New battery; Car still won't turn over; Defective?
08-11-2013, 08:08 AM
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
New battery; Car still won't turn over; Defective?
My last battery struggled to start car. I could get 1 start out of it, but if I drove it a short distance and stopped, it wouldn't turn over. I had a Mercedes jump me last week and the car started like a champ.
Dealer sold me an 80amp battery yesterday (instead of the 70amp model that came with the car). A tad bigger and a tad heavier.
Immediately after installing, car still would not start. HOWEVER, jumping the car worked.
Does that guarantee that there's something wrong with the battery? Could there be any possible reason why a brand new battery wouldn't work, but jumping would? Starter problem, or absolutely a battery problem?
(Don't even get me started on why dealer sold me the more expensive battery when I told him I wanted the one that came with the car.)
Dealer sold me an 80amp battery yesterday (instead of the 70amp model that came with the car). A tad bigger and a tad heavier.
Immediately after installing, car still would not start. HOWEVER, jumping the car worked.
Does that guarantee that there's something wrong with the battery? Could there be any possible reason why a brand new battery wouldn't work, but jumping would? Starter problem, or absolutely a battery problem?
(Don't even get me started on why dealer sold me the more expensive battery when I told him I wanted the one that came with the car.)
08-11-2013, 08:28 AM
#2
Use a mulitmeter to check battery volts.
Engine off and fully charged should sit at ~12.5v
Try cranking and volts should stay over 11v
Below 9 volts and theres a cell out.
If the volts stay at 12+ volts when you attempt to crank, starter or starting circuit at fault.
New battery's need to either rest if they came dry and have just had the electrolyte added to build up energy reserve. Will need a charge to get to full capacity.
Jay
Engine off and fully charged should sit at ~12.5v
Try cranking and volts should stay over 11v
Below 9 volts and theres a cell out.
If the volts stay at 12+ volts when you attempt to crank, starter or starting circuit at fault.
New battery's need to either rest if they came dry and have just had the electrolyte added to build up energy reserve. Will need a charge to get to full capacity.
Jay
08-11-2013, 08:36 AM
#3
Pro
Thread Starter
Use a mulitmeter to check battery volts.
Engine off and fully charged should sit at ~12.5v
Try cranking and volts should stay over 11v
Below 9 volts and theres a cell out.
If the volts stay at 12+ volts when you attempt to crank, starter or starting circuit at fault.
New battery's need to either rest if they came dry and have just had the electrolyte added to build up energy reserve. Will need a charge to get to full capacity.
Jay
Engine off and fully charged should sit at ~12.5v
Try cranking and volts should stay over 11v
Below 9 volts and theres a cell out.
If the volts stay at 12+ volts when you attempt to crank, starter or starting circuit at fault.
New battery's need to either rest if they came dry and have just had the electrolyte added to build up energy reserve. Will need a charge to get to full capacity.
Jay
But if I am able to jump start it, then the starter or starting circuit can't be the problem, right?
08-11-2013, 08:38 AM
#4
Pro
Thread Starter
Use a mulitmeter to check battery volts.
Engine off and fully charged should sit at ~12.5v
Try cranking and volts should stay over 11v
Below 9 volts and theres a cell out.
If the volts stay at 12+ volts when you attempt to crank, starter or starting circuit at fault.
New battery's need to either rest if they came dry and have just had the electrolyte added to build up energy reserve. Will need a charge to get to full capacity.
Jay
Engine off and fully charged should sit at ~12.5v
Try cranking and volts should stay over 11v
Below 9 volts and theres a cell out.
If the volts stay at 12+ volts when you attempt to crank, starter or starting circuit at fault.
New battery's need to either rest if they came dry and have just had the electrolyte added to build up energy reserve. Will need a charge to get to full capacity.
Jay
08-11-2013, 11:51 AM
#6
Pro
Thread Starter
OK - With the brand new 80 amp battery in the car this morning.
Porsche trickle charger showed charged.
Before starting car: 12.3 V
When trying to start...click, click, click
Voltage then dropped to 11.7.
After a few minutes, it was back up to 12.3.
Jumped started car using Cayenne.
Jumpers connected, but not yet started: 13.6V
Car still would not start...click, click, click.
After about 30 seconds, it eventually turned over. (Almost like something had to build up juice before deciding to start.)
Disconnected jumpers, with car running: 13.6V (or so).
Drove 45 miles.
Parked car. Turned off. Battery measured 12.5 V
Started car. Turned over immediately. YEAH
Turned it off and measured one last time: 12.5V
Clearly the drive put some more juice in the brand new battery.
However, I'm concerned that even when jumping, it took tens of seconds for enough power to be built up in to the system for it to turn over. Even last week, with the old battery, when the Merc jumped me, there was a similar delay. Although at the time, we thought the cables might not have been connected well. In hindsight, it was probably a similar behavior.
Car is on Porsche trickle now. Will try again tomorrow to see if it starts up right away.
Is it possible the starter is defective? i.e., some internal capacitor refuses to hold a charge and has to "build up pressure" before it'll turnover?
Porsche trickle charger showed charged.
Before starting car: 12.3 V
When trying to start...click, click, click
Voltage then dropped to 11.7.
After a few minutes, it was back up to 12.3.
Jumped started car using Cayenne.
Jumpers connected, but not yet started: 13.6V
Car still would not start...click, click, click.
