'71 Sporto won't start!

[Matt Smith]

Hi. I have a friend who runs a 71 T Sportomatic and has run into a dead end with an intermittent starting fault.

Any Sporto fiends out there? (this means you John).

Just been on the phone to the owner. He has shipped the car round to a couple of the 'name' porsche shops over here on a flatbed, but the car usually rectifies itself by then- as expected~

Symptoms:

Either hot or cold, the car will occasionally fail to start. It apparently doesn't even turn over.
No clicking from the starter solenoid, just a dimming of the radio lights or headlights when the key is in the start position. No noises.

This could be a 'normal' fault (ignition switch? Bad cables etc etc) or a Sporto fault??? I'm unfamiliar with this model so would appreciate any info on quirks.

Clouding the issue:
*Starter has been rebuilt in the last 6 months or so.
*CDI replaced with standard coil ignition, so there's probably a birds nest in there. Looking for an ignition upgrade as soon as it's running again.
*presumably the other shops checked the obvious...but you never know do you?

Andy is at his wits end here. I haven't seen the car for a while so am running blind at this point.

Thanks!

[Fishcop]

Hi Matt

Had exactly the same thing a few years back with my car. Fact is, I was so frustrated with it I changed just about everything at once, so I can't exactly tell you what it was!

Apart from the normal gremlins in a manual car's starting system the sporto has a starter cut-out if it is in any gear except park (like an auto) it is one of the 4-pronged plugs in the gearbox housing under the car.

Among the things I did was to install a remote starter button in the engine bay which used a relay for direct battery voltage (this circumvented any ignition switch issues). I still use the ignition switch to start the car most times, but it is really handy to be able to start the car from the engine bay.

Next I replaced the standard coil ignition with a Crane XR700... This has easily been the single biggest improvement to the general running and starting of my car full stop. And finally I changed the gearbox switches with a couple of second hand units I acquired.

I can't tell you which single thing cured my problems but I suspect all the frigging around with wiring and cleaning up looms along with replacing old fuses and terminals as well as the afore mentioned items all contributed to curing the gremlins.

At the moment I am re-wiring the car for my new 2.7 using blade fuses and fuse boxes as well as replacing old brittle wiring from the engine bay. I think our cars are at an age where the old style wiring is beginning to show just how much it has deteriorated.

Hope some of this helps

[joehahn]

and mine had a similar problem but it would actually turn OFF while driving as well as not start. I was not getting ANY juice anywhere (ground was good). It turned out to be a corroded wire off the 4th fuse from the bottom (I don't think our fuse boxes nor location are the same, just giving you an idea).

Last summer I had pinched a wire going to one of my headlights under my battery (carelessness). When I went to turn on my brights this wire was smoking right at the fusebox! I found the short and taped it but thought nothing of the "smoking wire". Turns out that it had soldered itself into this horrible corroded piece of metal and was not getting enough juice through the panel. I broke down at night (2 hours in the dark with nothing but a leatherman and streetlight above me). Methodically I carefully pulled on the all wires in the nether region of the car hoping to find the errant wire. When I found it and pushed/pulled I could see my cabin lights flicker and I knew I was in business. Stripped a 1/4 inch off the end of that and screwed back in and have not had problem since.

good luck,

joe 68 L (sporto)

[Matt Smith]

Thanks heaps John.
I'm picking a multitude of little things too at the moment. Of course the only real soloution is a strip & repaint/rewire of the entire engine bay
Yours looks incredible!

Anyone got some quick (as in non sporto) trouble shoot techniques to check out first?