betatron

Greetings, Mein Freunde.

My first post! A little about me: when I was a kid I lived in Ludwigsburg, which is next door to Stuttgart.

I am considering buying a 986 (2000). If I do, I'll have to keep it in my basement garage, which concerns me greatly. I have a great deal of paranoia about a car catching fire in my basement, so I'm thinking that I would like to install a battery disconnect switch. The question I have is how well or how badly does a y2k Boxster react to having its battery turned off for long periods of time.

Thank you for your insight.

mikefocke

No engine does best when not run for months but for a few days not any worry.

The switch would have to be huge as the cables between the starter and the battery are big because they have to carry a lot of current.

Depending on what radio you have in (Becker 220 typical for a 2000) you will have to reset a short code. You may have to reset the window positioning. Nothing that should take more than a few minutes.

Geof3

Best bet is a battery maintainer. Highly unlikely to have a fire from a battery. They can explode, but it is very rare as long as the battery is in good condition.

Brian in Tucson

Welcome to the forum. Do you live in Germany now?

I would say, don't worry about the battery. It only outgasses Hydrogen when it's being charged and absent an ignition source, it is very unlikely to ignite. And if it would, it'd most likely happen when your car is being started, running, or rolling down the road. If you're really concerned, get a really loud smoke alarm and put it at the top of the stairs.

As for my experience with disconnecting the battery it clears all the codes, but also clears the programming. When I replaced my 01 motor, the tiptronic took over a week to relearn the operating parameters and stop flashing a code. In the meantime, the tiptronic features were severely limited. Relearning the perameters for the engine & transmission make for lousy performance, increased emissions, and crappy gas mileage.

My feeling is don't mess with it. It's meant to stay connected to maintain computer setting, maintain the clock, and keep the sound system happy.

Macster

Your worries about the car catching fire are misplaced. There are a number of these cars and similar cars parked everywhere and spontaneous combustion is just not a problem.

In fact in modifying the car's electrical system to do what you want to do increases if only slightly the chance of the car possibly combusting.

My advice is leave the car alone. When you park it remove any electrical loads like a cell phone charger. Roll up the windows. Leave nothing of any value in the car in the cabin or the trunks. Lock the car. This puts the car's electronics into their lowest power mode the quickest.

If possible do not let the car sit unused too long. Regular use not only reduces any battery power problems other parts of the car benefit from regular use as well.

When you take the car out be sure to drive it long enough to give the battery time to get recharged to replenish what it lost starting the engine and the car sitting unused. Roughly this can take a bare minimum of 15 minutes if the battery is kept charged up with regular use. More if the car has sat a number of days since the last usage.

If you have to disconnect the battery be sure you follow the proper steps as spelled out in the owners manual.

Be sure to have the radio security code handy.

After the battery is reconnected reset the window limits. With the window all the way up press and hold the lower button until the window is all the way down. Release the down button and press the up bottom and hold until the window is all the way up and for 5 seconds after. Repeat for the other window.

Perform an e-Gas calibration. (This should be done periodically even if the battery has not been disconnected. How often? I'd do it every 5K mile oil/filter service and sometimes even after fewer miles.) To do this calibration: With the key off and your foot off the gas pedal through the entire process turn the key to the on position. Leave the key on for at least 60 seconds. Then turn the key off and leave off for at least 10 seconds. The next time the engine is started the calibration is complete.