'08 987 S Dead Again

On June 28 the car would not start (4 month old 987 S, 1400 miles) - it was in the garage unlocked and was driven 6 days earlier. And nothing was plugged in, left on, etc. It had sat for longer beforehand and never had problems and is always driven for at least 30 minutes when taken out. Roadside Assistance towed it to Brumos and they replaced the battery - told me to buy a battery maintainer but I did not since the car should be able to sit for less than a week and start. Same thing happened yesterday, July 5, and it was last driven June 30 after the 65 mile drive home after getting the new battery. This time though I locked the car when I got back. I had to use the key to open the door and as the last time, no dash lights, no crank, nothing. So it got towed to Brumos again and hopefully tomorrow they will figure out what is causing the batteries to die, which again just started happening. I searched the forum but did not find any help although others have had similiar problems, but not twice in a week! If someone has suggestions please post and I will update based on what they say; however, I will not settle for another battery replacement nor will I buy one of their battery maintainers since I drive the car at least once a week - this is unreal.

There are quite a few threads on this topic. The car should be able to start after sitting for a week, but usage plays into this. Do you drive it for 30 minutes once a week? 3 hours? If you only drive it a short period of time, you won't put enough of a charge back on the battery to replenish the drain from it sitting still. I would recommend, albeit against your advice, to get a tender. This would at least give you the ability to get to a 100% charge. Note however that a battery tender will not function if the battery is completely drained. There is a thread around here where a member measured the resting load on the battery. You may want to see if you can measure yours against his results, and see if something is out of whack.

He did mention that he drove it 65 miles (say 1 hour) from the dealer . . . should have been enough to sufficiently charge a new battery IMO. Doesn't sound right that 2 new batteries wouldn't hold a charge more than a week - assuming you didn't leave your lights on or something like that. I can't think of what else would cause them to discharge prematurely though - maybe an alternator problem?

About battery tenders; Although the Porsche battery tender maintains a battery in charged condition, it will not charge a dead battery. There are tenders out there that will. There is a tender from Italy that maintains the battery as well as charge it from dead status. Brand name Polar. Disclaimer: My company is involved in testing, evaluating and probably eventually marketing the Polar tender and charger.

Go to your local VW or Audi dealer they have the best battery tenders (solar powered) it even works in your dark garage, crack the blinds a little to let some light in. My car sat for 3 weeks and it kept charge. You can even find them on ebay. It came with my audi and jetta back in 01 so I have 2 of them. They leave them on port with those on the window. BETTER THAN ANY BATTERY TENDER ON THE MARKET IMO!!!!!!

I had a similar problem, with my '08 C2.7. I was sure it wasn't the battey since I drove it everyday and I had only had the car three weeks or so. Further investigation revealed that the bolt where the battery ground wire attaches to the frame was just a little loose. I tightened about half a turn and haven't had a problem since. Afterward I wrote about it here and Suneet informed me of a Porsche note indicating some '08s may have shipped with this problem.

There is a TSB on that issue. It usually has to do with the car starting, but could very well apply to this. You can get the actual TSB from renntech.org, but your dealer should be able to find it and fix it for you.

Got the car back today - they put in a new battery after determining it was bad - they said it must have been part of a bad batch (covered under warranty again). I also got a battery tender but plan to let it sit in the garage/locked for 6 days to test it out. Again, the car should be able to sit for 6 days without a battery tender and still start, just like it did for the first 4 months I owned it. What about the people who use them as daily drivers and park at the airport for a week long trip?

So,,you are happy with Brumos? I purchased my 07 2.7 from them and have yet to have any issue with it. Except the trunk clunk which I will deal with at 10,000 miles. Had a battery problem several years ago with my x wifes car. Somehow a cabin light got switched to the on position. Noticed it one late night in the garage.

Bob, that is insane. Return that damned maintainer, there is NO excuse for a car to not be able to sit for a week without the battery draining! FYI, I've left mine sitting for two weeks before. Got in, it started right up.

My cab lights stay on unless the alarm is set and boy do they get hot. Battery has not died yet . Maybe you have a short or an open cicuict somewhere. Seem like your warranty would cover it. If not 3 times the Lemon law get another one!

They gave me the battery maintainer for free and I agree - if I drive the car once a week or so I should not need one! And for the first 4 months I never had a problem and it sat longer than 5 or 6 days a couple times, 13 days once I believe and it started right up. But they said they checked the system and found no current draw - still seems strange. The Service guy said to let it sit for a few days without the maintainer on it to be sure. Florida's Lemon Law states a problem has to occur 3 times and if still a problem they have a 4th shot at correcting it, or if the car is at the shop for 30 cumulative days.

I noted in one post that you said you locked the car. As I recall, if the car is going to sit for a long period, this is a no, no since it places more of a drain on the battery. And as for the interior lights staying on, "they all do that" for a period of time, around 4-5 minutes, and even after they go out, the dash will stay lit, e.g., "Key 1", odometer. The interior lights, I think, can be programmed to certain times. In any event, unless the garage is highly susceptible to invasion by gremlins, I don't leave the car locked.

