Go Back   986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners > Porsche Boxster & Cayman Forums > Boxster General Discussions

Post Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-11-2007, 03:20 AM   #1
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 25
If I needed a Jumpstart...

...What would I do?
Where is the access to the battery?
I have cables that I keep in my car, are they worth it?

__________________
2003 Boxster Tiptronic
Seal Gray Metallic Exterior, Light Grey Interior
Carrera 18" 5 spoke/Michelin PS
Bought it 12/2006, so far I got a Magellean and an air freshener...for now...
MrBoxster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 03:36 AM   #2
07 Carrera S Cab
 
Boxtaboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 2,273
Garage
The battery is located in the front trunk area under a plastic cover behind the radio amp. It doesn't do much good for you to keep the jumper cables in the trunk because you need electric power to open the trunks, and if the battery is dead, then there's no point. However, there are workarounds.
1. There is a metal wire pull hidden behind the pass. side wheel well. You have to take the wheel well out to reach it though. Yank on that wire, and the front trunk will pop open.
2. On 01+ models, there is a connection point in the fuse box that you can connect an electric charge to that will pop the trunk.
3. You can attach a trickle charger to the cigarette lighter and wait until there is enough power in the battery to pop the trunk
4. You can buy one of those jump starters that work by connecting one end to another car's cigarette lighter, and the other end to your cigarette lighter. This is a very clean option, as you don't need to ask the owner of the other car to attach any wires to their battery, and you also don't need to open your trunk to get to the battery. I have one of these jumpers that I just keep in my speaker storage box that is behind seats. It's only like $20 dollars.
__________________
Current: 07 Carrera S Cab in Midnight Blue

Previous: 01 Boxster in Arctic Silver, 86 944 in Guards Red
Boxtaboy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 06:13 AM   #3
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: chicago
Posts: 3,510
Send a message via AIM to djomlas
value city has one of those chargers that you plug into your cig lighters and let charge for a few mins for $6
__________________
http://i34.tinypic.com/157yslk.jpg
"I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself." ~F. Porsche
Gemballa springs::litronics::Eurotech 18s(275/225)::B&M::MOMO wheel::
exhaust cutouts::EVOcoldair intake::OEM smoked tails & sidemarkers::

colormatched bumperettes::Top Speed Pro-1 exhaust::
my cardomain/pictures page
djomlas is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 06:19 AM   #4
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Chicago
Posts: 585
Quote:
Originally Posted by djomlas
value city has one of those chargers that you plug into your cig lighters and let charge for a few mins for $6
Where???

Sounds like a more compact alternative to jumper cables...
Sammy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 06:33 AM   #5
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Posts: 3,308
Hi,

Jumper Cables in SC? I thought that was only part of the Yankee Roadside Troubleshooting kit...

Seriously, they are most likely to be just extra weight. Check your Owners Manual, there is a very definite (and somewhat non-standard) procedure for jumping one of these cars. Failure to observe this could fry something expensive.

If my car were later, with the electrically operated hatches, I'd probably rig a 9-volt battery terminal to a Cigarette Lighter Plug (available through Radio Shack and such - observe proper polarity) and keep it, and a fresh 9-volt battery in the car. This would give sufficient power (Ignition OFF, key OUT) to pop open the lids to get a jump. Most likely the battery would be exhausted with a single use due to it's small capacity, but, it would work.

Other then that, if your car is a manual, you can always go with the Tried & True method of pushing it and popping the clutch in gear. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99
MNBoxster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 06:40 AM   #6
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: chicago
Posts: 3,510
Send a message via AIM to djomlas
i have a manual and non-electric latches, so either push it or just simply open the hood
i do have cables in ther jus in any case
__________________
http://i34.tinypic.com/157yslk.jpg
"I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself." ~F. Porsche
Gemballa springs::litronics::Eurotech 18s(275/225)::B&M::MOMO wheel::
exhaust cutouts::EVOcoldair intake::OEM smoked tails & sidemarkers::

colormatched bumperettes::Top Speed Pro-1 exhaust::
my cardomain/pictures page
djomlas is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 07:01 AM   #7
Registered User
 
