ER911S

Just decided last Friday to make the jump and buy a 2005 997S CPO from an E46M3.
Car is a dream and I can now undesrtand current owners and why they feel Porsches are one of the best sporst car out there (even after 2 hours of highway cruising.
Unfortunately, after spending the night in the garage (was excited and I played with nav system without the car running for max of 45 minutes), car would not start next morning, jump started it fine and went to dealer. Dealer charged battery and stated everything was fine on Saturday. Drive back to restaurant, after one hour car does not start and jump with regular cables does not work. Lucky that a guy had a battery charger and car started after 5 minutes of charging... Went to friend house(15 min driving) before going to dealer and car would not even start after I just stopped it. Had to battery charge again for 5 minutes
Car has been looked over by Dealer today all day and they report nothing wrong other than a dead battery. I am at a loss here. Anyone has had similar issues.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
If anyone recommends exhaust installers in SW fl, please let me know too.

mglobe

My first 997 had 3000 miles on it when I bought it. It had been in service for almost a year exactly. The battery died on it about two weeks after I bought it. Fortunately I put a LOT of miles on it during that first two weeks (nearly 2000 miles), and as a result the dealer replaced the battery under warrenty. From what I understand, the battery in these cars (probably in all cars, its just that 911's often don't get driven much) need to be charged either through trickle charging or driving on a regular basis. If they don't get their regular charge, they die, and no amount of jump starting and charging can revive them. How many miles on your car?

nyca

with the engine running, measure voltage across the battery. if you see 14V, the alternator is working. if the battery still does not hold a charge, its bad, period.

ER911S

the car has 7,500 miles. Ther dealer right now states the battery and alternator is fine. I have a detector plugged in and they state it is not good to leave it on overnight. My former M3 had no issues with it and I even also left the phone charging. There is no way a battery can run dead with minor items like these plugged in.
Why would a Porsche battery not be able to be jumped like any other cars??? I had mistakenly left my lights on previous cars like M3 and corvettes and battery was completly dead. Jump start with no problem and ran for 20 minutes to charge battery back. Why would this be different on a Porcshe???

TomFromCT

A 2005 with 7,500 miles hasn't been driven much. Your symptoms all point to a bad battery that won't hold a charge. Try to get the dealer to replace it. If he won't under warranty, pay for it yourself. It will save you a lot of aggravation.
I had a similar problem with similar symptoms on an SLK that I kept in the garage over winter. M-B replaced the battery under warranty and the problems went away. I then had a Boxster that I stored over winter, but used the trickle charger when it was stored and had no battery problems.

mglobe

I agree with Tom. In all likelyhood you have a bad battery, and the dealer should replace it. Porsche does warn about leaving things plugged in and turned on. If you notice PCM will only operate for a short period of time with the engine not running.

I highly recommend that you get a hardwire kit for your radar detector, and have it hardwired to the fuse box to a circuit that goes on and off with the ignition. I had this done by a local car stereo installation shop. They charged all of $35. If you search you can find instructions on how to do the hardwire yourself, but for that amount of money, to its worth paying someone. I mount my detector (Escort X50) just to the right of my rear view mirror. The wiring gets tucked up under the headliner. It looks great, with no goofy curlycue wire hanging down, and I never have to worry about either turning the thing on, or forgetting to turn it off.

Sloth

Hey... wheres the photo??

It sounds to me like you have a bad cell in the battery. Have the dealership test the battery. If its bad they should warranty it. I proactively replace the battery every two years in my Pcar after getting stranded one year at Daytona.

Visit Russ Fournier at Naples Eurosport for non warranty maintenance and installations . He's located in the industrial park off Pine Ridge. He is factory trained and used to be the head tech at the local dealership.

Congrats again on the new ride and let me know if you need any help.

texas911

2005's were sold from 2004 so your batter could be 2 years old. Time for a new battery when stuff like you described happens. If the dealer doesn't replace it for free, get an Optima Red Top as a replacement.

ER911S

Thanks for the info, guys. Quick response and right on the money. I asked the dealer to keep it overnight and run tests. Finally found out that the battery is inconsistent and they will change it. I am out of warranty by one month... Naples dealer is calling Bert Smith from St Pete to get them to pay for new battery.
Sloth: thanks for the info. We'll hook up soon. Pics will be posted as soon as I get my baby back...

Chris C.

In my experience a Valentine One radar detector plugged in all night will kill your battery regardless of its age or condition. Flip it off!

Edgy01

Radar detectors are best wired into a ignition on power source so that (1) it's always on when the car is running but (2) always off when it's shut down.