Ok so I needed a new battery. I'm super busy so I just left the car at Sears Auto while I did some shopping and had them put in a new beefy Diehard 805 cca battery. Great.

Except on the drive home I can literally hear the battery moving around as I take turns.

I get home and pop the hood and I see that the battery bracket is not tightened down at all. So I try to tighten it but it won't tighten at all.

I take out the bolt and the bracket and something is seriously wrong. I don't know what it's supposed to look like because I've never changed a battery on these cars, but the bolt is smaller than the hole it's supposed to tighten down into.

Upon closer inspection it looks like there's supposed to be a nut or something underneath because the hole doesn't even look threaded at all.

So what I'm wondering is if someone can explain how this thing is supposed to bolt down. Is there supposed to be a nut welded under the hole that the bolt threads in to?? If so it's not there now.

Grr ... I knew I should have just did this myself. It's always something lol ...

 

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2950

 

It's a threaded insert in the chasis- sounds like they screwed yours up and threw something in there to get you out the door. Still, why would you take your 996 (Turbo?) to a Sears? Busy or not, you'll get monkeys every time. Suprised they were able to find the battery location.

 

Tool pants - I read the entire thread and there's nothing in there that relates to my question. Thanks though.

Porsche Tech - I'm busy, simple as that. I love my Turbo but it's not the #1 priority in my life. I was at the mall doing some stuff and I figured they could handle installing a battery.

Can I just buy a new one of these threaded inserts? Is it something that can be inserted from above or do you have to take out the entire battery tray, etc.? Anyone?

 

Read it again. There are 4 holes in the battery tray. The last hole on your year is not threaded. On my 1997 Boxster the last hole is threaded. With a 805 CCA Sears battery you have a group size 49, the longest battery that will fit in the tray. But the last 'bolt' hole is a water drain hole on your year. No threads for the bolt for the clamp.

 

Um, are you sure about that? I'm 99% sure my stock battery was clamped down using the last hole. Because I looked at it when I was contemplating changing it myself, and there was no unused hole. There are several other drain holes in the area, and I don't think that is a drain hole. I also read at least 10 posts here before I got the battery, and numerous people seem to be using the group 49 battery without problems. Anyone else?

 

If the correct hole has been damaged or otherwise unusable i would reccomend this repair: Find someone in your area with a Wurth (or comparable) Nut Cert type instalation tool. The tool works very much like a rivet gun. Threaded inserts (i only use the ones that are knurled on the outside so they are unlikely to spin when installing your fastener) are installed in a hole and the tool has a mandrel for the particular diameter and pitch fastener you will be using. (8mmx1.25 pitch should be correct for that application) The mandrel is threaded into the insert and the tool compressed, expanding the portion of the insert below the sheet metal. It is a very professional, factory type fix and would work perfectly. I use it often on custom applications or race car stuff.

 

I was wrong, and I think tool pants was right. I went back and got a smaller 48 battery and it fits fine. Thanks for the replies all.