Voltage drop upon starting???

jess p · 12-07-2015, 05:15 PM

Hi everyone

My 914 is a 71 with a 2.0L from a 73 with dual carbs. Just put a new Sears Die hard batt in that is rated at 500 cca. The previous batt gave up the ghost. I took it out
of the car and charged it all day. Wouldn't hold a charge. I put the batt back in and
checked the charge of the batt with my volt-ohm meter, barely 12 volts. Then I
started the car and checked the voltage again and with engine running got about
13.6 volts.

The problem that has been intermittent is sometimes I turn the key and no
crank although I see my volt meter drop to 10 volts. Sometimes if I come
back 10 minutes later it will start. Sometimes if I keep the key held it will
crank after several seconds with the key held in the start position.

I thought my problems would be gone today after I put a new Sears Die hard
gold batt in, $175.00 bucks. Car started up fine, no problems. Drove 5 miles
and went in for coffee, came back out and no start. Waited 10 minutes and
held the key in for several seconds and car started. I noticed volt meter had
dropped to 10 volts again.

i checked the connections to the batt, perfect and no corrosion. I have not checked
the connections to the ground and the starter but I will.

My question is this. Am I experiencing the dreaded 914 poor starting issues or
is my starter failing or is it my ignition switch. Advice appreciated.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Could be any of the above, sadly. The ground path is important, BTW:
- Starter motor through short strap to solenoid
- Body of starter to transmission case
- Transmission case to ground strap
- Ground strap to underside of trunk floor
- Through chassis to ground stud on the side of the engine bay
- Through ground strap to battery post

All of those connections will also affect how the starter works.

If the voltage drops to 10V when you turn the key to "start", then the solenoid is probably engaging. In that case, I would expect that the starter itself is the issue. It may be that disassembling and cleaning it up will help.

--DD