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I bought my 04 CTT in 2012 with 60k miles and it had always been dealer serviced. I read about battery issues and I didn’t really have them so I always assumed it was not the original battery.
Anyway its been chugging to start as weather gets cold so I figured I’d change it again as a precaution. Turns out date says its original as I read it.
Love this thing!
Date Code 0203 on black area just above white sidewall
I actually rather doubt it's the original battery - simply because the Porsche PN painted on top of the battery starts with 958 - which is the Cayenne 2nd series that was sold starting with the 2011 model year.
That would make mine super old.
Picture of rear one below.
I need an excuse to replace it, but it refuses to give me one -
12.8V after leaving it overnight. Alternator Charging at 13.8V.
Battery 13.2V after engine off for 5 mins.
I’m leaving the car for 3 days or so and will check it again.
Not sure what the front voltage is but that one is new.
Well if You think that many (most?) people don't even know if they have a second battery in the rear it's no miracle there would still be original batteries. Those wouldn't have failed under original warranty time and after that the cars are serviced more and more at smaller indy shops that do not know any more than the customers driving the cars. The front battery is replaced when problems emerge and if You have kessy fitted, the rear battery isn't even connected when starting the car so would not show up even if going bad.
What year is your car, if it is a '03 or '04 that could actually be the original battery from the factory. Cannot blame the quality.
I have an old Optima Yellowtop battery, nowadays mainly driving my quickjack in the garage. That one I bought when I still had my cap backwards in my head, cannot remember but somewhere around '99-'02 and that battery is still going strong. I charge it whenever necessary, might be 6 months in between but it still has enough oomph to give jump start with cables if one of my actual car batteries goes flat.
I have an old Optima Yellowtop battery, nowadays mainly driving my quickjack in the garage. That one I bought when I still had my cap backwards in my head, cannot remember but somewhere around '99-'02 and that battery is still going strong. I charge it whenever necessary, might be 6 months in between but it still has enough oomph to give jump start with cables if one of my actual car batteries goes flat.
I have an optima blue top in one of my classic cars that is at least 20 years old and still going strong.
I have an optima blue top in one of my classic cars that is at least 20 years old and still going strong.
That's the marine battery version, right?
What do you do to make it last so long? Constantly on an automatic maintainer?
But I'll suggest another factor that may explain why it has lasted 20 years ... is that it's 20 years old. LOL, but really. The old Optimas are reputed (and experience by me too) to have had much higher quality.
Yes, blue is the marine version and I think you are right. They don't make them like they used to. The battery served 3 hard seasons on our boat before I relegated it to street use where a dead battery won't leave a crew of 10+ people quite as stranded. It gets charged by the alternator about 5-8 times a year and sits on the trickle charger until the next use whenever the starter turns slower than I would like or it has been unused for more than a few months. I certainly have not tended to it like I do my other multi-thousand dollar battery packs. It doesn't take a small amount of energy to get a cold, carbureted, 730lbs dinosaur engine to start. A lot of new batteries are not up to this task.
11-03-2019, 05:00 PM
Original factory battery from 03 still good
