991.1 battery & Porsche Roadside Assitance

[nine11]

Hi PFA members!  I've joined today as after many years lusting, last week I purchased my first Porsche, a 2015 991.1 GTS.  The car is close to perfect (sounds AMAZING!), currently sitting in the garage whilst I attempt to find a concreter get my driveway crossover angle modified so the front of the car doesn't scrape on exit (it's ok getting in).  Anyway, yesterday I started it for the first time since I drove it home Tuesday and it felt like the battery took a little too long on the first turnover (or maybe this is a Porsche thing?).  So, my question is, as the 911 is still under extended warranty/roadside assistance, can I call on Porsche to visit and install a new battery? (I'm happy to pay for the battery).

[StevepGT3]

Hook it up to a trickle charger

[sjm]

As above or give your RACV, RAA a call. They will come out and test, if needed will changeover battery with equivalent model. Lots cheaper than Porsche dealers. 

[Frank]

How old is the battery, is it original? 7 years would be pretty much the limit for a battery life.

 

[nine11]

Thanks everyone for the advice.  I’ll examine the battery tonight to see if it has any “date stamp” and if it is indeed original, I just get a new one.  If it is seven years old (& hence I decide to buy a new battery), is it a DYI install, or would you recommend using a professional (assuming the power outage during the swap process might upset some of the vehicle electronics/configuration)?  Finally, if I purchased a new battery, do you know if Porsche Roadside assistance (that I have), could be called on to just do the swap - that way it’s not my fault if things go awry?

[luzzo]

On 23/10/2022 at 11:26, nine11 said:

last week I purchased my first Porsche, a 2015 991.1 GTS. 

@nine11 Welcome. You've just purchased your 911 GTS one week ago, Exciting..!

If you have not started the car for a week, I I would say it is usual for a used battery to take a little longer to crank. I have found if the battery is weak, the car will barely crank at all. So, the battery may be fine, but if you are going to leave the car sitting, it would be best to have it on a battery tender (trickle). 

(If you want to check the battery - If you bought the car from a dealer, the battery health would (or should) have been checked as part of warranty or delivery procedure. So contacting dealer would be first step - and they shouldbe replacing for you. If you purchased the GTS privately, then depending on your State, the battery health is also part of RWC (Vic). So you could ask either way).

Either way a good charger like a "C-Tek" will soon tell you. 

 

[sleazius]

One of these will charge, and maintain: https://www.batteryworld.com.au/CTEK-MXS-5.0-12-Volt-5-Amp-Battery-Charger

If you just want trickle charge (maintenance): https://www.batteryworld.com.au/CTEK-XS0.8-12-Volt-0.8-Amp-battery-charger

You don't have to buy them from battery world, they're sold all over the place. I just pick them up there when I get lazy cause it is on my way home and they always have stock.

Undo the clam shell under the frunk / froot, hook the charger up to the battery terminals and you'll know if there is a problem with the battery in short order. Unless this car is going to be used as a daily drive, you should buy one to keep your battery in good condition regardless.

 

[911CSR]

As above, a trickle charger like a NOCO or CTEK is the way to go. I am using NOCO charger currently as I moved to a lithium battery and the NOCO was recommended to me by a few others running lithium batteries.

[nine11]

Thanks everyone.  Considering the prompt and professional responses to my novice enquiry, I've just joined as a financial member.  Feel that if I'm banking on the knowledge of Porsche enthusiast members, I should contribute. 

[TwoHeadsTas]

49 minutes ago, nine11 said:

Thanks everyone.  Considering the prompt and professional responses to my novice enquiry, I've just joined as a financial member.  Feel that if I'm banking on the knowledge of Porsche enthusiast members, I should contribute. 

Thank you, a cheap way to access a huge amount of knowledge, well done 🙂 

[IXLR8]

On 23/10/2022 at 10:26, nine11 said:

Hi PFA members!  I've joined today as after many years lusting, last week I purchased my first Porsche, a 2015 991.1 GTS.  The car is close to perfect (sounds AMAZING!)...

Always great to snap up a good one. Same year as my GTS that I bought in 2018 with a mere 98 miles on it. Imagine that, three years old with 98 miles. 🙂

Back to batteries. The original battery is an AGM made by Banner in Austria. Mine is still going strong. The only way to check a battery's health is to do a load test (internal resistance test) and a "real" capacity test, the latter is time consuming unless you use a quick and easy battery tester and they are not the most accurate.

As for chargers, I also have a couple of CTEKs and many others. They are OK but nothing to write home about when you run them on a data logger. You are far better off getting a Pro-Logix PL2320 I got mine on Amazon.

I used to work in a defence lab with batteries, evaluating chargers and test equipment. I've had personal batteries last 16 and 14 years.