Well my car won't turn over. It's a '97 so the battery is approaching 6 years old. I drive it about 1 hour every 2 weeks or so...is this about average death time for a stock battery? Am I gonna have to go to Porsche to get a direct fit replacement, or are there other choices? I tried archives and it kept hanging up...thanks.

 

I'd say you did well with the battery life, considering it's fairly infrequent driving.

I've always bought replacements from the dealer.

Make sure you reconnect the vent tube, and follow the install guide in the manual, so that you don't create an impromptu arc welder.

If you drive it any less frequently, you might look into the battery maintainer that the dealer sells which plugs into the cigarette lighter. Other retailers sell something similar for less.

Mike in Chi

 

Allen
Here's a link to a thread from this past August that will likely answer your questions:

<a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/scripts/rennforums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000867" target="_blank">993 Battery Thread (1 of many)</a>

PS Kim apparently edited the same link to his post, so ... never mind.

 

I bought an Optima red top battery at Pep Boys, and it bolted right in. I also added a battery maintainer from Wally-Mart for another $25., which you should do especially if you use a conventional battery.

The other thing I did was hard wire the Valentine-1, as it will discharge an Optima in a week when you forget to turn it off and don't plug in the battery maintainer.

 

[quote]Originally posted by Silver Bullet:
<strong>As for the V-1, I'm looking for a switch circuit so it will shut off with the ignition.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Kim
The red/black striped wire into the back of the radio is switched, fused & can handle the load.

 

[quote]Originally posted by Pete Lech:
<strong>I bought an Optima red top battery at Pep Boys, and it bolted right in.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Pete,

I was under the impression that the red top terminals are incorrectly placed for installation in our 993s. I have the Optima orange top, which is has an "SAE reverse" terminal pattern that matches our stock battery (negative lateral, or outboard, and positive medial, or inboard).

Do you have a picture of your installation? Did you have to jerry-rig your positive cable like I did below (the only down-side of the Orange top as far as I'm concerned)?

 

Kim,

For comparison, the Orange Top has 830 CCA at O degrees F, 1050 CCA at 32 F, and about 1100 CCA at 80 F.

 

Here is previous posting on this topic:

<a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/scripts/rennforums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=001587" target="_blank">min spec CCA for 993 battery? </a>

Hope it helps!

Jeff

 

I just put in a Red Top Optima 75/35 battery in my 993 and it worked perfectly. It has the wide posts and I had no problems. I guess I must have put it in backwards, I did not think there was a front/back to the battery. All I know is I attached negative to negative and positive to positive. It took me about 5 minutes to insall (I couldn't even finish my beer) and it fit perfectly under the carpet.

George

 

[quote]Originally posted by George A:
<strong>I just put in a Red Top Optima 75/35 battery in my 993 and it worked perfectly..It took me about 5 minutes to insall (I couldn't even finish my beer) and it fit perfectly under the carpet.

George</strong><hr></blockquote>

Uhhh...looks like my "cool" Orange Top project ain't really so cool. Oh well, maybe I sacrificed for the good of the Rennlist experimental team?

Too bad, it will be 4-5 years before I need another battery!

 

If you got 6 years out of a Porsche battery, that is strictly incredible!

I replaced mine with a size 48 bought at a local auto parts store. 5 year warranty for $60 and bolted right in.

 

I purchsed the Red Top 75/35 from Pep Boys for $109. It was less expensive than the two others they offered (other Red Top and Orange Top).

George

 

[quote]Originally posted by Silver Bullet:
<strong>Yeah, but I bet Jeff is just itching <img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" /> to fix the carpet problem in his. </strong><hr></blockquote>

You know that I am, and thanks for bring it up again, Kim. I'd almost forgot about it.

Right now, though, I'd rather spend the $150 bucks on getting other go fast parts... Or maybe even the turbo shop manuals..hahah

Jeff