Newbie with 996 Full Electrical Failure - Plz Help

Hi Folks, What a bummer evening for me. I bought a 996 2001 turbo with 67K miles on it about two weeks ago. Yea! Very excited and the fufillment of a decades long wish. So.......On my way home today from golf course. Merging onto highway and put the pedal down. Car responds well and takes off. Have the car in "drive" not using triptronic(car is automatic). Car never redlines but feels like it "skips a beat" around 65mph. I immediatly lay-off but get battery warning, engine warning and flashing lights on the LED indicator for gear and position. Next, radio has no power. Car will not shift gears. I pull over and wait 30 seconds and pray. Start car and engine warning light is only light that goes on. Car feels OK, but battery gauge fluncuates wildy, then settles in the bottlom indicating no battery power. Lights are now flashing on and off on climate control. Trying to drive 30 miles to get home. Taking it very easy, with multiple lights blasting on and off - "Emergency Triptronics", Brake Fluid", "Battery", Check Engine", PMS off" Slow down near bay bride for traffic and car dies. Now stuck on bay bridge for 45 minutes blocking two lanes. Had car towed to secure lot where I work. Leave ,unable to open hood, or close sunroof (not enough power). Also warning indicator and beeping that key still in ignition although it was not. So need to go out there tomorrow. Figure out how to close sunroof, but not sure i can get into the hood with now certainly completly dead battery. I understand that the needed tool is in the hood. I am thinking about putting some jumpers on the car to see if I can get it to close that way. Any thoughts on what this could be? Advice appreciated. So bummed in SF............

Welcome to rennlist and sorry for your first post. Sounds like the alternator and/or the battery went kaput. I really hope nothing else were damaged after you kept driving it. I suggest you bring a brand new battery to the car and swap out the current one, then try to start it. To close the sunroof, you can just jump from the fuse panel at the driver's footwell. You could get enough power to pop the frunk and the engine lid too. Page 262 of your owners manual. http://www.porsche.com/all/media/pdf...Turbo_PCNA.pdf

+1 on jumper in the fuse panel - had to do it recenly myself to replace a dead battery. Follow Ashai's advice and report back - hopefully it's just a bad battery. Very simple procedure.

Thanks Ashai and Jim, very appreciated. I will try the battery route today and see where it gets me. Jim, when you say jumper in the fuse panel, what do you mean? Really freaked me out with all the multiple error codes and flashing lights after initial issue. The battery gauge topped put for awhile then proceeded to go dead, while other electrical issues occurred. Will get back on update. John

Dead alternator and battery drained out?

From description sounds like alternator/ voltage regulator and now battery is drained. Take battery to Kragen or other auto store and have them test/charge. If battery is good ..start the car and check the voltage reading at idle .. Should be just under 14v .. If not , you need to get alternator out and rebuilt/replaced most likely. There are a few other possible causes like bad ground strap you can search for here .. But when voltage drops low .. The computers and hence warning lights will all do strange things .. To open trunk you can jumper one of those portable starter batteries to the fuse panel connector as suggested above ...good luck ...

First DO NOT TRY TO JUMP START THE CAR FROM THE FUSE PANEL. This is only to get power to the frunk, close the sunroof and open the engine cover. In the bottom of the fuse panel, by your left shin when in USA driver seat, there is a red "fuse" looking lug. Gently pull it out to extend it. This is a positive (+) jumper point. Use that and the chrome door latch loop as ground (-). With a good battery hooked up to these you should be able to open the frunk to get to the battery. After you get into the frunk use your jumper to close the sunroof. As for the original problem, there are a couple of things you should check. The battery condition The positive wire that connects the alternator to the + connection in the engine bay. The end contacts can go bad and cause the wire to melt. Your ign switch. That can cause all kinds of mischief. You can get a replacement for ~ $12 at NAPA #4A0905849B. Or at Porsche for ~$200

If you can't get into the frunk with the jumper use the emergency release cable. There is one on the front that runs from the latch to behind the inner fender well in front of the right front wheel. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...d-battery.html There is also a release cable for the engine cover under the left rear taillight assy. You can gently slide a rubber spatula in between the bottom of the assy and the bumper to create some room to fish it out with a thin wire hook. There is a jumper position under the (+) cover to the right of the engine. You can use that for (+) and the air cleaner screw as ground (-) to try to jump start the car from the rear. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ght-cable.html

Over time and use metallic (conductive) debris from battery plate "wear" piles up evenly, mostly, in the bottom of the battery. Hit a BUMP, debris shorts out a single, or more battery cell, you saw the results.

Thanks so much folks. I really appreciate it. So I went out to the car today to see what was going on. Amazingly, even with the warning indicator for key in the ignition going all evening(key not in ignition). There was enough juice to open the trunck and hood. Hooked up the jumper cables and was able to fire car right up. Battery gauge OK when linked, almost then quickly dead once untethered. Looks like battery last replaced three years, 10,000 miles ago, Looking through records, it wass replaced two year prior to that, and was listed as wrong battery size in records. I hope this is not a chonic issue with this car. Is this common for the model? Sunroof will not go all the way back, even with jumpers. Motor works and it will close halfway, but do not want to mess with it until shop can lok at it. Tried the manual closing method with allen wrench but it was Really tight and i didn't want to put 100% strength and muscle to force it. So...tomorrow will have it towed. Thanks for everyones help. I will let everyone know that latest in the continuing saga

Check your battery connections to make sure they are tight. Also, check the power cable connection on the back of the alternator (biggest wire), it may have come loose.

Check the far end of the battery ground wire (where it bonds to the car). If you have clean terminals on the battery it can sometimes be corrosion on the far end. Specially if you live in a state that salts roads. Machog

Flying, where are you exactly? When all is done, I'm happy to meet up and use my Durametric to help clear any lingering codes.