Replacing the dead battery of my used Porsche 911 sports car

The battery is not that easily accessible from outside the car and one needs to stand 'inside' the frunk for better ergonomics.

BHPian androdev recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The battery was not holding sufficient juice even though it is regularly charged. Frunk (front hood) can't be opened if the battery is dead. Since the battery itself is inside the frunk, it is not possible to jump-start it without opening the frunk. There is some German voodoo procedure to open the frunk to gain access to the battery. Decided to replace the battery without further delay.

The previous owner has installed an Exide flooded battery. I don't think it is of the correct capacity either. I checked with Porsche about replacement battery stock (high hopes, didn't even get a reply) and then did some online research to find that the OEM part is 80Ah CCA 800A spec with 315x175x190 dimensions.

I decided to buy an AGM battery as my experience with them has been very good. I checked with the Mercedes dealer as this battery is the OEM part for E-Class, they were not very helpful and also quoted Rs 42K for the battery. I finally managed to buy a Varta AGM battery from a Delhi dealer Bieco Batteries and got it shipped to BLR for Rs 27.2K (highly recommended, I posted my experience, here).

Even though this is a fairly simple car compared to a modern BMW (which turned battery replacement into rocket science), I wanted to supply 12V power to the car while the battery was being replaced. This would ensure there won't be any warning, loss of settings etc. Used jumper cables to hook up a 12V source from another car battery (similar to jump-start). Note that jumper cable clamps should not interfere with main battery clamp removal/reinstallation.

Image showing jumper cables connected before removing the battery:

The battery is not that easily accessible from outside the car and one needs to stand 'inside' the frunk for better ergonomics. Batteries are heavy, one must be careful not to get hurt.

Battery tray (ouch to see the condition!) with holes to accommodate batteries of different lengths (current Exide is 278mm, replacement Varta is 315mm, it can accommodate up to 353mm):

New battery in place:

T Spanner (13mm socket) to remove/fix the retaining clamp bolt:

Meanwhile, I procured some OEM Octane booster additives in case there is a post-COVID world in future :-)

The most exciting way to buy milk and eggs:

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