Ooops battery is drained - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Perfectlap · 06-10-2010, 10:10 AM

Okay so like a knuckle head I left my Valentine one plugged in after parking the car in the garage and going away for two weeks. Dead as a door nail. Now I'm in a bit of a rush..

Should I:

A- take the battery out and have it charged at Autzone or some other place? (I'm sure this will take at least half a day and I hear a drained battery is so so even afte re-charging)
B- Buy a Costco cheapo unit for $50
C- buy one those jump start packs for $100
D- push the car out of the garage and beg for a jump start from one of my neighbohrs (who seem never to be around).
E- kick myself for letting my triple A membership lapse.

extanker · 06-10-2010, 10:19 AM

i say B[1] 75 $ BATT

extanker · 06-10-2010, 10:21 AM

are you near trenton ? i can give ya a jump

Perfectlap · 06-10-2010, 10:25 AM

No I'm on the Northern Jersey hemisphere.

Yeah, I'm leaning towards a Costco run. I love that place Wheaties Fuel big box for $2.99! But those battery packs look tempting. I hear mixed reviews on their ability to restart a fully drained battery though.

fatmike · 06-10-2010, 10:28 AM

Are you able to pop the latch to get to the battery?

extanker · 06-10-2010, 10:29 AM

i went through 3 batt jumper pacts the only thing they ever started were motor cycles

Perfectlap · 06-10-2010, 10:50 AM

Yeah I can open the trunk. Which now makes me think the door wasn't fully closed and that killed the battery. The window wasn't lowered that little bit as it normally is, so the door won't fully close.

I keep one of those small glove compartment Black & Decker battery packs with the cigarette lighter plug in the rear cubby in the event the battery drains and the front truck won't release. It gives the car just enough juice to light up the dash to activate the trunk release but it won't turn over the engine. I just replaced the battery last year with a Duralast from Autozone.

Hmm....I don't think a jump start from another car is going to do the trick since the battery is fully drained. ARGHH...

mikefocke · 06-10-2010, 11:03 AM

run at 3k rpm for several minutes once hooked up before attempting to start yours. The idea is to partially charge yours, enough to lower the resistance so the jump can provide enough amps to get the car started. Once you are started, run for at least 30 minutes at 2k+ RPM. Then test voltage with a meter...or a battery tester. Why pay for a new battery when you might not need one.

Matt Fredrikson · 06-10-2010, 11:04 AM

oh it'll work you can get it started off a jump with no battery in the car and just clamping to the cables if you wanted the problem is you will destroy your alt in a hurry. Same applies to a dead battery, it'll work but it will take about 30 mins to charge your battery up to a usable charge but that will kill that alt quick. not worth it imo.

jcb986 · 06-10-2010, 12:00 PM

Get a 12V trickle charger for around $30...let charge for 8 hours.

Drained mine too, was able to unlock door with key and pop the hood, charged for 6 hours. Cranked one time and started.

fatmike · 06-10-2010, 12:23 PM

Trunk light is the culprit?

I, personally, would go buy a new high end battery. You spend a lot of money on your car, and a battery is relatively cheap. The hassle associated with a dead battery incident, in my opinion, is just not worth it.

boxster6354 · 06-10-2010, 02:16 PM

How old is your battery?

Maybe still under warranty, I had done the exact same thing and agree that drained batteries are so - so after a full charge, took it to O'Reily's and they did a test on it and said it failed and brought out a replacment and said it was still under warranty by two weeks.

944boy · 06-10-2010, 03:42 PM

For that exact problem I bought a Ctek charger and leave the pigtail accessible from the hood by the wipers. That way if I find the battery is kaput I plug it in to charge and take another vehicle. I've had to do it twice now. I have the same pigtails on other vehicles and a bike. Pricey but worth it.

extanker · 06-10-2010, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 944boy

For that exact problem I bought a Ctek charger and leave the pigtail accessible from the hood by the wipers. That way if I find the battery is kaput I plug it in to charge and take another vehicle. I've had to do it twice now. I have the same pigtails on other vehicles and a bike. Pricey but worth it.

smart move and a very good tip

Boxtaboy · 06-10-2010, 04:23 PM

An Autozone battery carries a 2-yr replacement warranty. If you bought the battery last year, you can just bring the battery in, claim stupid, and just say your battery went dead. See what they say. They may just test it, say I won't hold a charge, and give you a brand new one.

Not exactly ethical, but it's an option.

Perfectlap · 06-10-2010, 08:11 PM

^you are very wise in your deception

That's exactly what just happened...except I didn't even get into why it was dead before they rolled out a new battery. Actually they checked it with the volt meter thing and said it was kaput. They charged me $30 saying my warranty expired but that they would give me $60 for the old. I guess it was longer than a year. Now I have another 2 year warranty. Good thing I didn't go to Costco.

Boxtaboy · 06-11-2010, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

^you are very wise in your deception

That's exactly what just happened...except I didn't even get into why it was dead before they rolled out a new battery. Actually they checked it with the volt meter thing and said it was kaput. They charged me $30 saying my warranty expired but that they would give me $60 for the old. I guess it was longer than a year. Now I have another 2 year warranty. Good thing I didn't go to Costco.

Glad it worked out. Lol.

jaykay · 06-11-2010, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 944boy

For that exact problem I bought a Ctek charger and leave the pigtail accessible from the hood by the wipers. That way if I find the battery is kaput I plug it in to charge and take another vehicle. I've had to do it twice now. I have the same pigtails on other vehicles and a bike. Pricey but worth it.

I didn't think the CTEK could bring back a dead battery.......I take it that you always park your car near an outlet or are you powering the CTEK with something else?

944boy · 06-11-2010, 11:13 PM

I left it on charge for a day or two. I ride the bike to work most days anyways so I was in no hurry to get the battery charged. I have an abundance of garages so I am parked close to outlets. The old battery was dying so it would have to be tended and the replacement is a 5yr old optima from my race car. So its still not phenomenal. Someday I will get a new battery for it.

jaykay · 06-12-2010, 05:28 PM

I am going put my pigtail in as well. It is a good idea even though I never have a n outlet handy......................seem to remember that it has a cap to keep it from shorting. Where did you hide the plug exactly?