Turn key, hear fuel pump... and nothing else

[}{arlequin]

Drove over to my friend's house. When I went to leave, the starter wouldn't turn. Haynes wouldn't "tell" me which fuse controls that mechanism. Checked them and they looked fine anyway. Managed to push start it and drove it home.

Could the problem be with the ignition switch where the key doesn't activate something? The starter motor itself? (Not sure how to determie that.) I've read on some thread once about someone's idea for a starter cut off. Whether it was the wire to the tach or the speedo I'm not sure, but the reasoning was that one of them is tied in to the starter motor. I did pull out the speedo around that time so I'm not sure whether some related wire has gotten loose or not.

Maybe there is some other electrical gizmo in line before the starter motor that could have gone and now interrupts the current?

All ideas welcome. Thanks.

[bigchillcar]

Dave,
Sometimes the electrical part of the ignition switch goes bad (it has a mechanical and an electrical part which can be replaced separately).

You can easily check to see if current is reaching the starter by turning on the headlights and trying to start. If the lights dim, current is reaching the starter.
Ryan

[exc911ence]

I'm thinking that the starter motor may have overheated after the engine shut down (heat soaked) and decided to not want to function. An old hot-rodder's trick is to give the starter a hard rap with a hammer. That tends to wake it up and it should work fine afterwards. This is only one man's opinion on what could be wrong though... good luck!

[bigchillcar]

One more step, Dave, if your lights don't dim from my test above. Find the starter solenoid and check for voltage with a test light when starter is engaged. If there is voltage, the solenoid is probably bad. If not, I'd suspect either the ignition switch for sure or a break somewhere in wiring continuity. Have you worked on it recently?
Ryan

[}{arlequin]

Ryan,

The lights dim when I turn the key. So, the current is reaching the starter. Is that a sign that everything in the circuit UP TO the starter is fine? Does that positively mean the starter is gone? Haven't had time to get under it yet, but is there such a thing as a wire coming off? Not out of the question, but how likely is it?

[bigchillcar]

Dave,
Did this problem just appear? Have there been signs that the starter might be having problems? I'm assuming that your battery has enough juice to turn it otherwise. This test does seem to implicate the starter. If it were in the ignition, you wouldn't get the dimming...a starter pulls bunches of amps as evidenced by the headlights.

If you need to get the starter examined (may be worn brushes, worn teeth on the pinion and shaft, etc.), disconnect your battery, remove cables from starter and solenoid and then remove the flange bolts and disconnect starter.
Ryan

[Jim Richards]

Dave, you can look at the starter wiring pretty easily when you jack up the rear (or passenger side) of your 73.5T. The starter and wiring can be seen way up and just forward of the right heat exchanger. Based on your lights dimming, I'm inclined to believe that the starter is bad. Sorry.

[ruf-porsche]

Since the light dims when you try to start the engine I would say that the starter is drawing current, but it is not turning the engine. Sound like a new starter.

Brush up on your four letter words. You'll be using them when you try to remove the old starter.

[Early_S_Man]

Dave,

Forget any thoughts about the fuses -- ignition switch isn't fused, tach, speedo, or ignition switch at this time ... your starter problem is probably just corrosion, wear particles, and dirt built up inside the starter mechanism over the years! Haynes has a good exploded diagram of the starter. Disassemble, clean with Brakleen, lubricate with Valvoline SynPower Synthetic Grease with Moly #986 or #985 ... and your starter will probably be good for a few more years. You will need a 10 mm hex drive bit to remove the starter ... top Allen nut is best removed with a long extension from over the transaxle while reaching from inside the driver's rear wheel well.

[slider]

Ruf -
amen to that....this was the only DIY project I started and could not complete on my SC. The blind barrel nut on top of the starter is a pain. So much so, that I ended up stripping the 10mm nut and had to take it to a shop where they had to drop the motor and get after the nut with a vise grip....d'oh!

[}{arlequin]

Well, at least I can stop worrying about hunting down the glitch. It's relaxing to know exactly where the problem is located. This leads into my next question. Our host has two units for sale:
Bosch rebuilt, part #SR-68X
High Torque, part #PEL-GE-STHT

I am wondering if there are any other starters that are compatible. Any brands and part numbers welcome.

Thanks.

[targa911man]

Get the high torque.

[Rick Lee]

DIY starter R&R can't be that bad. We did on my G50 Carrera and that required a partial tranny drop, which still wasn't that bad. Of course, it helps when you have a friend with a lift in his garage.

[Fidalgo911S]

Dave,

The exact same thing happened to me this past weekend. It was warm out so I figured it was the heat, but after the AAA tow, and three days in the garage, it still won't start. I've been following everyone's advice on this thread and I'm going to take Warren Hall's advice and do the re-build myself.