Storage Question

[NickCats]

How long can the Boxster sit dormant without enough drain to the battery that I would have problems starting the car ?

I recently purchased a second car for the winter, but the Box will still be my primary car as long as there is no snow or salt on the road.

I was thinking of buying this :

http://www.rennlist.com/tequip/chargemat.htm

But I don't know if it will be necessary if the Box only sits for a week or two.

Thanks in advance for your help !

Nick

[johne4]

My 2000 Boxster sits at the airport for two weeks at a time, never had a problem. I did take out an insurance policy, what I mean by that and I know I'm going to hear "are you nuts" from some folks, is I rerouted the manual release from behind the wheel cover to where I can operated from one of the bottom openings, just incase the battery did die. The biggest disavantage by doing this, your trunk is not totally secure, but I willing to take that risk.

[NickCats]

Thanks, John. Since I have a 99 I can still open the front even if the battery is dead, but I would hate to have a nice sunny day and go to start the car and the battery is dead....

[z12358]

I remember seeing a thing called "trickle charger" sold by Porsche. I think it's supposed to maintain the battery when the car is stored for a long time. The thing NickCats mentioned seems to be smth different -- a charger for when the battery is already dead. Or are they the same thing?

My S has a procedure in the manual on how to open the hood when the battery is dead. It requires sending an electric pulse by shorting something on the left side of the driver's footwell.

I too am not clear as to what exactly I am going to do for the winter. The garage where I park it now has no power outlets, and it is likely that the car will be sitting there for more than a month undriven in winter (in case of no sunny, dry weekends). Shall I consider unplugging the battery? What is that going to do to the car's electronic systems when I connect it back in? Is starting the engine and idling it for few minutes every week or two good or it's better left alone? I've also read somewhere (maybe here) that it's good to overinflate the tires and to push/move the car few feet every couple of weeks to change the sitting spots on the tires.

I'd be curious to learn how others have handled prolonged storage like this.

[z12358]

Just found a nice write-up on the subject...
http://www.porschenet.com/winter.html

[johne4]

Check your owners manual, it as the basic storage instruction (page 193 in mine)