daveo4EV

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1st off it needs to be acknowledged that the _ONLY_ thing I am doing here is publishing other people's research - too many to name - but I believe we all would agree most of the credit goes to @louv who's early diagnostics and instructions are the guide we are all benefiting from.

a big internet thank you for @louv

Question: Why is @daveo4EV posting other people's work and attempting to steal credit?
Answer: because this has gone on long enough and the information is diffuse enough and spread across other threads that a summary and single place to go I believe is warranted. If you disagree please let the moderators know and ask them to take down the post and deduct 10 points from house @daveo4EV

last request: let's keep this thread on topic - there are plenty of threads to discuss the 12 volt issue in general, Porsche's response, why does it happen, what can I do to avoid it - I would humbly request this thread remain laser focused on the steps to recover the vehicle, and any related conversations please find one of the existing threads or if necessary create a new thread.

Problem: You wake up in the morning and you find your lovely Taycan which you truly enjoy is dead. You blame @daveo4EV for this, but that doesn't solve the problem that's still dead. You remember there is some way you can recover it but you don't want to search the forums to find it.

there are 2 basic approaches to this problem. I will document both of them here for your convenience.

Approach #1 - recommended:
  1. Verify you still love your Taycan
  2. Find your phone
  3. call Porsche road side assistance
  4. let Porsche sort this mess out since you're not a mechanic
Question: Why is the the recommended approach?
Answer: The best way to get a major corporation to acknowledge a mistake is to make them bear the full cost of the problem. Customers that are "fixing" the problem behind Porsche's back are masking the true scale of the problem and therefore the corporation may lack the data and necessary incentive to bring the necessary resources to bear to properly resolve the issue. It's expensive for Porsche to come haul your Taycan away, if they have to do this enough times for enough customers they might consider fixing the root problem. Certainly us "hiding" the problem from them won't help Porsche find and fix the problem, and we will be left with a great vehicle and a major defect.

this is a defect with the Taycan in either design or software or most likely both. This is not a one time thing, and it’s not trival - it’s not like we’re replacing a fuse that has gone bad and this is happening because of normal wear and tear or age of components. This is a “fault” and it shouldn’t be there. Porsche needs to know about this defect otherwise it will never get fixed. There is a clear fault somewhere in Porsche’s design, they need vehicles presented to them in this condition so they can diagnose and not only fix the problem to restore your vehicle’s functionality but also find root cause and change the Taycan so that this issue stops happening.

Approach #2 - hands on approach - I don't have time for this sh*t in my life - how do I get my Taycan back working?
  1. Tools you will need:
    1. known good 12 volt power source - with "clamps"
    2. flash light
    3. possibly some copper wire with both ends exposed
    4. vehicle key
    5. 15-30 minutes in my experience
  2. Goal: get the frunk open so we can "jump" the 12V battery power the vehicle’s main computer and let the car "recover" itself -it will then charge the 12V battery
  3. You will need to open the doors to the vehicle, preferably the driver's door
    1. if the vehicle is locked - you'll need to extract the "emergency" key from the back of the key fob
  4. Open the driver's door
  5. place your light source in the driver's foot well and shine it on the plastic cover next the "dead pedal"
  6. feel around and carefully remove the plastic mostly triangle shaped cover on the left of the dead pedal
  7. removing this panel will expose the "fuse" panel for the vehicle
  8. in the panel there is a "red" tab - carefully pull this tab out so that it extends beyond the fuse panel
    1. this red-tab has a graphic on it - that generally indicates the frunk "opening"
  9. attach the positive terminal (red clamp) of your known good 12 volt power source to this red tab you just pulled out
  10. attach the negative terminal (black clamp) of your known good 12 volt power source to any bare metal near by attached the car
    1. I used the door "latch" on the "B-pillar" since it's bare metal - my 12 volt negative cable was too short so I got about 2 feet of wire, stripped both ends to bare copper and "clamped" one end of the wire and wrapped the other end on the bare metal
    2. this wire is now part of my recovery “kit”.
  11. fiddle with the 12 volt source and try and get it to provide "power" to the vehicle - in my case I had to place the 12volt booster I was using into "overload" mode
  12. I hear the vehicle making some clicking noises
  13. I used my key-fob to open the frunk
  14. you are now done in the driver’s foot well - we’ll be moving on to the frunk area now
  15. Now that the frunk is open you can access the 12V battery jumping posts (as notes in conversation do NOT attempt direct interaction with the actual 12V battery)
  16. Remove the piece of black plastic covering the battery jumping post - there is a plastic trim piece below the windshield wipers, but above the frunk line
  17. Once this piece of black plastic trim is removed - the 12V positive/+ jumping post is "under" the windshield wipers and you should see a "red tab" plastic tab
  18. remove the plastic red-tab cover exposing the 12V positive/+ post for the vehicle
  19. attach your known good 12V positve/+/red power source clamp/cable to the positive post for the vehicle
  20. attach your known good 12V negative/-/black power source to the negative "post" which is bare metal sticking up near by the postive post
    1. it's about 1/2 way between the red-post and the passenger fender of the car
  21. I had to place my 12V booster into overload mode, and after about 30-60 seconds the car "came" alive!!!
  22. remove the 12V power source
  23. the car should be good now and will recovery itself. Now that the car is alive again it should charge the 12V battery and normal operations can resume.
  24. we’re done - your Taycan is back to functional.
  25. Replace the pieces of trim you removed or leave them off for your dealer if you’re taking the car to service.
these instructions were culled from the following threads:

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/my-car-died-overnight-12v.2501/
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/don-breaks-his-taycan-the-saga-of-the-12v-battery.1274/

please review those thread for photos and equipment recommendations.

and again I implore people to keep this thread purely 100% focused on feedback regarding recovery steps - ANY conversation/comment about the 12V issue in general or questions about why it happens, or has porsche fixed it - please redirect those good thought to an existing thread. I encourage corrections to this process or updates, but would really really like to see this thread remained laser focused on the steps to recover the vehicle and nothing else.

