No Turnover? Options

[tonydincau]

Hey everyone, I'm brand new to 914 world and a new owner of a Porsche 914. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Picked it up a few weeks ago and I've been loving it so far.

I've been having the notorious "hot start" issues with it though. Turn the key and nothing happens. It's very intermittent, sometimes it fires right up but usually it won't even turn over.

I just replaced the battery when I bought it, so I know that's not the problem.

I thought it might have been a bad starter, because when I pulled it out all of the internals were gunked up & the connection points were rusty. I replaced it with a rebuilt starter and she fired up first time! However, the problem returned after taking it out for about 30 minutes. Turn key - nothing.

After a bit of research, it looks like a hot start relay might fix the issue, but the proper way to fix it would be to check all of the electrical wiring & ensure solid connections.
Are there any notorious places in the wiring that I should check out first? I'm not familiar with these cars, so I look to those who are more experienced.

Any info would be very much appreciated!
Thanks

-Tony

[rick 918-S]

Tony,
Try the Ed test. Take a set of good jumper cables. And connect them from the battery to the starter. Try starting the engine. I had what I thought was a bad starter. Tried everything but replacing the cables because they look good.

I removed the positive cable and brought it to NAPA. They made me a new one with good crimped ends. Don't bother with those shitty bolt on ends. Try it. Worked for me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[BeatNavy]

Are there any notorious places in the wiring that I should check out first?

Tony, in addition to what Rick said, with a no crank issue there are couple of other things to check. First, make sure all the grounds are good, clean, and solidly attached. The one that often gets overlooked is the strap from top rear of transmission to underside of the trunk. People drop the engine and sometimes don't hook it back up, or it gets dirty and worn over time.

Second, if all else fails, it could be your ignition switch. Those tend to fail over time and give you intermittent problems. There are cheap (unfortunately) replacements, and it's a slight PITA to replace the first time, so verify everything else first.

If you think the battery and starter are good, then I'd check those things. Search for those on this site to get more info.