After about 30 seconds, it eventually turned over. (Almost like something had to build up juice before deciding to start.)
Disconnected jumpers, with car running: 13.6V (or so).
Drove 45 miles.
Parked car. Turned off. Battery measured 12.5 V
Started car. Turned over immediately. YEAH
Turned it off and measured one last time: 12.5V
Clearly the drive put some more juice in the brand new battery.
However, I'm concerned that even when jumping, it took tens of seconds for enough power to be built up in to the system for it to turn over. Even last week, with the old battery, when the Merc jumped me, there was a similar delay. Although at the time, we thought the cables might not have been connected well. In hindsight, it was probably a similar behavior.
Car is on Porsche trickle now. Will try again tomorrow to see if it starts up right away.
Is it possible the starter is defective? i.e., some internal capacitor refuses to hold a charge and has to "build up pressure" before it'll turnover?
08-11-2013, 12:27 PM
#7
Nordschleife Master
A good reading for the battery is 12.6 V. When running it should be around 14.2 V. 13.5 V is too low. Did you have anything turned on,like AC,lights?
You might have parasitic current draw when the car is off that's draining the battery. Do you have anything aftermarket installed on the car?
You might have parasitic current draw when the car is off that's draining the battery. Do you have anything aftermarket installed on the car?
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08-11-2013, 12:39 PM
#8
Rennlist Member
Have u tried push start the car? If it fires up its probably the starter. You should check grounds and alternator as well. A bad alternator will drain your battery to death. Mike
08-11-2013, 03:24 PM
#9
Race Director
OK - With the brand new 80 amp battery in the car this morning.
Porsche trickle charger showed charged.
Before starting car: 12.3 V
When trying to start...click, click, click
Voltage then dropped to 11.7.
After a few minutes, it was back up to 12.3.
Jumped started car using Cayenne.
Jumpers connected, but not yet started: 13.6V
Car still would not start...click, click, click.
After about 30 seconds, it eventually turned over. (Almost like something had to build up juice before deciding to start.)
Disconnected jumpers, with car running: 13.6V (or so).
Drove 45 miles.
Parked car. Turned off. Battery measured 12.5 V
Started car. Turned over immediately. YEAH
Turned it off and measured one last time: 12.5V
Clearly the drive put some more juice in the brand new battery.
However, I'm concerned that even when jumping, it took tens of seconds for enough power to be built up in to the system for it to turn over. Even last week, with the old battery, when the Merc jumped me, there was a similar delay. Although at the time, we thought the cables might not have been connected well. In hindsight, it was probably a similar behavior.
Car is on Porsche trickle now. Will try again tomorrow to see if it starts up right away.
Is it possible the starter is defective? i.e., some internal capacitor refuses to hold a charge and has to "build up pressure" before it'll turnover?
Porsche trickle charger showed charged.
Before starting car: 12.3 V
When trying to start...click, click, click
Voltage then dropped to 11.7.
After a few minutes, it was back up to 12.3.
Jumped started car using Cayenne.
Jumpers connected, but not yet started: 13.6V
Car still would not start...click, click, click.
After about 30 seconds, it eventually turned over. (Almost like something had to build up juice before deciding to start.)
Disconnected jumpers, with car running: 13.6V (or so).
Drove 45 miles.
Parked car. Turned off. Battery measured 12.5 V
Started car. Turned over immediately. YEAH
Turned it off and measured one last time: 12.5V
Clearly the drive put some more juice in the brand new battery.
However, I'm concerned that even when jumping, it took tens of seconds for enough power to be built up in to the system for it to turn over. Even last week, with the old battery, when the Merc jumped me, there was a similar delay. Although at the time, we thought the cables might not have been connected well. In hindsight, it was probably a similar behavior.
Car is on Porsche trickle now. Will try again tomorrow to see if it starts up right away.
Is it possible the starter is defective? i.e., some internal capacitor refuses to hold a charge and has to "build up pressure" before it'll turnover?
At 11.7 volts the battery only had around 30% of its charge present.
A 100% charge would have the voltage reading at 12.6+ volts.
It reads like the new battery is down on power. I've bought a few batteries from my local dealer without any (immediate) issues so I suspect that the battery you bought was not properly prepared for sale. It had battery fluid I'm sure (well, I'm pretty sure) but probably needed some time being charged to bring it up to full power.
Hopefully the low charge condition has not damaged the battery so a full charge done right is called for to ensure the battery is well, fully charged, so you can eliminate it should the problem come back.
Oh, the dealer didn't oversell you on the battery. The reasonable explanation is, and one I've encountered in the past, is Porsche revised the battery spec for the car and in this case specified a larger capacity battery. The current part number for the battery for your car called for a larger capacity battery. More AH, more CCA and this resulted in a physically larger battery.
08-11-2013, 06:01 PM
#10
Pro
Thread Starter
I tried starting car again, a few hours after my drive, and last successful start. Click click click. And that's after leaving the Porsche charger on for several hours.
08-12-2013, 07:31 AM
#12
You could have a duff starter, one segment of the windings or stator out but I still think the battery needs fully checking. Jump starting sometimes makes the difference here as theres enough motive force (magnetism) from the next good winding/segment to turn over.
If it holds 11+volts then it shows all cells are present.
Take back to the dealer and get it checked out.
If it holds 11+volts then it shows all cells are present.
Take back to the dealer and get it checked out.
