primate

After about a couple of months of sitting in the garage and relatively low mileage for the last 12 months, it seems like the battery for my 2003 Boxster S is dead. I got it to start a few times after trickle-charging it, but now the battery won't even take a charge and only reads 9.8 Volts. Oh well, I guess it's about time for a new battery anyway. I found this thread while looking for the right replacement battery and I just wanted to say that this is soooo helpful! The dealer wanted over $200 for a replacement battery and it does not even include installation. It seems easy enough to replace so I figured I'll just DIY this one. Thanks all for having done all the detective work so I can just ride on the coat tails of your success. :-) Cheers, - p.

Thanks Loren and everyone's replies. I appreciate it! Well, the good part of the story is that I managed to get the car cranking and running after an hour's worth of trickle charging. That one hour charge brought the battery up to about 12.4V open circuit and about 14.0V with the engine running, which is within the general range of 13.5-14.5V for a working alternator. So the good news is that the alternator need not be replaced ... yet. As for the battery, I think I will heed everyone's advice and pick up a new one. The one I have now is the original Porsche-branded Moll battery. Is there any specific brand recommendation for a replacement? Thanks again!

Hi there, I have a 2003 Boxster S (986) and it's coming up to the 5 year mark. It's a daily driver for me so it has about 50,000 miles on it (80,000 km). In the recent months, I have been driving the car significanlty less and sometimes about once a week, and only for short distances (maybe 10 miles each trip). It's been dealer serviced since day one until the warranty expired about a year ago. Anyway, this morning, when I tried to start the car, I hear a solenoid click when I turned the ignition key but the starter did not crank. After a few more tries, I hear the starter slow-crank a couple of times but still no luck (so starter motor should be OK). I consulted my Bentley's Boxster manual and did an open-circuit voltage check to find the voltage to be about 9.5 volts, which suggested a drained battery, which led me to come up with 3 possible scenarios: drained battery, faulty battery, or bad alternator. I bought a battery charger and it is charging the battery as I type. Hopefully, this can get my car started. However, I wonder if there is any easy way to test for a bad alternator without any sophisticated tools? My worst fear is that I drive my car out and it gets stranded outside. Is 5 years a pretty normal time to replace the battery? Does the make of the battery matter that much qas long as the specs are matched? I recently did some minor servicing on the car myself: oil & filter change, pollen filter replacement and air filter replacement (disengaged the soft top and opened the top engine compartment). Would this have anything to do with this problem by any chance? Any help and pointers will be greatly appreciated!