Starter problem...

I have a 365 bT5 and have restored it over the pass five years. All electrical parts have been checked and rebilt by professionals. I have started the car, driven test runs and been satisfied except for starter drag. The battery is new and holds a good charge. I have gone thru the starter and had a shop specializing in starters veify that it is full functional and meets the standards required in the 6volt system.Starter still drags and car turns over but will not start. All contact points have been cleaned and re-cleaned. Help!

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This post was auto-generated based upon a question asked on our tech article page here: Pelican Technical Article: Starter System Troubleshooting

[Wayne 962]

This is very common in these older cars - people often install a hot-start relay. The problems can be traced back to old wiring that becomes brittle and no longer can carry the current that is needed to start the car. The solution is to wire up a relay in place of the voltage that goes to the starter, and then have this relay supply current directly to the starter by means of a new, or replaced cable. Or, you may be missing your ground strap from your engine (or it may be dirty). I would check this first.

- Wayne

[356graham]

Slow starter can also be caused by a worn sleeve bushing in the transmission. It can be replaced in situ. There are several articles on the net for how to do this.

Regards,

[JerryL]

I found the easiest way to replace the bushing is with a 7/16 - 14 tap, start therading the tap into the bushing, it gos easy with the bronze bushing, the tap will bottom out on the blind hole and the bushing pulls out as it runs up the tap.

I have seen it done using an old starter shaft, fill the I.D. of the bushing with grease, start to insert the shaft, hit it with a mallet / hammer, hydrolic pressure from grease pushes the bushing up the shaft.

You may want to change the bushing in the back of the starter as well, but I would start with the ground strap.

Regards

[wdfifteen]

These are all good suggestions. If you try them all (I did) and you still have trouble, check the location of the solenoid on the starter. VW and Porsche starters are not the same. The solenoid is mounted higher on the VW starter. A VW starter will work in most 356s, but there isn't much clearance and these are handmade cars. I had a case where the solenoid on a VW starter hit the body (underside of the right rear jump seat), which pushed the starter down and caused the armature to bind. I had trouble for years until I discovered this. Try sliding a piece of paper between the solenoid and the body to see if there is clearance.