The battery in my Porsche 911 GT3 (997.1) died: Time for a battery replacement.

The power supply from the cigarette lighter socket doesn't automatically shut off on the 997 model Porsche 911.

This year's April Fool's DayMy family's 997 GT3 was transported away on a car carrier.I wrote about that before, but this time I'd like to write about why the GT3 was transported at that time.

It was one day at the end of March.

I got into the driver's seat of my 997 GT3, intending to go out as usual, and tried to start the engine.

Then the engine won't start.

Now that I think about it, when I first tried to unlock the door with the key, it didn't respond, so I inserted the key to open the door. But that kind of thing happens occasionally with the 997 GT3, so I didn't think it was a problem and got in.

But the engine wouldn't start at all, so I started to panic, thinking, "Oh no, did the battery die?!"

However, I never considered the possibility that the battery might have died because the car hadn't been driven for a long time.

That's because every Porsche owner drives it around quite frequently, so they don't have that feeling of "I should probably drive it soon (because it hasn't been driven in a while)."

In fact, looking back on that day...Ten days ago, I drove this car all the way to Yokohama's Red Brick Warehouse.Therefore, even if I hadn't driven since then, the maximum number of days I hadn't driven would have been 10 days.

No way the battery wouldn't die in just 10 days! So, does this mean there's some kind of serious malfunction? My anxiety grew...

But, however.

That's when I suddenly noticed this. Huh? ↓

Oh, darn it (lol).

Yes, our GT3's radar detector is powered by the cigarette lighter socket, and I always unplug it after using it, but this time I simply forgot to unplug it.

It was stuck right in. Ugh. This must be the cause.

For now, I'm relieved to know that it wasn't a malfunction with an unknown cause, but rather that it was probably caused by leaving the radar detector plugged into the cigarette lighter socket (100%).

Incidentally, in the 997, the power to the socket remains on even after the engine is turned off, so be careful not to leave it plugged in, as it will drain the battery... (Apparently, in the next generation, the 991, the power is turned off after a while after the engine is turned off).

So, I called Porsche Center Koishikawa, who I always rely on, and asked, "Is it okay if I jump-start it and then drive it to Koishikawa?" However, it turns out that with the 997 generation, even if you jump-start it and drive it for a while, the battery often dies again and it stops working for some reason, so they said, "If possible, it might be safer to have it transported by tow truck."

So, we arranged for a transport truck and scheduled a date for bringing the car into the Porsche Center.

The strange phenomenon where the key gets stuck when the battery dies.

so.

I figured out what caused the dead battery, and I had a plan for loading and getting the car into the garage, so I thought I'd leave the car and go home, but then, what, what, what happened?

I'm really surprised.

Now, guess what? I can't get the key out! (laughs)

What is this??

The key I inserted wouldn't budge at all; it was completely swallowed up, as if it had been eaten, and wouldn't come out.

I didn't want to fiddle with it too much, try to pull it out forcefully, and risk damaging it or breaking something else. Besides, the car was parked right in my driveway, so I decided to just leave the key that was stuck there.

So I decided to leave the key in the ignition and park the car in the parking lot until the service to jump-start (and tow the car) came later. I got out of the car and was about to close the door when...

Wow.

What is it now?

Next, the door wouldn't close (lol).

I couldn't help but laugh because, well, with each action I took, a whole new set of events awaited me.

The battery is dead, so the window doesn't lower slightly when you close the door, which means the window is hitting the body and the door won't close.

If I force it shut, the window will probably get damaged, so oh well, I'll just leave the lock in and the door wide open!

...I did that, but since the parking lot is a mechanical system, it would be a disaster if the door opened when someone else moved the mechanical parking system to get their car out, so I secured the door from the outside with masking tape to prevent it from opening.

Oh dear, what a pitiful sight (lol).

997.1 Jump-starting a Porsche 911 GT3

The GT3, which had been left unattended for several days with the keys still in the ignition and the doors held shut with masking tape, finally had its day of rescue.

First, a roadside assistance technician will come and jump-start your car.

Since the car is parked in the underground parking garage, the first step is to bring the car up to the ground level once it's operational, have it loaded there, and then transport it to the Porsche Center.

