Engine turn-over difficulty....help wanted!

356 Porsche-related discussions and questions.
Post Reply
Message
Author
daryl fortier
356 Fan
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:42 pm

Engine turn-over difficulty....help wanted!

#1 Post by daryl fortier »

Car starts great (64 SC)...when I can get it to turn over, which is intermittent at best, and therefore I can no longer drive it. Bummer. Battery is new, fully charged, well grounded. Ignition switch is fine. Headlights stay bright when attempting to start. Click heard at starter selenoid. If I jump the connectors at the starter, engine turns over. And if I connect/set the battery charger at 12v, engine turns and starts.
Anyone else have this problem....and know the fix???
Thanks,
Daryl
 

Geoff Fleming
356 Fan
Posts: 1971
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 6:50 pm
Location: Union, New Jersey

Re: Engine turn-over difficulty....help wanted!

#2 Post by Geoff Fleming »

It could be many things. One of the first is the starter bushing in need of replacement. An inexpensive repair and not very difficult even with the engine in the car. There was a recent thread describing this on the forum.
Cleanliness! Examine all contact points...battery ground strap should be clean and the metal that it connects to should be shiny and bright...likewise the main power cable at the battery positive terminal should not show any green corrosion. Remove the clamp, disgard or wire brush the existing one. If the cable ends are not clean copper, cut back this heavy cable about an inch or to and replace the new/ cleaned clamp. Do the same for the smaller power wire that brings juice to the fuse box. Cean each fuse and each fuse terminal on theblock...a fanatic would even remove each wire and clean the ends.
Clean the transmission to body ground strap at both ends. You might also want to remove and clean all wires to the starter motor. Use a bit of dielectric grease on the cleaned connections as well. You will be surprised at how responsive the electrical system becomes when it is free from power robbing wiring ends.
The fact that it starts easily when using a 12volt jump shows that things are working but with half that voltage the system must be clean to be effective.

User avatar
Ron LaDow
356 Fan
Posts: 8092
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:45 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Engine turn-over difficulty....help wanted!

#3 Post by Ron LaDow »

Dirt on wire connections.
Starter bushing gone.
How do you know the ignition switch is fine?
Pretty sure a search on those subjects will get you going.
Ron LaDow
www.precisionmatters.biz

Rich Bergin
356 Fan
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 3:12 pm

Re: Engine turn-over difficulty....help wanted!

#4 Post by Rich Bergin »

First I should say that electricity is a mystery to me. But I just "helped" a friend with the same problem on a 60 VW. Checked all conections, replaced starter bushing, replaced starter, it had a brand new battery showing 6.5 volts I could not figure it out. Turned out that the new battery was bad. It had volts but no amps. Put in another battery and it worked fine. So I would have the battery checked first. But I am usually wrong.
Rich Bergin

User avatar
karl schuenemann
356 Fan
Posts: 166
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:05 pm
Location: n.w. arkansas

Re: Engine turn-over difficulty....help wanted!

#5 Post by karl schuenemann »

Along with all that I would have to add the solenoid.If your getting a click but no draw the contacts may be dirty or burnt up.
Karl Schuenemann
1959 A coupe

daryl fortier
356 Fan
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:42 pm

Re: Engine turn-over difficulty....help wanted!

#6 Post by daryl fortier »

Thanks for all the help. As most of you suspected, it was a poor electrical connection... this time at the starter. The spade connector was a bit loose. I only found it after testing the ign. switch wire for continuity to starter. With the spade half off, the starter worked fine. When fully "plug in", it failed. A bit of tightening of the spade fixed the problem.
Again, thanks for the comments.
KTF
 

Post Reply