For the first 4 months since I bought it new (with no starting problems) it was always unlocked in the garage. But after they installed the first new battery they (Service) told me I should lock it since that draws less current. But less than 5 days later it would not start again. Now with the second new battery we'll see what happens. Another odd thing - the radio comes on when the car is started and to a different station than was last listened to, and the radio is turned off before the car is. That also ocurred after the first new battery and did it twice yesterday with the second new battery (stopped for lunch on the way home). We called Service and told them...they said they never heard of that happening before and maybe the car had to relearn after the new batteries. The saga continues...

sorry to hear that this might sound kinda wierd but since its the battery that is going dead mabye your house is haunted...yea i know that sounds wierd but i know that ghosts can drain energy mabye if you can park the car in another spot and see if that helps at all its the only thing i can think of. yea im alittle wierd but hey it might just be that you never kno

Was this a serious post or an attempt at a joke? I can't tell.

Yeah, maybe the ghosts are "feeding" on battery power! Damn them electronic ghosts! ________________________ "Sir! We're surrounded!" - "Excellent! We can shoot in any direction!" A good car will get you from point A to point B. A great car... will just get you into trouble!

Yeah, maybe the ghosts are "feeding" on battery power! Damn them electronic ghosts! ________________________ "Sir! We're surrounded!" - "Excellent! We can shoot in any direction!" A good car will get you from point A to point B. A great car... will just get you into trouble!

That small solar charger will not do ANYTHING in a dimly lit garage and if you think it does you probably have a Cayman S like mine that I once left (unlocked) for 5 weeks (!) with no problem.

When I finish the trip I'm on my CS will have sat in the garage, unlocked for 34 days. I intentionally did not connect the maintainer, it really should start right up. I know for sure that my Jeep sitting at the airport will start, I'll let you know about the Cayman.

Thanks all and please feel free to comment with constructive input (no more ghost stuff please) because if this happens again I need to have as much documentation as possible in case this needs to be escalated.

Bob, don't be so quick to dismiss the ghost theory. Has anyone checked with PCNA for their official stance on ghosts?

Sounds like an unexplained current draw is causing the problem. The recommendation to measure the current draw is a good one. The dealer should do that.

Dealer claims they tested the system, twice, and that is why they kept asking me if I had anything extra plugged in, which I do not. The car is sitting in the garage after its Tuesday pick-up - we'll see if it starts Sunday.

Well it happened again for the 3rd time yesterday, 7/20/08 (late morning), we attempted to start the car but it was dead again (did not crank, no lights, power, etc.) after sitting for about 4 1/2 days; not on the battery maintainer since Service wanted to see if the problem was fixed. And since it was a Sunday, Roadside Assistance said the car could not be transported to Brumos until today. The towing company needed to jump the car (it took a lot of current to get it started) and when it did start the radio and A/C came on - the car is there now. Out of service days for this problem is 13 days thus far.

It's obvious that you have a current draw problem which is draining the battery. I have been through this a couple of times w/ the wife's G35 (battery conservation circuit was disabled), and my 83 MB 380SL w/ a bad radio antenna killing the battery. Service departments despise electrical problems because they are time consuming and require some intelligence to diagnose. Do not take the car back from the shop until the electrical system, including the radio, is completely checked out by someone who knows how to do this and is familar w/ the car's wiring. I doubt this is a lemon type problem, but the incompetence a/o laziness of your service department may result in a lemon declaration. I'd have thought Brumos would be of better calibre.

I'll be sure to post what they find out. Funny, they keep asking me if I have anything plugged in (i.e., cell phone, I-pod, radar detector, etc.) or if anything was left on (i.e, lights, radio, etc.) and as usual, I tell them no. Question - I would think that since the car records so much data shouldn't they be able to do a download and tell if anything was plugged in or left on?

Are batterys part of the warranty. If not, how much are they? I feel you because mine went out this past weekend too.

Search the forums for battery threads and info about replacement batteries; however, do not buy a Porsche battery. And it might be covered under warranty - read your warranty manual for details or talk to the dealer. Back on topic - anyone know if the dealer is able to do a download or something and be able to determine if anything was plugged in or left on that would drain the battery? As I have stated above, they keep asking me since they have not been able to find out why the batteries are dying.

An update: I received a call from the Service Manager who stated that they appear to have corrected the problem - a bad radio was drawing current thus draining the battery. We plan to pick it up tomorrow after they have had a chance to verify the fix - hopefully this is the end of the car not starting problem so I can enjoy the car again after almost a month of back & forth to the dealer!

Boy, that sure seems to be pointing towards a bad ground or something similar. Doh! Just saw your last post- a bad radio is even better. So... just how does a radio go bad?

Normal wear and tear on the battery are not in the warranty - if the battery turns out to be defective, or if something else in the car is defective (like Bob Z's radio) that causes it to discharge prematurely, then they will replace it under warranty. But, they will not replace the battery under warranty if it is something you do - or don't do - like you don't drive the car enough to keep it charged, or leave something hooked up and forget to turn it off. I would suggest a careful reading of your warranty book so you understand what is and isn't covered... it can be pretty complicated at times. The people across the street have a '01 Boxster - didn't drive it enough, battery died - I helped them get the boot open, get it jumped, etc. He went to Checker and bought a cheap-o battery for it - continued to have battery drain problems even though they drove it enough... after taking three batteries back to Checker, I took him down to the dealer and bought a Porsche battery for it (with my PCA discount) and now it's been fine for several months. I don't think the "logging" software is quite that sophisticated. As it turns out, it was probably the radio draining your battery. That is true - once it's substantially discharged, it will not be able to hold a 100% charge again... it's basically got one foot in the grave... brad