Perfectlap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 8,709
better get me one of those cig. lighter chargers. My hatches wouldn't open last weekend, then I pulled the gas lid rip cord right off the car...
__________________
GT3 Recaro Seats - Boxster Red
GT3 Aero / Carrera 18" 5 spoke / Potenza RE-11
Fabspeed Headers & Noise Maker
BORN: March 2000 - FINLAND
IMS#1 REPLACED: April 2010 - NEW JERSEY -- LNE DUAL ROW
Perfectlap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 07:10 AM   #8
boggtown
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
DJ, your hood is still electric, the handles lock when theres no juice. I rigged my release cable by taping it to the underside of my passenger side headlight triangle. Since my new bumper has no license plate or tow holes I needed a way to get to it in emergency.
  Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 07:31 AM   #9
07 Carrera S Cab
 
Boxtaboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 2,273
Garage
Boggtown is correct, DJ...your manual levers will not work if the battery is out of juice.
__________________
Current: 07 Carrera S Cab in Midnight Blue

Previous: 01 Boxster in Arctic Silver, 86 944 in Guards Red
Boxtaboy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 08:16 AM   #10
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Posts: 3,308
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxtaboy
Boggtown is correct, DJ...your manual levers will not work if the battery is out of juice.
Hi,

True, but if you use the 9-volt jumper I described, you can use the Lock/Unlock Tip Switch to open them. These are available from several Auto Parts Retailers and usually go by the name Memory Savers. Usually under $12. See: http://www.drivewerks.com/catalog/shopcart/TOOL/POR_TOOL_CAT439_pg3.htm
Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Last edited by MNBoxster; 01-11-2007 at 10:44 AM.
MNBoxster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 08:21 AM   #11
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Northeast USA
Posts: 910
Quote:
Originally Posted by MNBoxster
Hi,

True, but if you use the 9-volt jumper I described, you can use the Lock/Unlock Tip Switch to open them. These are available from several Auto Parts Retailers and usually go by the name Memory Savers. Usually under $12. See: http://www.drivewerks.com/catalog/shopcart/TOOL/POR_TOOL_CAT439_pg3.htm
Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99
Thx. Great suggestion and product. It would have been a good idea to have one of these plugged in before I took my battery out for the winter -- to keep all electronics and memory functions in operating condition for the spring.
__________________
'06 Boxster S, 6sp, triple-black
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...05_IMGcrop.jpg
z12358 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 08:47 AM   #12
07 Carrera S Cab
 
Boxtaboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 2,273
Garage
For me, it's easier to just carry the car-to-car cigarette lighter jumper. No need to carry an extra 9-volt battery in the car and periodically insure that it is charged enough to be of use during an emergency.
__________________
Current: 07 Carrera S Cab in Midnight Blue

Previous: 01 Boxster in Arctic Silver, 86 944 in Guards Red
Boxtaboy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 10:12 AM   #13
Registered User
 
QporscheQ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Washington DC
Posts: 372
I didnt drive my car for two months over the holidays while at the same time it was super cold here and the combination of the two caused my battery to die. I tried using a trickle charger to get some juice but the charger decieded that the car was too much load with a totally dead battery and did help at all. It just kept going to "Fault" mode. Onto Plan B. So don’t be shocked if nothing happens with the trickle charger.

I opened the fuse panel to see if my car had the lead in there like people kept mentioning on this board (it’s a '02) and low and behold a little manual fell out with instructions on how to open the hood when the battery dies. I started laughing. Fortunately for me I have two cars so I hooked up the battery from my other car (as the instructions indicated me to do) and my car sprang back to life with horns and lights flashing from the alarm. I popped the trunk and hooked up my "serious" battery charger to the batter and nothing. Battery was dead dead dead and wouldn’t take a charge. I tried jumping off my other car with no luck either. My local AutoZone had a replacement in stock (the guy said they usually only have one in stock if any and only sell a couple a year). I used the new battery to pop the trunk again (I let it close by accident the first time) and swapped out the old one.

A bit of a pain, but long story short if you have a second battery, hooking up to the lead in the fuse panel is really simple.
__________________
Q
QporscheQ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 11:08 AM   #14
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Posts: 3,308
Quote:
Originally Posted by QporscheQ
I didnt drive my car for two months over the holidays while at the same time it was super cold here and the combination of the two caused my battery to die...
Hi,

Many don't realze that a Battery can become useless if discharged. A discharged Battery can freeze in as warm as +20°F.

In addition, whether frozen, partially frozen or merely discharged, a battery always suffers some internal damage. It will never be as good again once it's been discharged, the extent of the damage (from dispositioned plates, to cystallized plates, broken leads and improper electrolyte solution, depending on numerous factors). The SAE released a paper last year stating that on average, a car (Wet Cell) battery loses it's ability to acquire and hold a charge by 15% each time it is discharged.

