Cayman Battery Dead/Flat

[NA55]

Last night i dicovered that the battery on my Cayman S was dead/flat as the car would not turn over... completely understandable seeing as its used infrequently. I was not surprised at all as i was expecting it sooner or later having read all the stories about how poor the porsche approved batteries are.

so why am i posting.. not really sure was just feeling a little lonely
I also once again wanted to express my disatisfaction with certain OPC service teams, the level of customer services varies drastically dependant on OPC which just makes a mockery of the whole porsche ownership.

Initially called east london... was told that i would need a diagnostic check costing £160 and then depndant on test would need a battery at cost of £300. However, they could not pick up the vehicle until mid june and stated they would need to keep over night for diagnostics. They also would be unable to provide a courtesy but were happy to book me in tomorrow if i could get the car to them... i stated it wouldnt start to which the great advice was jump start it

Got of the blower thinking my jubilee weekend will be ruined but then decided to call mid sussex (50 miles further than east london but have had good experience with them previously)... quoted me exact same price for replacement battery but no mention of diagnostics. Simply suggested i get RAC/AA to come out and do the diagnostics, based on thier recomendation they would happily suppy and fit the battery to ensure my OPC warranty is intact. Simples really.

Now a simple issue of a battery dying or going flat should be pretty standard affair but really does annoy me how some OPCs try it on

[Maersk]

£300 for a battery!!!!!!!!???????

[NA55]

The £300 includes fitting :P
dont get me wrong the cost is outrageous but i was expecting as much... but more annoyed about the customer service aspect. If i am spending this kind of money i would expect some sympathy and some alternative options rather than the take it or lump it attitude

[pete.g]

Buy a battery charger/conditioner - hook up your old battery and see if the lights turn green after a 24hr charge.

Then put the battery back in the car and use the conditioner to keep it topped up between uses.

Just because it's gone flat once doesn't mean it needs replaced.

[NA55]

May try that.. any battery chargers or conditioners you can recommend?
I recall reading that if you take the battery out you need to be careful about closing the boot and doors as central locking will no longer work.. i could be wrong so would appreciate some advice

[pete.g]

I use a CTEK 3600, which is also the make that Porsche rebrand as their own.

If your battery is dead and you cannot open the front lid to get the old battery out then you will need a 12v power source - another car and a set of jump leads will do the trick. There's a little red tab in the fuse box (driver's side footwell) that you pull out; attach the positive to this and the negative to the door latch, then pull up the bonnet release lever. (There's an instruction booklet on the back of the fuse box cover.)

If you have a garage, then you can just leave the bonnet open after you remove the battery. If not then you'll have to do the same to replace the battery.

One thing that can happen after you replace is that a PSM Failure warning may flash up. Just drive the car - it will disappear in a few minutes.

HTH

ETA - the driver's door will open and close with the key.

[NA55]

one final stupid question:
not really comfortable removing the battery and messing with the fuse box but i notice that with the ctek charger i can get an adaptor for the car lighter. If i get this can i just charge the battery via this method?
If so does the charger still have to be connected to the power supply, if so then i am up a creek once again due to street parking only

[pete.g]

There's not really much messing about - Porsche have designed this feature specifically to allow for flat batteries. If it's completely flat then your bonnet release won't work.

On street parking makes using a mains powered charger very difficult - you'd have to use an extension lead from the house.

You can charge through the lighter socket, though I never do this, as I think removing the battery and charging it out of the vehicle is a better option.

If you're not confident doing this, then get a mobile mechanic to remove the battery one day and return it to you the next.

Or pay £300 for a battery (about £200 too much!)

[G105ALY]

Speaking from personal experience, this is what you need to do. It will cost you £50, the remaining £250.00 you can guve to me:
1) Go to Halfords, buy a £50 jump starter pack (its effectively a car battery which comes complete with pos / neg cables)
2) Connect the + lead to the little red pull out plug in the drivers footwell fusebox
3) Connect the - lead to the door hinge (not the door closing hook which it states in the manual - its a poor earth and won't work.)
4) Start the car! You then have access to the battery in the front boot.
Seriously, if you go to Porsche for this you have more money than sense and need to give your head a shake!

Regards

Aly

[pete.g]

You could also buy a new battery yourself - £85 for the Bosch Silver with 5 year guarantee from Euro Car Parts (there's 15% off at the moment) and a CTEK or similar charger - many people swear by the LIDL version, which is £15 - 20.

Put this in the car and put your old battery on the trickle charger in the house. Then you'll always have a charged battery.

When you're going back to the OPC you just make sure the 'Porsche' battery is fitted.

[doneitnow]

Mate, these are the easiest of batteries to replace, I had to do it Sunday on my Cayman, if not go to Halfords, they will only charge you £6.99 to fit the new one but it genuinely only takes two minutes, not like some of the modern crap.

[Klippie]

+1 on using a battery conditioner also get yourself one of these cheap plug-in voltmeters - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIGITAL-LED-12V-24V-CAR-... - to keep an eye on the battery voltage when your car is not being used.

Here's mine plugged into my CS...

[rhkumar]

pete.g said:

Buy a battery charger/conditioner - hook up your old battery and see if the lights turn green after a 24hr charge.

Then put the battery back in the car and use the conditioner to keep it topped up between uses.

Just because it's gone flat once doesn't mean it needs replaced.

Get yourself a ctek. No need to replace the battery! 300 pounds is insane

[Bill Stein]

If you pay 160.00 for them to tell you that you need a 300.00 battery.................you want you head feeling!

Go and buy a Bosch for 60.00 quid, stick It on, and then enjoy the party this weekend with the change.

[Richard Hamilton]

Klippie said:

+1 on using a battery conditioner also get yourself one of these cheap plug-in voltmeters - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIGITAL-LED-12V-24V-CAR-... - to keep an eye on the battery voltage when your car is not being used.

Here's mine plugged into my CS...

Neat. Does the lid shut with it plugged in?

OP - Doesn't Porsche Assistance come with your OPC warranty? I thought that they would come out and fit a new battery.

[NA55]

Once again thanks for the great advice, really am glad that i decided to share my frustrations as it could end up saving me a fare few quids

i do have porsche assist but all they do is send out an RAC man so doubt he will have an approved battery, but not that concerned any more.

Will simply get the RAC man or whoever porsche send as part of the assist package to do afew checks on the battery (more importantly jump start me so i can go off on my merry way to enjoy the extended weekend) and depending on his findings will decide if a new battery is needed. Have the CTEK kit on order so hopefully should be at home tonight so i have all the tools to keep me running for a while regardless

While ordering the CTEK was looking at other batteries for comparison and cannot for the life of me understand how porsche justify the price... oh well

[Trev450]

NA55 said:

While ordering the CTEK was looking at other batteries for comparison and cannot for the life of me understand how porsche justify the price... oh well

How do they justify most of their prices particularly when it comes to after sales!!

[cooldude00]

well i guess they need to get the porsche brand on the charger right?

that being said, when i was in reading opc, couple of the cars were being charged using ctek branded units... so really not sure... must be coffee money

[NA55]

just had the RAC man down via porsche assist... the battery has given up the ghost. Even with a CTEK charger the battery is no good which leaves me in a quandary as i now need a new battery

RAC dont sell porsche batteries but when i told the RAC man what porsche charge he thought i was pulling his leg.

[Klippie]

Richard Hamilton said:

Neat. Does the lid shut with it plugged in?

No it needs to be removed to close the lid, but I suppose it could be left in place all the time if needed with the lid open.