty

Just make sure its not the alternator - car will run for awhile on the battery, then die in traffic / on the road. Ask me how I know; mine went all of a sudden and I thought it was the battery at first as I got all the dash lights as well .... Get a cheap voltmeter and put it on the battery with the car off and running - it should read higher with it running around 14.5 vs 12.6 when off

DaveinGigHarbor

Just to note, car has unlocked and started fine after being in storage for the three weeks.

At this point, my battery is charged to 85% after being on the trickle charger for 24 hours. Battery test shows the 85% charge and the battery is good. Looked like the battery is fairly new, but did not see a date code. Still getting all the crazy codes, Auto-start disabled, Transmission fault stating it may not go into reverse and check engine fault.

Car will not go in to reverse, which makes it a bit difficult trying to get it out of the parking stall. Talked to the local independent shop today and they hope to come take a look with me at noon. worse case is that we push it out of the stall and drive two miles it over to their shop

Wish me luck with the Porsche Gods and hope the shop finds that things just need a reset. Not sure how a perfectly running car can be driven around for two months (since I bought it), parked, then have a meltdown. Guessing I will find out and will report back.

Thanks all for your help.

SilverSFR

How is a new battery even from Costco at 85% after 24hrs on a trickle charge? Battery should charge to 100% after about 8-10 “hrs. Even at 2amps trickle. And you said the battery is new. Should already be at 100%. Report back when you identified the issue. Maybe it’s how you are explaining your adventure but I still smell battery troubles. Auto stop start disabled is the key piece of info as that is the first thing to happen with a low or faulty battery.

IXLR8

Especially when you have what you need on-board...see that last line in the MFD. My alternator is working just fine.



And depending what mode you are in Sport or Sport Plus, you should see anything from say 13.5V to 15.0V depending on the ambient temperature.

If the alternator was done, and depending what you have running in the car, less than the lower 12V range.

Viper1000

If it's the original battery in the car then 100% it needs replacing.

barncobob

just buy a new battery and be done with it.

spyderbret

Our cars dont like 85% battery. You really need a new one. Get a new one.

IXLR8

I have no idea which charger/maintainer would give you an 85%, but of what though? These numbers are totally meaningless and made for the basic layman to keep thing simple and give them that "feel good" feeling. Use a digital voltmeter if you want to measure an open circuit voltage.