But, it's also important how you charge a Battery which it becomes discharged. Charging at a high amperage rate will damage the Battery, perhaps rendering it useless. This means that Jumping the Battery from a donor Car with a 120Amp Alternator is a bad thing. It's best to Jump it strictly from the other car's Battery with the donor car OFF. You want to re-charge it at the lowest Amperage available, which usually means a Trickle Charger of no more than 1.5 Amps. The issue you experienced is common. Had you left it on the Trickle Charger, it would most likely have started charging it in a hour or so, despite the warnings you received, unless of course the Battery had been damaged which is quite likely. The downside, is that a Full charge with a low-amperage charger, can take as long as 25 Hrs. People seldom realize that a Battery requires proper care and maintenance to give a long service life...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Last edited by MNBoxster; 01-11-2007 at 11:11 AM.
MNBoxster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 11:12 AM   #15
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Posts: 3,308
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxtaboy
For me, it's easier to just carry the car-to-car cigarette lighter jumper. No need to carry an extra 9-volt battery in the car and periodically insure that it is charged enough to be of use during an emergency.
Hi,

Whatever works...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99
MNBoxster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-12-2007, 03:11 PM   #16
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 283
Route the emergency pull cable from the wheelwell to your tow hook cover on the front bumper. This give you a good reason to take off the front bumper and clean out your radiators. Actually pretty easy to do! While doing so reroute the cable. It has saved me once or twice in the last 3 years!
__________________
2000 Porsche Boxster S
2007 Lexus RX350
xclusivecar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-12-2007, 04:19 PM   #17
Registered User
 
Brucelee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 8,083
Smile

BTW- the whole "my trunk is locked and I can't get at my battery to jump it" thing is the most assine feature of the Boxster. Great car, what they hell were they thinking?
__________________
Rich Belloff

Brucelee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-12-2007, 04:56 PM   #18
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: 1 hour from Deal's gap!
Posts: 103
Considering all the electronics you might fry with a jump, I'd def bump start it.

That's one of the first lessons I taught my kids, how to bump it forward and in reverse!
__________________
UroTrash
UroTrash is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2007, 03:51 AM   #19
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Northeast USA
Posts: 910
Quote:
Originally Posted by MNBoxster
Hi,

True, but if you use the 9-volt jumper I described, you can use the Lock/Unlock Tip Switch to open them. These are available from several Auto Parts Retailers and usually go by the name Memory Savers. Usually under $12. See: http://www.drivewerks.com/catalog/shopcart/TOOL/POR_TOOL_CAT439_pg3.htm
Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99
Jim, I assume that this 9 V memory saver can not be used to actually jump start the car, so one would need to have jumper cables on board, anyway. Looks like Boxtaboy's (lighter-to-lighter) solution solves both opening of the trunk and jump starting. Or perhaps I'm missing something.

Boxtaboy, how's that product called -- for an online search?

I don't have the manual handy to check on the proper jump start procedure for the Box. How is it different from the standard jump start?

Thx.
Z.
__________________
'06 Boxster S, 6sp, triple-black
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...05_IMGcrop.jpg
z12358 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2007, 06:48 AM   #20
07 Carrera S Cab
 
Boxtaboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 2,273
Garage
Yes, I agree... I think the cigarette lighter to cigarette lighter jumper is a simpler solution to the 9V suggestion, but how much do you want to bet that Jim steps in and comes back with a spirited counter? LOL JK

In any case, here's a link to where I bought mine. No affiliation. Description tells you how it works. Basically, you just connect one end to the cigarette lighter to the doner car and then one to your car. There's a light that tells you when it's ready to perform the jump start (usually a 5 minute wait) and then you can start your car. Good thing is that you don't have to carry jumper cables, you don't need to pop any car's hoods (some people may not want you to put jumper cables to their car's battery and possibly connect a cable the wrong way and mess up their car), you don't need to touch your battery either, and you don't have to carry around an extra 9V around and make sure it's fully charged for when you need it. I can't see any easier solution. Hope this helps.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-Auto-Jump-Starter-Uses-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ63687QQihZ013QQi temZ230079066287QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

__________________
Current: 07 Carrera S Cab in Midnight Blue

Previous: 01 Boxster in Arctic Silver, 86 944 in Guards Red
Boxtaboy is offline   Reply With Quote
Post Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -8. The time now is 04:54 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page