Hi,
I haven't had any issues with the
Cayman
until now. No CEL. Washed the car last night (foam gun + low pressure nozzle pressure washer). After that it wouldn't start. All indications, lights, warning lights, flashers seemed fine; it just wouldn't turn over; not even a click. I put a trickle charger on it for an hour; it started right up. Not until after that did I think to check it with my more sophisticated battery charger; that showed the battery at 80%. Left it on the charger overnight; it was at 95%. Went to
Interstate Battery
; the battery checked out fine on their tester.
After that I ran two scans with the Durametric cable/tester. Even after clearing faults I'm seeing some that are persistent but seemingly unrelated
AWS, Airbag: C152 Communication PSM
AWS: C128 Communication PAS, C153 Communication steering wheel
Airbag: C141 Communication
PCM
, 8012 Voltage supply below limit
After I completed the Durametric scans with the flashers on, etc. the battery showed 70% capacity. I've got it back on the charger.
I'm guessing, without any real foundation for that, that these are spurious faults related to a low battery and am considering replacing that. Does that make sense.
Thanks!
Bill
Yes, it sounds like your battery is a goner. Our cars react poorly to low voltage, which is probably the cause of all of your fault codes.
How old is your battery?
Thanks! It’s 5 years old. A good
AGM battery
. I would ha
Yes, it sounds like the battery is failing to hold a charge.
Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
Bill - question - do you have an aftermarket radio/headunit in your car? The faults you're seeing are absolutely normal for a 987 that has an aftermarket headunit without Canbus compatibility. The errors all say the devices can't communicate. That indicates a Canbus error.
If it still has the stock unit in it - then they are a possible clue to a failing battery - but not an absolute indicator.
A load test is really the answer if the battery is going dead.
In the US most big-box parts stores that sell batteries will do a load test for free (in the hope your battery is dying and they can sell you a new one..) Before spending the $$ on a new battery, perhaps taking the battery out of the car, and driving it (in another vehicle obviously) to one of those stores would prove productive. You want it to be fully (or as fully as it will get) charged before doing the load test, you may want to leave it overnight out of the car and on a charger. If it fails the load test - then you're in the right place to buy a new battery.
If it passes the test then the question is what in your car is drawing enough load with the engine off to drain the battery? Repeatedly discharging it to 80% isn't good for the battery. Discharging it lower than that even a few times can damage it so it will never again fully charge.
Just replaced the battery. Expecting, as with anything
Porsche
, $100s.
Interstate Battery
sold me a blem
AGM
, 1100 cold crank amps, $64.95.$
Bill - let us know if this solves the issue. 5 years isn't a bad battery life on a modern car. The batteries are much more stressed with modern vehicle electronics, especially if auto-stop/start is enabled.
In the end the diagnosis seemed pretty straightforward. After I ran the second Durametric scan, with the key in accessory position and the flashers going as required, the battery dropped to 70%.
That was a very minor load test really.. with not much of a load. Have you tried doing a Durametric scan without the blinkers flashing? That's only done to convince the tool to talk to the car, I haven't had an issue with it on the
Boxster
(
987.2
)...
