JonasInLA

Having just moved to a new house (in Manhattan Beach, CA... hello to the numerous local folk who seem to frequent this board) my 993 has been sitting in the garage undriven for about a month. Trips to Home Depot and Target seem to be more fruitful in the Pathfinder...

Anyway, this morning I finally had a chance to go for a spin.... and the car wouldn't start. Battery is not completely dead, but presumably it's been drained enough to keep the engine from starting. My question is: does this seem like a normal rate of battery drain or do I need to get the electrical system checked out?

More specific details on power usage: the car was parked with the alarm on (so the little red lights in the door were flashing) and I started it on several occassions to back it out of the garage, and then to pull it back in. Other than that it was not driven at all for about a month except perhaps for one spin around the block...

Any insight/experience appreciated!

thanks,
Jonas

Robin 993DX

When was the last time you replaced your battery? What kind of battery did you replace it with?

I had my 993 parked longest for two weeks with the alarm turned on without any starting problem. I do not think 1 month would make any difference. I feel it maybe related to the age and condition of your battery.

Jeff 993TT

I've parked my TT for over a month without any problems too.

Are you sure that you didn't accidentially have the luggage compartment ( aka, the hood ) open?

Tim Ashfield

I would agree with Robin I have certainly had my car parked for two maybe even three weeks with no problem at all. ( EDIT And Jeff he obviously types faster than me )

All the best.

Skytop

Agree with all. I leave my car in the garage for 3 weeks at a time and it starts right up.
A good fresh battery is worth its weight in gold.

skytop

Robin 993DX

On an additional note, does your car have option M 520 "PASSENGER COMPARTMENT MONITORING"

I noticed that in your signature that you have a cab, some of the cab comes with an optional ultrasonic motion detection for the interior of the car, sometimes these device and drain a lot of current and may have caused your battery to die.

JonasInLA

Thanks all for the quick replies.

I just checked my files and the battery is about 2 years old (though it feels like just yesterday that I replaced it). So hopefully the problem is just an aging battery and not some other hard-to-trace power drain. I'm pretty sure nothing else was left on inadvertently, but of course I can't tell for sure now...

thanks,
j

tom_993

How about the DME relay? It's a frequent cause of non-starting 993's. Check the archives, plenty of info there. Also, Robin's web site: <a href="http://p-car.com/diy/relay/" target="_blank">http://p-car.com/diy/relay/</a>

Tom
'95 993

David in LA

If you have to replace the battery don't go with the Porsche factory one - overpriced and a piece of junk. Get an Optima.

Robin 993DX

How about checking the water level in the battery?

We just had a discussion about that....

I remember prior to my battery blowing up incident, my car also had a hard time starting, it was cranking slow....

amfp

In addition to the other responses, I think with the car sitting,and especially your starting, pulling out of garage.... restarting "several" times, you never gave the alternator a chance to recharge the battery properly. So now the battery is low on power, which is normal. As Robin stated, check the water level, if low, fill with distilled water, and recharge the battery.

Cold starts, and restarts backing in and out of the garage without some through driving (30 minutes, or more) is not the best for the engine, as can cause condensation, carbon build up.

Lastly, if you do have the car sit for weeks, purchase a Porsche tickle charge to avoid additional battery drains.

Enjoy your new house and near perfect year round Cab weather.

SLVR

I have on accasion had to charge the battery when living a similar scenario. I would say it is better if the alarm is off but still some drain exists even then. Seems pretty normal, my 95 also did this.