I have an 03 996, recently the 2nd battery died and I replaced it with an Optima.

Now, one week later, the battery is dead again and the car won't start. The entire time, the car has been hooked up to an OEM battery conditioner.

Also, after I replaced the battery, I noticed the radio would no longer power on. I checked the fuse and it looks fine.

Any ideas on what could be draining the battery so quickly, or perhaps the OEM battery conditioner has gone bad?

The battery prior to the Optima did not last very long either (hard to tell how long since the car is driven infrequently) so I am inclined to think there is a slow drain somewhere.

 

Do you leave the key in the ignition in the garage/when parked? I and a buddy have had this problem--me on a 996 and he on a Cayman.

 

Have you had the alternator tested?

 

Could be your ignition switch.

 

If you have tested the battery and it is really dead...
You need to put an amp meter in series with the battery. Max draw with everything off should be around 40-60 ma.
Start pulling fuses one at a time until you find the circuit that has the heavy drain.
Once you have found the circuit you can narrow it down to the probable cause.

 

I do leave the key in the ignition generally, but I did this with the last two batteries and they didn't drain so quickly.

The Optima isn't totally dead, interior lights still come on, the car just won't crank...

I will search about the ignition switch as I have heard this is a common issue.

Any advice on the fact that the radio won't even power on, perhaps this is relevant?

The car is an 03 with 4k miles.

 

if you jumped the car you probaly blew the fuse in the back of the radio

 

thanks, I didn't think of that...

As far as the no start issue so soon, I guess I will see if the car continues to get power for everything else and I just have a no start issue...if so I would assume it's the ignition switch.

I won't be able to troubleshoot for a couple of weeks, but I will report back when I get this resolved.

Thanks for all the responses!

 

Re: the "key in the ignition" problem:

I've experienced it on my C4, the previous owner experienced it, and a buddy with an '07 Cayman had the same problem. Dealer told him that you can't leave it in there or it will drain the battery.

I've never heard anyone else mention this, though, and thought it sounded crazy until it happened to me. YMMV.

 

I had heard this too, but even the whole week after I installed the new battery, the battery maintainer was plugged into the cigarette lighter...I would think that would keep things fine.

 

do you head lights work with the key out of the ign switch
do you hear a click after you remove the key