Starter Problem? Or Something Else?

thamlin000 · thamlin000's Garage

Alright guys, my 944 is having problems starting.

It cranks and after a few trys, it turns over. But.....when it finally turns over, it makes a load "grinding" sound and I immediatly shut it off. Now, this car did not have any previous starting issues, it always started up immediatly, hot or cold. So this was a surprise when I had to crank it several times to get started, and a much worse surprise to hear the grinding sound when it finally did start up.

Could this grinding sound be coming from the starter? Or is there anything else that is causing this problem.

Thanks for any input.

p.s: The t-belt was replaced last January and retensioned last month.

Tishabet · 11-08-2003, 03:40 PM

Some clarification here......where I'm from, I think cranking the engine and getting the engine to turn over are the same thing.....by "it turns over" do you mean that it starts to fire?
Maybe you have a solenoid arm that's sticking on the starter? Not sure what sound that would make though...

thamlin000 · thamlin000's Garage

Yeah, "it turns over"="the car starts up".
It takes some effort (a lot of cranking), but the car did start. The car ran for 2 seconds and then I turned it off due the grinding sound.

The grinding sound is similar to the sound created by trying to start a car already running. However the "grinding" sound may not be an absolute precise description of the noise. It is sort of like a metallic-based sound though.

Sorry about the confusion. I'm a bit confused myself....

Tishabet · 11-08-2003, 07:42 PM

Hmmmmm......
Well, if it sounds like your starter then that seems like a good place to start (ha ha, I crack myself up.)

Here's the starter...that gear on the right is what actually rotates your flywheel and starts the car, sounds like maybe it's not disengaging correctly. On other cars I've worked on (antiques mostly, but a lot of Bosch stuff....VW Karmann and bug) that little gear gets "spun up" the shaft when the solenoid is actuated. Assuming it's the same type of system on the 944 (I'm not positive, I've removed my starter many times but never really took a good look at it) and the gear is supposed to spin up, maybe it's not letting go after you let go of the key and de-activate the solenoid. Not sure what exactly to look for to positively identify that as the problem, maybe someone with more practical experience with this particular starter will step up and give you some pointers. A rebuilt bosch unit costs ~ $145 here on pelican, BTW.

thamlin000 · thamlin000's Garage

It definately seems not to be dis-engaging. I will order a starter tomorrow. I'll keep you informed of my progress.

IceShark · 11-09-2003, 08:34 AM

Yeah, it sounds like the pinion gear is hanging up. There are various causes but a common one is clutch dust guming up the shaft. You may try cleaning the shaft up and get the starter working properly again. You may have to replace the pinion gear if it was chewed up too much. But the Bosch starter is built like a Brick $hithouse so it is worth it to try and save an old one.

thamlin000 · thamlin000's Garage

After 3 weeks, I finally got around to sliding under the 944 to remove the old starter.

The first thing I noticed was that the starter was loose! This was the reason I heard the grinding sound; the loose starter gear was grinding on the pinion gear. Needless to say, I tightened up the two starter mounting bolts, reconnected the battery and the 944 started right up without and noises.

The car is up and running again!

Thanks Tshabet and Iceshark for your input and suggestions.

ronin · 11-30-2003, 01:36 PM

cool! and I'm glad to see that you were able to save some money at the same time. nothing worse than spending money on a part that did not need replacing