Okay, let's start with the jump start.

I left everything to the mechanics and just watched, but the first place the service guy headed to was a spot near the clutch in the driver's seat.

Wow. If you look closely, you'll see a battery icon in this location, and even a symbol indicating that the front trunk is open.

That's right, the battery is completely dead, so the electric lock on the front trunk won't open. First, they'll supply enough power to open the front trunk by running electricity through the emergency power terminal located in this spot after opening the driver's side door.

The positive terminal was connected to the red terminal on the fuse box, and the negative terminal was connected to something near the door hinge.

This finally allowed the front trunk to open.

Hmm, it's quite moving.

The battery was immediately visible after removing the cover at the top of the trunk.

I'd never removed the cover of a 997 myself before, so I excitedly exclaimed to the mechanic, "Wow, the battery's right there!" – what a strange client I am.

First, we'll connect the small jump starter that my brother brought and attempt a jump start.

But, however.

They don't say a word.

No, to be precise, it's more like a "click, click" sound, the kind of sound that clearly indicates it's not charging.

So, the older brother then said, "I'll try this one," and attempted to connect using a different jump starter he had brought with him.

When I asked, "Oh, so that one looks bigger, does that mean it has a larger capacity/output?", it turned out that the smaller one I used first was actually larger.

From a layman's perspective, I thought, "Well, if it didn't work with the higher output, surely it would be even worse with the lower output..." and then...

For some reason, this starter was able to charge the battery, and the engine finally started. What a relief!!

Incidentally, the car's alarm blared the moment the engine started. It was like a baby crying out at birth (what kind of reaction is that, lol?). A truly moving moment.

The engine has started, so we will now proceed to transport the car to the ground.

Since his older brother also had his own car,

"I can drive the GT3 to the ground myself."

Although I said that, when it came time to actually carry it, I got really nervous.

「あの、すみません。普段エンストすることはないのですが、もしエンストしたらまたエンジンがとまっちゃうかもとか考えると緊張してエンストするかも…」

And then she made a nonsensical, weak-willed remark. Where did that confident "Oh, I'll carry it" attitude from earlier go? (lol)

But the kind older brother encouraged us (?), saying, "It's okay, if it stalls and stops again, we'll just jump-start it again!" and the two bikes went up to the ground together.

When the battery dies, various warnings appear.

I had been told that various errors might appear inside the car due to the dead battery, and sure enough, this TC Failure error appeared.

However, I had heard that these warnings were due to a dead battery and that there was no problem, so I drove to the tow truck without worrying about it.

I somehow managed to arrive at the transport truck without stalling despite feeling nervous.

They said they would transport the car to the Porsche Center with the engine still installed.

Oh, I'm so sorry, GT3.

Watching the GT3 being loaded onto a transport truck and carried away, even though it wasn't a final farewell, its rear view looked incredibly sad.

Just when I thought, "That's a little lonely," I saw the car loaded and raised to a high position, and I couldn't help but take a picture of it with the cherry blossoms in the background, and I ended up having a good time ^^

And so, somehow, the GT3 was loaded onto a transport truck and headed to Porsche Center Koishikawa. Thank you to the service staff!

I had already spoken to the Porsche Center on the day the battery died, and they had already prepared a new battery for replacement that day, so I headed to the Porsche Center a little while after the tow truck had left.

I secretly hoped that if the battery revived after a jump start, I might not need to replace the battery itself, but it turned out that it was better to replace it, so I replaced it with a new one.

Well, when the service guy jump-started it, he told me, "The battery voltage is only 2.5V right now," so of course it needed to be replaced.

They checked for any other possible causes of the dead battery and looked at all the warnings that were displayed, and concluded that the dead battery was indeed caused by leaving the radar detector plugged into the cigarette lighter socket. So, thankfully, it was a blessing in disguise.

They replaced the battery in no time, so I was able to drive the car home that same day. Thank you to everyone at Porsche Center Koishikawa!

Wow, I was really panicked when my battery died this time.

In short, I learned that with the 997 GT3, if the battery dies, you can end up with problems like the key getting stuck and the doors not closing.

Please be careful everyone ^^

Related article
◆Until we meet again: Porsche 911 GT3 (997.1 model)