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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ starting problem

Posted by: blk'72 May 30 2005, 11:11 AM

Hey all,
So I got back to pleasanton this WE to work on the car, finish it up, and drive it!
I dont know how many of you all got this very f$#%245 up thing happend to you...
You finish up a project , you go to drive the car and it dont start!!!
So here's what happend...WE worked on the exhaust ...and starting the car, the car wouldnt turn over....nothin....so we changed the batterry, and after playing around with the loose terminals....the car started sllllllooooowly.....we could hear the engine slowwwwwly turn over and then hesitate and then start...

And i stopped at the gas station down the street filled her, and then ...again nothing....key in the ignition and gauges go up, lights work, but nothing at the starter.
So I am thinking starter problem or loose connection somewhere....

And then my friend and myself push started it, and it worked right away and the car drove fine.
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELPPPPP!!!!!!

Posted by: freezing14 May 30 2005, 11:15 AM

first of all check all the connection, clean and then grease all of them,, the end of the cables are sometime corroded insided the connector,, try a booster cable dirctly to the starter if it startes you need new cable if it does not if this does not help , your selenoid is probably dirty, try disaasemble and clean , otherwise you may need a new starter

Posted by: Rand May 30 2005, 11:57 AM

Mine was a bad ignition switch. But it was completely dead and would never try to crank. I tested with the old screwdriver trick (car in neutral, jump between main power terminal at the starter and the solenoid tab (large yellow wire)). It cranked, and ruled out a bunch of components in an instant.

Another time I had a more intermittent problem where it would sometimes hesitate briefly before cranking. That one was a dirty ground strap connection. Not a bad idea to just clean that anyway. You can get to the top end where it connects to the body ok under the rear driver's side fender. The transmission end though... that's a pain to get to - but fortunately the body end did the trick for me.

Posted by: blk'72 May 30 2005, 09:10 PM

hey,
allright, thanks guys....hmmh now, where and how much can I get a starter for??? whats a good deal on them/new or used or rebuilt?
Anyways....thanks, is ther a good shop where I could take my teener to in the east bay...maybe dublin/pleasanton area?
Anyone willing to help me out there?im helpless this car is winning against me and i dont like it ....whenever Im done on something somehting else goes wrong.
Thanks
R.

Posted by: davesprinkle May 30 2005, 09:13 PM

Sounds like the lead from the negative terminal of the battery is disconnected. I had this problem on my VW Scirroco.

Posted by: 736conver May 30 2005, 09:19 PM

Yea double check all your connections.

I thought I had a bad ignition switch when it turned out the postive side on the battery was loose. Didnt know until I went to disconect it to install the new switch.
Tightened it up and she started no problem

Posted by: Rand May 30 2005, 09:35 PM

QUOTE
how much can I get a starter for?

Are you sure it's a starter? I'm not suggesting you don't know, I'm only wanting to be sure you do know before spending money on parts.

The starter could be the problem, but in my experience there are other more likely suspects that should be ruled out before throwing parts and money at it. But I don't know what troubleshooting steps you've been through yet... If you let us know it might save you some money.

Posted by: tesserra May 30 2005, 11:03 PM

Check the battery!!!
Typical bad battery symptom, starts perfetct then nothing.
Kragen checks them for free, then go to Costco and get a dry battery.

George

Posted by: blk'72 May 31 2005, 08:26 AM

ok....well, you r right....I dont know much about starter and electrical...
But heres what happend....
The car was seating for a couple of weeks....so I got in tried to start the engine, and then it was rerally trying very hard to turn over, but very slow/very very slow, almost as if someone was cranking the engine by hand.....I could actually feel the turns...
and then it just started after a few giving it some gas padal move.
So I drove it down the block and After the first turn...I was hearing some scrappy metal sound coming form the back engine bay...so after that i stopped and then nothing the car wouldnt start again!
SO i dunno

Posted by: Rand May 31 2005, 12:23 PM

If you want to work on it yourself, you gotta take a couple of troubleshooting steps. Have you done any of the suggestions that have been posted here?

I would start by taking the cables off the battery and cleaning the posts and the insides of the terminals. Hook it back up and see if it cranks better. If not, does it crank faster if you jump start it? Share the results...

Posted by: fadler1 May 31 2005, 03:06 PM

All of the former.............................I had it be the starter and I had it be the starter switch in the column. The starters are available from your local auto parts store since it is common to a lot of VW's but don't rely on their in store computer. Take off the old one (see Pelican parts, 914, questions and answers and print out the thing.....www.pelicanparts.com) and take it with you. I think as with all Porsche in history, they practice, first in, first out and keep putting different sets of things together (1972 914, 1976 924, 1987 924S, 1989 951, 1971 914, 1998 Boxster owner). If it is the starter switch, search ebay. One will come up within a couple weeks. Get the right year and have at it. Not so tough.

Frederick
San Diego

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Posted by: fadler1 May 31 2005, 03:08 PM

Oh by the way, the starter was $45 at Kragen.

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Posted by: SirAndy May 31 2005, 03:10 PM

sounds like the tranny ground strap ...

make sure it's in place and in good condition and both ends are clean and firmly attached to a clean *metal* surface ...

Andy

Posted by: blk'72 Jun 6 2005, 10:10 PM

hey guys....sorry for the late reply ....I drove to LA this WE.....now i dont really know what to do with this car....
Anyways I will try all of these suggestions this coming sat....anyone willing to help....please come on over.....heres my cell. 925.989.7345
Thank for the input y'all
R

Posted by: tat2dphreak Jun 7 2005, 07:55 AM

I went through almost the same thing with my car, I'm sure it has to do with the ignition switch on mine, so I went and got a starter button at FLAPS and ran a wire to the starter... worked like a chanmp, and now I have a "GO" button cost about $5... but I don't recommend it unless you want the push button starter...

Posted by: blk'72 Jun 8 2005, 10:31 PM

ok
sounds good actually this would be fun!!! me will try right this WE.