I used the following equipment to recover my taycan - there are other options:
NOCO Boost HD GB70 2000 Amp 12-Volt Ultra Safe Portable Lithium Car Battery Jump Starter Pack For Up To 8-Liter Gasoline And 6-Liter Diesel Engines
Sponsored

 
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daveo4EV

daveo4EV

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it should go without saying - the goal is to make Porsche aware of how much this happening. Even though you have recovered the vehicle I strongly suggest you still take the vehicle to your Porsche service center and demand satisfaction. The more Porsche "feels the pain" on this issue, the sooner it will be fixed.
 
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daveo4EV

daveo4EV

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it should also be noted - if the steps above do NOT recover your Taycan - you may be experiencing a different problem and it's time to call Porsche.

and in keeping with the theme of this posting - we don't need to hear about how you found a different problem and these steps did not work - feel free to create a new thread!!! I won't stop you.

happy to hear feedback or improvements to this process laser focused on recovery.
 
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daveo4EV

daveo4EV

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Modification: _IF_ the vehicle is still plugged into the external charger (EVSE) one might consider removing the charging plug - since the vehicle is "dead" this will require that you access the manual release pull cords - please see Porsche's "good to know" information for these instructions.

Since we're dealing with electricity - safety pre-cautions should be taken and having a live power source plugged into he vehicle may not be the best plan...

this is an extra measure of safety - since in the US the J-1772 power requires a vehicle to be "alive" to talk to the EVSE - the EVSE should have cut power when the vehicle died - but better safe than sorry.
 
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daveo4EV

daveo4EV

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should this problem occur while plugged into a FastDC charger - my only recommendation is version #1 - if this is happening to Taycan's while plugged into FastDC chargers we really really really need to let Porsche know about this and we do that by calling road side assistance, and then billing them for the "idle" fees you accrue while waiting for them to come and collect the car and detach it from the FastDC charger.
 
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MN_taycan

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attach the negative terminal (black clamp) of your known good 12 volt power source to any bare metal near by attached the car
  1. I used the door "latch" on the "B-pillar" since it's bare metal
yup. I used the latch as well. This scary non-traditional step was the most daunting for me.
 

Gordy

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With regards call Porsche Road side assistance, if this does every happen to me (when I get my 4S) - they would have to charge/get the 12V battery up and running. A Flatbed wouldn't fit in my drive to get the car onto it - and LIFT function in the suspension would need enabled to get the car out of my drive also to not bottom out.
From what I know of the issue if it does ever happen to me, the process of getting it to Porsche is probably going to be pretty painful and like has been mentioned elsewhere the knowledge of both the roadside recovery and Porsche dealerships (certainly in the UK) of being able to diagnose or handle this properly I suspect to be poor :mad:
 

manitou202

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Dumb question.

If you were on the road when this happens, can you basically jump start the car? Use another vehicles battery to open the frunk and then power up the car? Also, could you use another car in your garage to do the same thing with jumper cables?
 


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daveo4EV

daveo4EV

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@manitou202 yes I believe any reliable 12 volt power source would do the trick - it’s basically 3 steps
  1. jump the “fuse” box to power the frunk release
  2. use keyfob to open frunk
  3. jump the 12V “starter” battery to recover the vehicle
all reports/data to date indicate that once the car is back “alive” the systems will detect the low 12V battery and instruct the main battery to charge the 12V…after that the car is for all intents and purposes back to normal - and the problem may never occur again.
 
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daveo4EV

daveo4EV

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one annoying outcome is the car appears to have lost a lot of it’s settings - I know my vehicle lost the correct time (I dropped the car off at dealer around 11:30 am local time) and the car thought it was 2 am…and many of my settings had been reset. If/When porsche returns it to me I have at least an hour plowing through all the menus to recover my settings
 

manitou202

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Thanks Dave!

Just trying to decide if I need the jumper for my upcoming road rally. I will always be with other vehicles and a sag wagon, so as long as a "jump start" will work then I won't worry about one for this case.
 

r553

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To be painfully clear :
Never connect jumper cables directly to the 12 V
lithium battery or other electrical components.
Only connect jumper cables to the emergency
starting terminals
 

Dave T

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What about charging through the OBDII port? I thought people were saying that was the easiest way.
 

wmras

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What about charging through the OBDII port? I thought people were saying that was the easiest way.
Limited to 3 Amps per Porsche, but we use a 4 Amp Battery Tender brand lithium-compatible trickle charger.
 

Dave T

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Ok, but wouldn’t charging with the OBDII port and the proper 3 amp charger be easier than Dave’s “approach 2” above?
Sponsored

 
 




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