GT3 - battery problem

[craig]

Went to start the car this morning and barely turned over.

Took it out for a 100 mile blast, came home, switched off and went to restart - wouldn't turn over.

Is something different with modern cars as I always thought a good high speed drive should recharge the battery enough to allow a restart?

Or could it be an alternator problem?

P.S. I use a trickle charger also.

Thanks for any help

Craig

[bennno]

either there is a problem with the charger circuit or the battery is knackered and wnt hold a charge.

i am led to believe a trickle charger isnt neccessarily a good thing and can cause alternator damage in some circumstances.

you need a drop tester or need to test the alternator, pop in to any garage and they should be able to check this

bennno

[Merritt]

Craig, how old is the battery? It sounds to me like you alternator is fine but your battery isn't holding any charge... Visit your local garage and get them to do a battery check - I'll put money on it yours has had it.

Steve

[craig]

thanks guys

the car is only 3 months old

I did a search on old topics and note that there seems to be an issue with Porsche batteries that can have dead cells - maybe I've got one of them!

I'm not convinced the battery conditioner is the problem as I've used it just fine on my last 3 cars.

I just hope I can get is started again so I can drop it into the dealer.

[Merritt]

Its not going to be the battery conditioner if a 100mile round trip doesn't charge the battery up enough to start the car. I'd get the battery checked and go from there

Steve

[warmfuzzies]

If the battery went low on charge, it's probably knackered, not many batteries can suffer this. Optima being one.
Get it "drop" tested I would guess one cell has gone south.
IMHO you should replace it, also check the alternator charging, just fire the engine up and see what the O/P is with a multimeter, should top out at 14.5v, any higher and the regulator is borked, any lower than 13.6 and the brushes are on the way out.

kevin

[zanzibar]

I had the same problem that really was only was apparent on track days, after a blast around a circuit if I tried to start the car soon after coming in it would not turn over, it would start eventually after about 10 minutes. Concensus of opinion was a knacked starter motor {heat sink from the engine}, after having a new one fitted it still did the same. We then thought it might be the electrolite contaminated and by driving fast around corners caused the particles to short the cell out until it settled to the bottom again we changed the battery and it sorted the problem.

Z

[craig]

Just checked the battery - it looks like the electrolyte is only 1/3 full! Reckon the battery has had it.

Presumably this will be covered under warranty?

[roshambo]

Technically no its not, as its a wear item. However seeing as you have only had the car 3 months then should be replaced at the dealer expense no worries (& if it isn't demand it is !)

Ro.