Hello

New to me 914
When engine cold, Starter barely turns over the engine. Symptoms that the battery is bad. Alternator good! I tested the battery which was fine and tried using a second brand new battery to swap out from my other 914 and the starter is still sluggish. Barely turns the engine over. When the engines hot it’s more likely to turn the engine over with more vigor. Both batteries start my other 914 fine.

Do I just have a bad starter?
Stumped.

Click to view attachment

If I were you I would swap the starters in your cars.

Great looking example. I would check the battery cables and most important the grounding points in the engine compartment AND the ground strap from the transmission to the body. Do the head lights dim when cranking?

That's where I would start. Love Delphi Green!

Beautiful car. Wiggle those cables & connectors.

If the starter actually cranks, then it is likely that the "trigger" signal coming from the ignition switch is OK.

I would look at the high-power circuit, in this case. It goes:

Battery (+) post to battery cable.
Battery cable to starter post. (This is the "hot" path.)

Starter housing to transmission case.
Transmission case to tranny ground strap.
Tranny ground strap to chassis.
Chassis to battery ground strap.
Battery ground strap to battery (-) post. (This is the "ground" path.)

Contamination or corrosion anywhere along that path, either side, will result in a slow-cranking starter.

We have also seen cases where the trans ground strap fails, and the starter circuit goes to ground through the throttle cable. Which eventually welds itself into place. Oops.

--DD

What is the engine and compression ratio? Check what Dave listed.if all that checks out ok i would consider a 911or a high torque starter. The 914 starter is .75 hp and the 911 is 1.25 hp.

Thanks all for the great advice. Will follow the ground paths as noted and then vet out if it’s actually the starter itself. I do have an extra starter laying around somewhere. There’s no obvious grounding issues I think I’ll try that swap.
Enjoying the Delphi green more each day.

It’s a 1973 2.0 l. Pretty sure it’s stock. Will check the major grounds. Thanks