MMD

Get a hydrometer from autoparts store. That should tell you the state of charge. less than $10 gets you a good unit. Not sure if this will work for you though, read up on it somewhere on the net.

Careful with the battery acid - ONE drop in your eye and you're blind. or permanently injured.

Buzz911S

Thanks for that info, MMD. I've driven it for 2 days now since the battery went dead. Took it to dinner last night and used all the headlights.....and it's still holding a strong charge. I think I know what happened now. During the 3 days it sat in the garage... I noticed that the trunk lid was popped open once. I don't know how long it h ad been that way, but that light would surely be enough to run the b attery down. I had my key in my back pocket and I think I sat on it and it popped the trunk open. I'm keeping my fingers crossed......but it's looking pretty good right now.

TheOldMan

There are a lot of little things I have learnt about my new 997S. Some of them funny, but also a potential battery drain.

1) Don't leave a cell phone in the car. If the phone rings in an empty and locked car, the car alarm goes off and the lights blink. This happened twice until I figured out what was happening! I don't know how long the lights blink for and I am not about to find out either.

2) When you park the car, make sure that the directional signal is not left on. If it is either in the turn right or turn left 'mode' the parking lights stay on and flash.

3) If you place your key in your pocket, it could cause your hood to open. I was in a restaurant yesterday and saw the lights of my car flash and the front hood pop open. I could not believe my eyes. I was at least 50 feet away from the car behind a glass window. The keys were in a pant pocket.

If my car is going to be parked for more than 24 hours, i plug in the charger my delear gave me. It only takes a minue and the battery is always fully charged. My car is equiped with an anti-theft tracking system. Accordingly, it draws power and could casue the battery to become discharged. So as a precaution, it stays plugged in until I take the car out. With my travel schedule, the car may sit for 2 weeks at a time. The battery should still be good, but why take a chance.

PV

Interesting. My hood is open a few times a week while sitting in the garage. Indeed a light touch on the keys make that happen. The first thing I do now is take my keys out of my pockets before doing anything else at home.

I was out of pocket for 10 days last month and when I came back I couldn't open the car with the remote. I had to open the door with the key first. After that I could lock and unlock again with the remote. I also lost a few settings during that period. My cell phone was not connected and as far as I know nothing else was connected.

Ronnie

the car disconnects the battery for the remote after 7 days... I remember reading something like that in the manual anyway.

Buzz911S

That's a good tip about not leaving your cell phone in the car. I never would have th ought about it.

Since my battery went flat... I've been driving the car every day. I think I'll let it sit in the garage for a few days to see if anything draws the battery down again. And, I won't be carrying my key in my back pocket anymore.

texas911

Go with the manual is my advice. That's what I'm following.

9862.5

Does anyone have any evidence that break in is required at all? I test drove a 997 at my dealer with 75 miles on the clock and red lined it all the time. The dealer tells me that the engines are run at max power at the factory and effectively arrive pre run in?

My previous 997 Coupe I drove like i stole it straight from the dealer and noticed no ill effects. However, I only planned on keeping that car for 6 months. I am being slightly more gentle with the 997S.

1999Porsche911

You will get many many opinions on this issue. Here is mine along with more than 30 years of engine building and racing experience:

Proper breakin is important but IS NOT what Porsche states. Follow Porsche's recommendation and you increase the risk of burning oil. Follow my recommendation on breakin above and you will increase your chances of a long engine life without having to add oil between scheduled changes.

I have never had a car burn ANY oil (except caused by a bad PCV valve). I am still driving my 94 Honda Accord that has more than 180,000 hard miles on it. I change the oil every 10,000 miles or so and never add oil in between.

GT3BB

My feeling is that by redlining a brand new car, you are essentially adding thousands of unrecorded miles on your engine.

You hear about guys who dyno their cars at 1K miles and record HP figures equivalent to a looser engine with 10k miles on it. They then say look! I broke it in like I stole it and I am putting out more HP than the poor slob who broke in his car according to the factory specs.

He is probably right about the HP, the problem is that he also has the equivalent of 10,000 unrecorded miles on his car.

If you graphed the HP figures of any car over the life of the vehicle, it would look something like a bell curve. It starts out low, reaches its peak at a certain mileage mark, then starts to slowly decline.

You can accelerate this process and move the bell to the left by failing to break the car in properly, but you must face the consequences on the back end with thousands of extra miles on your engine and a premature lifespan.

dzb

not to be ****, but here is a stupid question regarding "bring up the revs to max rpm's" described in the break-in....gradually or wot??

1999Porsche911

Either way, just get them up there so you get maximum heat in the cylinders.

Buzz911S

Well......with 600 miles on my S, today I took off in first gear, hit the limiter and fell flat on my face. I believe first gear must have been made for pulling stumps out of the ground. <grin> If you're planning to stand on it in first gear, be ready to change gears immediately. When I bought the car I was told there were no limiters on it so it would go the full 182mph top end. Wrong! I've found the limiter twice now. I doubt you could get to it in sixth gear. I've been driving "normally" around town, but every time I drive the car, I have to put my foot in it in second and third gear. Probably not a great way to break it in, but the torque, accelleration, and exhaust howl is just too much to resist at times! .

OCBen

I know what you’re trying to say, but I disagree with this statistical assessment, and so will you if you think about it. Everybody knows that a statistical bell curve starts at or around zero as the ordinate value, rises to a peak at the mean of the abscissa values, and drops back down to zero more than 3 sigmas to the right of the mean.

The horsepower output of a brand new 997S may start out at around 355 hp (conservatively some would say). Once the engine is properly broken in, it will more than likely realize just a slight gain in hp and will then keep this “new” hp output for a constant, flat-line level over, what, 100,000 miles or more? And once the engine is ready for the junkyard heap, yeah, it’s power output will definitely be way, way below what it started out with when it was brand new.

I think this is what you were trying to say. But I’m sure you realize now that it in no way resembles a bell curve.

PV

I don't understand the slight gain in power after a break in period? Please expand on that!