1984 Carrera Won't start! Help!

[JohnnyF355]

Hello, I have a 1984 Carrera Non turbo, I was driving it earlier today for about a 5 miles trim to my friends house and back, let the car set for about an hour or 2 at my friends before going to home, shut the car off and a few minutes later started it back up for a quick trip down the road, about 2 miles round trip. it was still running fine, good oil pressure, low temperature, sounded fine. shut it off. and about 2 hours later tried to start it. nothing, I can hear the starter engage and try to move the engine but the engine seems locked. It has, had plenty of oil in it, was showing no signs of problems before.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks, Johnny

[Bill in OKC]

I guess you have checked the battery? I had a similar thing happen - my alternator failed without giving me a warning light -the bulb was good - and the battery died. The engine just sputtered to a halt. It was running fine and then wouldn't crank. Now I check that the light is on when the ignition is on before starting the car. I think a no-light failure means worn-out/bad brushes...

[ChkbookMechanic]

Have you checked all the sensor connections in the engine bay as well? Occasionally the connectors can walk themselves out of the connection (ask me how I know...).

[Rot 911]

Could be any number of things, but from your description the first thing I would do is pull the plugs and make sure you don't have a leaking fuel injector that is hydrolocking the engine. While you are busy pulling the spark plugs, put a battery charger on the battery and make sure you have a fully charged battery. A low battery could also make the engine hard to turn over.

[dillinger]

This happened to me 2 weeks ago. Brand new battery, new ignition in the past year. So the only things left were chassis ground, starter solenoid or starter. Mine turned out to be the solenoid, but I replaced the solenoid and starter. I actually had my local shop do it. It was in the shop overnight and cost a total of 400 bucks.

Don

[jurhip]

I would start at the battery and check the alternator output if you get it running.
I think the possibility of hydrolocking an engine from a leaking injector is extremely rare, especially on a car you said was running well. Rule out the easy and most likely problems first (i.e. electrical).

BTW, Bill in OKC raises a good point. It is necessary to check teh function of your alternator light prior to starting the car. This is the one light that could tell you a fan belt broke before your engine temp does.

[JohnnyF355]

Thanks alot for everyones help i figured it out it was hydro lock from a stuck open injector pulled the plugs turned the engine and gas dumped out. so it looks like ill need a new set of injectors.

[TroyGT]

I'm having the exactly same problem. Drove the car for days with no problem. Running fine when I parked it, next morning going to work... nothing. Well, it sounds like the starter is engaging and just makes a bump sound. I put a brand new battery on it, same results. I pulled the starter off to inspect and it looks fine, teeth are good on the starter and the engine. Can't figure out what's wrong with it. Maybe I have a hydrolock situation as well.

But first, tell me how to test the starter while on my work bench. Can I just put a battery to it and see what happens... positive battery to the big terminal and negative to the ground terminal on the starter? Guess I'll have to short the yellow wire contact to make it engage?

-Troy

[T77911S]

troy- it could also be low voltage on the yellow wire to the starter, bad ignition switch, car alarm, bad battery connection, bad ground from motor to body.

put starter in vise, connect neg to starter and pos to the spade to engage the starter, pos to the motor to run the motor.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by T77911S

troy- it could also be low voltage on the yellow wire to the starter, bad ignition switch, car alarm, bad battery connection, bad ground from motor to body.

put starter in vise, connect neg to starter and pos to the spade to engage the starter, pos to the motor to run the motor.

+1 on put the starter in a vice! That sucker has some torque. It will jump right off of a table. I watched a friend break the mounting flange off of his starter when it hit the floor.

[TroyGT]

Awesome... glad I asked. I'll stick it in the vise tonight, add some juice, and see what I got.

Thanks guys.

-Troy

[seafood10]

I have an 84 and just went through it not starting, finally got it going yesterday with new sensors, but maybe my thread has some ideas you can try:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/431975-new-dme-relay-did-not-make-my-fuel-pump-work.html#post4197471

[JohnnyF355]

I bought new pressure regulator and dampener still hasnted solved the problem as soon as i turned the key on it hydro locked all cylinders but 1 and 6. any ideas?

[TroyGT]

Okay... I'm electrically challenged. My starter solenoid has three connections. One bolt connection had my battery on it, the other bolt connection had a ground strap from the starter and a ground from the car connected to it, and finally the small screw in connection where the yellow wire was connected. I just put the battery pos on the battery post of the solenoid and the battery neg to the other post, along with the ground strap from the starter. I got nothing. I don't want to just start sticking wires to things... tell me what to do.

-Troy

[TroyGT]

I got brave and put pos to one side neg to the other, and then another pos to the yellow post and I saw the gear move outwards. The starter never turned over the though, but it actuated. This is the same sound I was hearing before removing the starter. But no starter turning. Is it a dead starter?

-Troy

[livi]

Is a DME relay failure out of the question?

[TroyGT]

At this point, I have the starter out of the car and on a bench trying to figure out if it's bad or not. The starter gear pops out to engage but the starter doesn't spin. All I've done is put the battery on the main solenoid post, the neg battery on the other post with the starter ground strap, and the put 12v on the yellow terminal. This makes the gear engage but the starter doesn't spin. Shouldn't it engage and spin when I do this? Just tryign to figure out how to test it and determine if it's bad or good or whatever.

-Troy

[T77911S]

my fault i was not clearer.
the long post is connected to the battery, the small spade or screw terminal is where the start signal(12v) is applied. when the start voltage is applied to the solenoid, the solenoid pulls in and the contacts inside connect the battery terminal to the short terminal(motor) and then the motor turns. notice the short braided cable from the solenoid to the motor.
connect batt. to long post, jumper over to spade(start) terminal, ground stays on starter housing.

[TroyGT]

Okay... when I put the hot on the tall post, and the negative on the ground post with the braided strap and then jumper wire from tall post to yellow wire signal post... the gear shaft extends but no motor spinning. I should have a spinning motor with this setup, right? I should go ahead and purchase another starter?

-Troy

[TroyGT]

Anybody? Just trying to make sure before I buy a new starter.

-Troy