Bigfish

I agree and I've got a tender, the car just only sat for 8 days in my garage and was completely dead. This was immediately after a 650 mile drive so it should have been pretty well charged. The battery is only a year old.

I have been clicking twice as the day after I drove it home, the alarm randomly went off in my driveway. Some members suggested disabling the cabin alarm. Appreciate the info and confirmation that this actually does something!

Matt(inMA)

My '06 can go a couple of months without needing a charge (though it cranks a bit slower after six weeks or so). (Not original battery) - when you lock your car it will eventually transition into hibernation mode (key button press will not unlock car without first pulling the door handle) this is to reduce parasitic drain. Happens with my 997 and my 987.

The manual key issue would be my priority concern- that's not working

keep us posted

Matt

Bigfish

I think we figured out the power drain. Seems like the PCM does not shut off when the car is closed up and locked. It keeps trying to cycle itself on -- you can hear the CD spin up and a slight static in the speakers, it's very quiet but it's there. It quickly goes off and then comes back on every say 15 seconds. If no disc is in the in-dash, you can hear the changer move every 15 seconds or so like it does when you shut off the car, but it just keeps repeating the cycle.

I'll start a new thread to see if the problem has been figured out before.

The door lock & key issue seems to be something with the barrel not connecting to the mechanism.

Bigfish

I thought I had figured out the power drain. The PCM was not shutting off fully and kept cycling to active.

However, I pulled the fuse so the PCM and stereo would be forced off, and fully charged the battery. After 3 days in the garage, the car did not have enough power to start on a cold start. The starter cranked slowly and did not have enough power in the system to get the engine to fire.

If anyone has an idea of what else could be pulling so much battery power over a short amount of time, I'd appreciate any advice. It's frustrating that I cannot trust this car not to leave me stranded.

The battery is just over a year old but I suppose could be bad. IT also has a lo-jack device installed, could that possibly be the source?

ADias

Even if you charged the battery it does not mean the battery is good. Try to start the car, immediately after fully charging the battery. If you find the same symptoms the battery is bad.

alexb76

THIS!

You are literally looking for any reason for your battery problems BUT the battery itself! it doesn't matter if it's 1yr old, could have been an old stock, or just a bad one... have the battery tested and replace. An Audi/VW battery is a perfect fit (exact same OEM) and costs a lot less. Get one of those. I posted the part# a few years back, look it up.

Just as a reference, my car sat for a month on a long trip and I forgot to trickle charge, and the car started with a 2-3yr old battery. The car is smart enough that after a while it turns off all unnecessary electronics, for instance, it turns off the remote start so you need to open it with your keys. Now if your keys don't open the car, that's a totally different issue/story.

Tsilnner

If your car starts cranking slowly, before you turn the engine off pop the trunk open (just to the safety latch) so you can always jump it. If you are not comfortable with that, at least make sure you take out the wheel lock from it's trunk compartment and place inside the cabin, so you can always, as a final measure, get the trunk open by that fun process.

I am hardly a battery expert, but I know a lot of EEs and have been told that If you do not use a trickle charger and also do not drive the car with some frequency you will do irrepairable harm to your battery and shorten it's life to a few years. Just what I have been told. I am sure battery age and temperature figure into the equation.

Bigfish

The hood is definitely open as it's on the battery tender! Don't want to go through that mess again.

Going to have my shop monitor for amperage drain and test the battery as well. Was just curious of any common power drain items in the car.

19VFB19

The car tracker thing that was in my car was draining my battery. If you dont have the FOB for it then its probably on 24/7. Have it removed.
That solved my exact same problem.

Also.... if your battery is one of those none maintenance free ones, check the individual cells. Pop off the caps and topup the cells with distilled water as required.

Minok

So
1) The battery may be past usefull life. The car, with a good battery, should be able to sit unused for a month or even two and be able to unlock with the remote and fire up.

2) The door issue sounds like a broken part in the door lock mechanism. The mechanical use of the key should always unlatch / open the door.

Bigfish

I have the FOB, but I still suspect this may have something to do with it. We're going to dig into it tomorrow and see if we can find the drain.

911searcher

Make sure you lock the car (even if in your garage) as that saves battery.

ltcjmramos

I thought it was just the opposite, don't lock the car to save the battery. Locking it activates the security systems, draining the battery. Leaving it unlocked in the garage eliminates that drain. Do I have it back asswords?

Wayne Smith

997.1 may be different than 997.2. On the .2 if you do lock it double tap the remote lock button to disable internal motion sensing. My .2 aux ports stay on with or without the car locked, so I suspect the .1 may be different based on what has been reported here.

BER

Great tip. Thanks!