Tried everything and the starter still clicks?

[john walker's workshop]

Seemed like a starter solenoid issue, so replaced the starter. still clicks. hmmm. cleaned all the grounds, no better. Charges good, recent battery....
Turns out the factory crimp that attaches the positive battery cable to it's clamp wasn't making a good connection. Looked fine, didn't wiggle, no corrosion, but after squeezing it with some large visegrips, everything worked. It's always something simple, you just have to find it. I bet this going to be a common problem as the cars age.

[jpnovak]

I Have also found where sometimes the actual wire is corroded under the crimp. Have to cut it off and install a new crimp on clean wire.

Glad you found it.

[jlex]

So I suppose you were measuring amperage rather than voltage to see what the reading was. What should you expect as proper amperage delivery to the starter?

[GH85Carrera]

Battery connections are just weird. On my daily driver, the 86 El Camino I went to start it, and nothing. 12.5 volts, clean looking connections. It uses the stupid side connections so I pulled those off and saw a very small spots of corrosion. I got my dremel out used the wire brush to clean off all corrosion, and put it all back together. Varoom. It started fine. The alternator always charges at 13 to 14 volts depending on load.

So yea, check the grounds, and the hot connection on a battery.

[shadowjack1]

When I saw the title and author, I said if he can't find it how does he think any of us will.

[RWebb]

ditto

and thx for posting this hard to find defect

[speedster911]

Originally Posted by shadowjack1

When I saw the title and author, I said if he can't find it how does he think any of us will.

^^ I thought exactly the same thing!!

[930cabman]

Even a blind squirrel will find a nut sometimes

And yes, as our sporting machines (and ourselves) age we have new challenges to conquer.

[cabmandone]

I had a weird one where my car ended up just clicking too! Nothing electrical about the problem for me.
https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1030426-intermittent-starter-issue-starter-spins-but-not-engaging.html

[Walt Fricke]

20 or more years ago a fellow Porsche Club racer from Texas (I liked him because his car was a class up but I usually could beat him) had this problem - the crimp on the battery positive had somehow corroded to where there was enough resistance that the starter was pretty much hit or miss.

Someone who really had the chemistry of copper to lead, or copper clad to lead, down pat might have an answer as to why, and perhaps as to why to some and not others. We all know to clean those ground connections, but the crimps don't lend themselves to that.

[RWebb]

ain't got it down pat, but when dis-similar metals are in contact, they can sometimes form a small 'battery' (electro-chemical cell) - this is the principle used to make thermocouples


I was betting on the cable being made in one of the suspect countries...

[manbridge 74]

Chimp crimp.

We check voltage drop from starter to positive terminal with a multimeter on 997 and some Cayennes when they slow crank. Not uncommon to see 1.5-2 volt drop while cranking the suspect. Having to replace the wire harness is a real PIA but is the approved repair on these newer models. The factory crimp looks to have been done by chimps. The updated harness is much better. Normal voltage drop should 0.1 or less.

[theiceman]

does that cable run the length of the car to the starter? mine is looking frayed and i considered changing it but it looked nightmareish.

[john walker's workshop]

I wouldn't want to replace that thing. The ends are generally where the problem is.

[manbridge 74]

The copper internal strands are a quality piece on these years. Put on a good end ( search a good video on this) using some heat shrink and call it good....

[stormin48061]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

I wouldn't want to replace that thing. The ends are generally where the problem is.

Johnny W, interesting comment. Do you mean replacing the whole cable? I am interested because every year at this time of the year when I haul the battery out of the basement to install into the hibernating beast, I go through the ritual of cleaning the clamps before I connect and tighten down. the connectors are OEM and over the years have oxidized and the metal is getting thinner and thinner, so I always make a mental note that maybe I should get new cables and replace them... but I have kicked this down the road for the last 15 years or so... So if you can edumycate us on this, I know I would appreciate it.

[john walker's workshop]

If you can find a decent replacement clamp, like maybe at a boat store or a stereo shop, I'd just do the clamp. The cheap replacement clamps with the bolt down strap are the worst. Something you can solder with a small torch would be good. Lots of stuff in the way of the whole length of cable, which should still be fine.

[brshap]

I had the exact same thing happen to me except it was intermittent no starts. I cleaned every ground, replaced the trans strap, swapped the battery, did extensive voltage drop testing. Finally after too many hours and no progress I took it to my mechanic. He figured it was just a bad starter and said it'll be a simple fix. Several hours of shop time later he called up and said he found corrosion on the positive cable and put in a new clamp. No issues since. Frustrating to say the least.

[Walt Fricke]

The take away on all this is to figure out how the corrosion gets in there enough to insulate the joint, and how to prevent that from happening in the first place. JB Weld seal the opening to the clamp so no moisture can get in? Can it wick in from farther back along the cable (though generally the outer sheath is undamaged end to end)? For most of us the clamp has already been on a long time, so is sealing now locking the barn door after the horse got out? Whatever is already in there can keep going, whether it is at base electrolysis or something else?

You'd think that soldering the wire (ends carefully cleaned - maybe some chemical could do that? of any oxides)in would prevent any future troubles at all?

[Walt Fricke]

Oh - the reports of problems fixed here are all on the battery end, not the starter end, right? Does that say something?