Battery - All electronics works, but no ignition. Please advice :)

[williamsF1]

Hi Forum,

Today after having driving the car home from work, I took a extra short drive for 10 minutes or so. Parked it in my garage and left it for 3-4 hours.

It's a 98' Boxster, TipTronic - the battery might very well be old but I have used it as a daily driver for 3-4 months.

When I came back I turned the key but with no engine turning on, actually no sound at all.

I opened the door and I could hear a click from underneath the car. It sounded like a switch-click.

I read about 20-25 threads on this forum but with no precise answer to my problem.

My car has all electronics working just fine - PCM and music works, xenon works and I just tried lifting the roof a few centimeters and no problem. This came out of the blue the car has started quite fine recently, only one time 2 weeks ago I experienced this problem, but after turning the key 4 times the car started.

But now all I get is a click when I turn on the car. Left it for a few hours and tried again, same response. The dash says I am in P but I tried moving the gear to R and back to P to see if it was a bad switch.


So what could this be, where do I start ?

A) Dead battery ?

B) Ignition switch ?

C) Starter ?

D) Alternator ?


Is there anything I can rule out ?

[kabel]

I have no personal experience, but my gut reaction says ignition switch, I only say that based on what I have read on the forums in the past.

[williamsF1]

Originally Posted by kabel

I have no personal experience, but my gut reaction says ignition switch, I only say that based on what I have read on the forums in the past.

Thank you - Any other suggestions or experience before I start problem solving this tomorrow

[pompous]

Originally Posted by kabel

I have no personal experience, but my gut reaction says ignition switch, I only say that based on what I have read on the forums in the past.

That's where i'd start.

[shaka]

Hi,

i've had a similar experience. all the electrics worked fine, in fact, the top came off all the way off and onso at first i thought the battery was fine. However, calling porsche roadside assist, they did find that it was a bad battery.

hope this helps.

Sab

[pompous]

I'm sorry...I didn't fully read your post. I do think it is a battery as well.

[williamsF1]

Update:

Today I had jumper cables on the car for about 10 minutes or so, the symptoms were exactly the same the car didn't even try to start.

I then tried removing the MINUS connector to the battery and hook it back up. All of a sudden it just started like there never was a problem. It just worked.


What could cause this electrical lockup of my car, this seems very odd ?

I ran it for 15 minutes, tanked gas full and started it again with no problem. I made another test start and again no problems.

Suggestions ???

[Wonko The Sane]

It's definitely possible that you had a bad connection to your battery in the first place. Those terminals can get corroded and prevent a full transfer of electricity. I'd recommend you stop by an auto place (Advance, pep boys, autozone, whatever) and have your battery load tested just to be sure, though.. Cheap peace-of-mind to find out if the battery is holding a proper charge. Cheap as in free

You may also want to clean your terminals up on the connector and on the battery itself, I'd toss some electrolytic grease on 'em to make sure the don't corrode again, you can pick up a small packet of it when you stop by the auto store to get your battery tested.

[pompous]

Wonko...
U just drop your price again?? I've been watching. WOW! Your about to make me wanna buy your car if for nothing else parts. lol Might be cheaper in the long run haha I can't believe you haven't sold it yet at those prices.

[Wonko The Sane]

Yeah, I just dropped the prices again after it failed to sell on ebay twice... I feel kinda bad about the poor car just sitting around... Apparently there is NO market for these things in central PA... I've only had one or two serious calls about it, even @ $11,500... It's friggin' crazy... I won't go any lower than this, though, so you'll have to pony up for the parts

Kbb and NADA are listing my $11,500 right in the middle of the "average" range, which makes me wonder where all the other boxsters are selling for these prices?