Starter works fine when cold. After a some driving, to where the starter gets heat soak, it will crank the engine VERY slowly as if the battery is very low on charge. Acts the same exact way while jump starting. But if I let the car cool down for awhile then it will crank like normal. I even had AAA come out and check the battery and charging system with their uber-cool, $600 hand-held analyzer and everything checked out 100%. So I know my battery (Optima) is in tip-top shape and my alternator is just as good.

I've read the hot-start relay threads and understand them. It's a band-aide for a failing starter as well as a safe-guard for the ignition switch. I may do it, I may not. Not sure. But I do know I need a starter. So, GPR has rebuilt Bosch units for the 911 @ $219 and 914 @ $112. Money is tight for me but I'd rather pay once than twice

I want to understand WHY the 911 starter is the prefered unit for replacement. I know it has more cranking power but is it at the same voltage/amperage draw as a 914 unit or more? Does the extra power spin the flywheel faster, resulting in a faster start?

i got a aftermarket high-torque starter and never looked back.

better than the stock unit and better than the 911 unit ...
Andy

I agree with Andy

Ferg

Ok, but you're not telling me WHY a higher torque starter is better

smaller, lighter, more torque (more power to spin the flywheel), quicker starts

search for IMI Hi-torque #101. prices vary quite a bit.

I have one of the hi torque starters as well, but its not in the car yet. But, neither is the engine.

zach

uhm, more torque?


Andy

I have never heard of anyone having a hot start issue with a high torque starter. I can't say the same for rebuilt or new OEM starters

Ferg

The IMI starter is cheaper and BRAND NEW. The Bosch starters are more expensive and rebuilt. Starter technology ain't that grand. If you don't have a high compression motor, you can use almost anything. So there is no huge technical reason to use a high-torque or 911 starter. In this case it's a matter of economics, and IMHO, brand new beats rebuilt every time.

All the above.
Also, the new Hi torque starters are quite a bit lighter then the stock ones too.
Zach

Here you go, this is where I bought mine...

eBay 914/911 Mini Starter

This happened to me once last year. 100+ degrees, 60 minutes at freeway speed, shut it down and it would not start for 40 mins. We'll see this summer. The starter below is what I bought and it was 5 months old when it happened.




This has been a good unit other than the hot start noted above.

T

Good unit.

"Hot start" issues are another matter... most likely voltage loss over dirty wiring. Starters get blamed for this too often.

A solid ground strap, and good battery cables & connections are necessary as well. Far too many original positive battery cables out there if you ask me.

Mark!!! Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Pat Garvey may be lurking!!! Sorry Pat!

I asked this once before when this subject came up and never got a response so I'll try again. Is the 944 strarter not the same or equivalent of a "high torque" starter? Or am I remembering an article I never read Which is entirely possible........

Scotty -- Glasd to have a neighbor in the fray, and a 944 question come up. My "new" '90 S2 944 has a v e r ..y slow starter. Was wondering if a 911-914 mini, high torque would go in the 944. Sounds like that's your hint. Anything I need to know? Thanks

Chris if your 944's starter is slow you have another issue. Check your grounds, and battery. They don't spin excessivly fast but 944's do have good starters, that is why I believe I think remembering possibly seeing an article in some magazine at some time in my infintessimile life about 944 starters being great on 911 and 914's .....maybe.......

Scotty, I'm guessing there was no response because no one knows for sure. Have you seen them side by side to see if there are obvious differences? Have you searched the Pelican 911 forum to see if anyone has mentioned it there? Is the 944 starter better/cheaper/stronger than the hi-torque mini starter?

The stock starter is .8 hp. The 911 Bosch starter is 1.5 hp. Almost double. I do not know the hp of the hi-performance starter. I have never heard of a hot start problem with a 911 starter after 72 when they went to the larger starter.

I just went through this issue.

Before you spend much money, get a battery post cleaning brush and some dilithium grease.

Clean both battery posts, and inside the battery clamps, and coat with grease.

Remove body ground from battery. Sand it til shiny and coat liberally with the grease.

Remove main battery lead to the starter solenoid clean it and coat with grease.

You may simply have a dirty connection which is not giving full battery voltage to the starter.

I spent way too much time chasing everything (and too much money) only to find that my Optima batteries positive terminal and the clamp to the positive terminal were badly oxidized. The battery clamp was lead and distorted and had a slight crack in it. It would not transmit adequate voltage to the starter solenoid. I replaced a battery clamp, cleaned and greased and solved my "bad starter problem". But only after buying and installing a new starter. Now I have two good starters.

flesburg, I already did all of that. Simple stuff first, then the money stuff second

The starter cranks very, very weakly when hot. Consistently. Absolutely no problems when cold.

Thanks for the link! I wish more people would do that Searching [914world.com] for "imi" (and in combination with other words) either gives me no results or about one quintillion Sometimes search isn't your friend

The hi-torque starter looks completely different and sounds much different. If you look in ebay you'll see several hi-torque starters offered for the 914. I have one for a high compression racing 914 and have never had a problem with it. Granted, I only start the car on race weekends so it doesn't see everyday use but I don't know of any racers not using hi-torque starters and we need our cars to start every time or you waste a day at the track which is not cheap.
The hi-torque starter is also a lot less money than either of the units you mentioned. I paid $109.00 plus shipping for mine and had it the next day.
I also have a new 914 starter you could have for very little if you want to PM me. It does not work well on a high compression engine at all.
Randy

And kick'er into Warp 9 (For the trekies)

I bought one from the guy in the link to replace the one on the V8 car that went bad....works great. I then had the broken one rebuilt ( for $20 more than it would have cost me to buy another one from him) I put the rebuilt on the 1.7 and it spins it over 2X faster than the original.

"Original Starter weighs 16lbs. Mine weighs 9.5lbs (hitachi weighs 11lbs) and has a HP rating of 2.0hp and 525 Ft.Pounds of Torque!"

It spins the car over like a starter should. Your not wondering if it will start.

Randy, do you have a link to the hi-torque starter for the 914?

-- Rob

I bought my hi-torque starter from the same eBay vendor as Grimstead. I got tired of hot-start issues at 2 consecutive Red Rock events. I've been very pleased with the performance and it's cheaper than a stock replacement. I'm waiting to see how it does at this year's RR in September before I give it an unqualified endorsement, but I really expect that it is going to do just great.

I bet your ground cable is loose somewhere. Mine did the same thing and it was the ground strap on top of the trany. The PO didn't have much for other grounds on the system

In every case I had already checked all the grounding straps and I've even run an additional grounding strap from the battery to the engine case. I'm convinced that my issues were related to the starter not being able to stand the heat.