At Law

My '06 997 has approximately 9,000 miles on it.

It has the original battery. It has not shown any signs
of hesitating at all, however, it's getting to be
4 years old. A battery maintainer has always been used since new.

What do you guys think? Should I put in a new battery this
Spring to avoid the potential issue of having the car not start
on the Interstate in the middle of Kansas; or should I wait
until the battery is showing signs of weakness?

No HTwo O

Cheap insurance, but I think you could wait one more year. The battery maintainer is the key to long(er) health.

Macster

I don't know about the 997 batteries but I got around 7 trouble free years from my 02 Boxster's factory battery. Car got used regularly enough that I never had to hook up a maintainer nor did I ever run battery down save once.

Left an electronic device plugged in and running while I was away a week or so in another car and when I got back battery low to the point engine would not start. I decided at around 7 years old time to replace the battery rather than try to nurse it along for who knows how many more days...

Replacing a 4 year old battery that is otherwise in fine shape, showing no signs of distress, that has a battery maintainer hooked up to keep it from ever running down while sitting unused, seems a bit premature to me.

Sincerely,

Macster.

kosmo

thats proactive thinking, but i like living on the edge! my bimmer's battery is fine even at 5yrs old. I couldnt just throw out a working battery.

Edgy01

I just replaced mine in my 06 a couple of days ago--and I have nearly 45,000 miles on my car. The battery maintainers probably stretch the lives about another year from what I have seen. I put a factory battery back in--no need to mess with a simple form, fit, function installation. It took me about 10 minutes. With the loss of power the biggest issues were resetting the clock and retraining the windows where "up" is.

Clifton

Some OEM batteries are good for 10years, but their replacements are only good for 3. I'd leave it alone until it begins to tell you it needs to be replaced.

For backup, you could always keep 'Port-Jump' mini-battery in your car for cheap ($22) insurance -->
Click here to view.

At Law

Thank you for your replies, gentlemen.

I think I'll wait until it starts giving me signs.

luisimo

You can also try testing the battery. All you need is a voltmeter and manufacturer specs.

Mspeedster

My '06 is just over 4 years now, I was starting worry about the battery as well. Had the car in for servicing and was told the battery is still fine.

Does the 997 have a weak battery indicator light in the dash? My Benz does.
(I know, I should rtfm, but my car isn't with me at the moment.)

LlBr

IMO? Get a decent one of these things (hydrometer) and get a clue about what's going on. AFAIK, Battery evaluation is not a simple straightforward process. there are a few steps and considerations to make.

kosmo

i miss the volt guages of y'day.

jcnesq

My 05 battery died after about 4.5 years. It did suggest some signs of diminishing power, but then one day it just died. It was my daily driver and lots of miles, so did not use a battery maintainer.

Speed

I just replaced the OEM battery on my '05 997S with 65k miles. It was starting to take a little longer to turn over when the car spent the night out in cold weather . . . so just for safety's sake I got a new Optima which drops right into the space for the OEM. On my '02 996 the OEM battery died without warning during the 4th year in the middle to Manhattan at 10 pm and I didn't want to go through that again.

Fin Fever

I tried something on a car years ago which worked well to keep the computer alive while changing the battery. rig a 12 volt source to feed the cigarette lighter plug with power, then disconnect your old battery and connect the new one. the computer will never be powered down that way.

Also on my current car, I have an escort radar detector. it has a feature which displays battery voltage full time except when it is detecting a radar. that way I get a pretty good indicator of the battery's condition

sjfehr

Batteries can and do fail without warning, but it's not nearly as common as slow death. Batteries most often exhibit a slow degradation and warning signs, and let you predict failure before it occurs. One of the more common forms of death is sulfation; this is where sulfate builds up on the plates when battery voltage drops below 12.5V. A little bit will hurt cranking amps, but is otherwise harmless, and dissolves once the voltage increases over 12.5 during recharge. Let it sit too long, though, and the sulfate (an insulator) will build up too thickly for the battery to work, and you battery will fail. All batteries have self-discharge, and the voltage will slowly drop. A normal healthy deep cycle battery at full charge can sit for about 6 months before death; car batteries have delicate plates are and more sensitive, thus the need for maintainers if you let them sit over the winter.

If you periodically check your battery with a volt-meter or with the auto-parts store's free battery test, you can get a good idea of the health of your battery. If the battery's internal resistance is 50% higher than new, or voltage is dropping to 11.5V if you let it sit over the weekend, it's time to replace it. You may even be able to hear/feel these when you start the car, but it's best to check once a month with your normal fluid level checks or so and write it down.

If you've got a wet cell, make sure to keep up with maintenance on it!