just found my '44 in my neighbors driveway!

[callmethewander]

I had my car parked in 2nd gear in front of my house all weekend, I walked outside to see my neighbor's standing around my '87 turbo in their driveway! After several minutes I was able to determine that the starter had engaged by itself without the key in the ignition and cranked the car about 200' in second gear!!! What the Heck??? I'll never forget to put the parking brake on again. But how could that happen? I figured it out when I started the car to drive it back, the starter would not stop cranking even when I removed the key. I had to disconnect the battery. This could have been a LOT worse.

[thomasryan]

VW rabbits would do the same when the antena seal leaked onto the fuse box.

[callmethewander]

O so maybe the starter relay?

[callmethewander]

The fuse/relay box is dry. I just pulled the ignition relay and the ignition relay X, reconnected the batt. and the car still starts and runs, however the problem of the starter cranking by itself has ceased, even when I reinstalled the relays, which don't really seem to have any effect on the starter circuit.

[ppetion]

I am sure they were happy to have a guest .

[callmethewander]

O yes, very. Thank God it rolled past their car parked in the street and stopped short of their two cars in the driveway, which is a bit of an incline!

[thomasryan]

I would look at the ignition switch at the collum, starter harness and or the starter bendix/solenoid.

[callmethewander]

ok thanks. Is there no Starter relay? There doesn't seem to be. And what the heck do the ignition relays do?

[drift a 944]

Mine did something similar to this, it stayed cranking (although only when key was turned on) and continued to try and crank while the engine was running. Long story short, my case turned out to be a bad starter. I replaced the starter and the problem was solved.

I would however check your main battery cables, the one in particular which leads to the starter - make sure it's not grounding against the downpipe or something. And as mentioned above check your ignition switch... I have seen them fall apart and cause the car to crank on its own without key engaged. The plastic "plug side" of the ignition switch comes undone from the crimped on "metal side" of the switch, and the little mechanism inside falls and makes contact with the 'start' position tab. Something like that anyway.

[callmethewander]

Wow, interesting thx.

[tamathumper]

The primary cable from the alternator to the starter is most likely losing its insulation, along with the solenoid cable. On the 968 they run in the same sheath. Here's a link to my article on replacing mine.

http://www.968forums.com/topic/12460-replacing-the-alternatorstarter-cables-with-robby-cables

[curtisr]

Yesterday I watched in horror as my 924s rolled out of the garage and smashed into my brand new Ram truck..!

I was in the process of moving cars around in the driveway and had removed the wheel chock without checking to see if the car was in gear or not. The 5 mph bumper mitigated additional damage but I'm sure I'm looking at a $1000 bill or more. It rolled out of the driveway and crossed the street on hunter-killer mode and hit the side of the truck.

[Rasta Monsta]

Wait, how did you determine the starter pushed it over there?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[callmethewander]

Thanks Tamathumper that's great.
Rasta, two things; it was still in second gear and no longer moving, and when I started it to drive it back the starter engaged and wouldn't stop even after I removed the key. Also it's slightly uphill!
It stop just feet short of my neighbors two cars I think the battery gave out after moving it so far or the starter overheated and stopped.