Car won't start AGAIN.

[exitwound]

Been dealing with this for the past few weeks. The starter turns ever-so-slowly when turning the key after the car sits for the night. I changed the starter out and the same thing happens. Even a full battery charge doesn't alleviate the problem all the time.

It's not drawing excess current during the night (measured using a multimeter) to drain the battery. I changed out the negative battery cable about 6 months ago after we found out that it was dropping 5v when the key was turned due to resistance. It's too flippin cold to do the testing today (Plus, I'm late for work) to see what is happening on the positive side of the starter circuit.

If I have to change out the positive cables, how hard is it? I know that the wiring harness has far more cables in it than just the battery-starter cable. Can I just run new "generic" cable from the store to the starter and to the alternator?

Why else would the starter be doing this? I'm sick of turning the key and only having the starter turn maybe 90 degrees before it stops turning.

Can I rig up two batteries?

Frustrated in near-zero degree Pennsylvania,
Me.

[Luis de Prat]

How old is the battery?

[exitwound]

Battery is less than 4 months old.

I've been trying to start the car for 20-30 minutes now, on and off after fully charging between attempts with no go. However, with the car "warmer", the starter turns freely and turns over repeatedly, but there's no start.

I don't think it's getting fuel. But I don't have the time to test that right now. It'll sputter and die, or not sputter at all and simply cranky. I know i have low fuel pressure issues with the car. What would most likely be the culprit if I have no fuel?

I looked at Clarks for a minute and tried disconnecting one fuel injector wire to see if that helped start the car (as he suggests for a stuck fuel pressure regulator) but that didn't change anything.

I know the engine needs fuel, a spark, and air to run. If I didn't have to be at work, I could give you more information on which part is dying, but I'm looking for some quick tips or I'll be bumming rides to work every day.

[924Sman]

Test the ignition switch. The switch has 3 modes...Start/run/off. If the run mode is not right this start up issue will act just as you suffer. If the start mode is out it will not trigger the solenoid properly or at all.

Also test the coil wires for value....Green/Black leads and center post of coil and wire.

Dal

[Razorback1980]

Measure the voltage at the big post on the starter. Should be the same as the battery. Also take the small wire off the solenoid and have someone hold it to start...check the voltage there. If there is low voltage at the big post of the starter, then the battery cable needs replaced. If the small post is less that the battery (or very close to it) then look toward the switch key as Dal mentioned.

[red87]

Check your neutral safety switch before you buy anything else. My 87 944 was acting similar and I took out the switch and cleaned it up and it's worked fine since. drove me nuts for 2 months...

[exitwound]

Update: Starter turns well enough now. I'm hoping the lack of turn was due to the near-zero temperatures after sitting for 3 days. I'm not positive on this though, just hoping.

I took the DME relay out today and tested the fuel pump operation and it's functional. Whether or not it's functional ENOUGH is for tomorrow night or Friday. I need to measure the amount of fuel it's moving as well as the pressure. First thing was to make sure the pump was operational, and it is.

Will update soon.

[hpservertech]

So the colder it is the slower it cranks?

[exitwound]

I'm not sure. The starter was working fine and then over the course of two weeks it got sluggish, even with a "warm" spell of 40 degrees. It was 32 the other morning and the starter refused to crank. I changed it out with the old one and charged the battery and it started right up. The other morning it was 7 degrees and it cranked slowly, not enough to start the car. Charged the battery and it still wouldn't turn properly. But 30 minutes later, it cranked fine but now it's not (apparently) receiving fuel, cranking properly however.

The negative battery cable was replaced a few months ago with a brand new one. We tested the circuit for voltage drop and only the negative side showed any drop at all, which was a very significant -5V. The new cable fixed that. The positive side showed absolutely no problems. I have not, however, repeated that with the weather this cold. This weekend, I will test the whole starter circuit again for voltage drop.

[mikepellegrini]

Lead-acid batteries don't work efficiently in really cold temperatures. It's particularly hard for them to deliver sustained high current at very low temps.

So yeah: it'll crank slower for a shorter period of time when it's really cold out.

[exitwound]

Do they draw more current from the battery if they crank more slowly? For instance, will a battery cranking slowly for 10 seconds use more battery life than a normally cranking starter for ten seconds?

I ask because the battery after cranking the engine slowly was far more depleted than it was after cranking normally and not starting.

[many944s]

Um, cranks slowly when really cold...
Starts better when it's warm...
New starter, fresh battery...

What weight oil are you running?

[exitwound]

It was 18 degrees yesterday and it turns over fine. It was 37 and it didn't want to turn. It's not directly related to temperature. As stated above, even during a warm spell it was sluggish for a week or two.

10W-40 oil. Less than 500 miles on the oil.

[Razorback1980]

The "speed" of the starter has nothing to do with the amount of current pulled from the battery. The slowness of the starter has more to do with one of two things...either not enough power or the starter is experiencing some condition that makes it hard to turn which will draw more power because the the starter is working harder. Usually this is when the bearings holding that armature are worn and the armature is rubbing on the windings inside the starter. In this case the starter has been replaced, so it's more likely the other condition. I would check for voltage at the starter and see what it is. If it's low, then get another battery cable.