84 944 starter problem
 

Just went outside and tried to start my car and nothing happened. Tried again and nothing, but could hear a faint electrical sound from the starter area. I just put a new battery in a month ago, and it still has plenty of power. Is this a starter or solenoid problem or in the ignition?

Do you get a click? If so, battery may be low or starter stuck, brushes worn (unlikely), commutator dirty. If no click...
Use a light or a volt meter to see if you have power to the small wire going to the solenoid. If not, then ignition switch is bad. If it clicks, check for power to the big terminal on the solenoid, the one without the battery cable. Ask helper to hold the key in cranking position for a few seconds while you check. No power means solenoid is bad internally. This just happened to me and I found a replacement from an ebay store for $25.

strange that this, including mine, is 2 or 3 early 944's all experiencing this problem within a few weeks of eachother...

I just swapped in another starter into my project car below because, it would just give a slight electrical hum when the key was turned. The solenoid in it was stuck. I'm sure it was my fault, since I had just aggressively pressure washed the car a couple weeks prior, and never drove it at all afterwards, so it never got a chance to dry out good, so it sat and decided to crude up on me.

I like that jump start idea there also. I'm gonna have to set one of those up myself, thanks!

Check all the connections at the starter, looking for corroded terminals and clean, dielectric grease them on install. Disconnect battery first. I would start here first. Even if its not because of these connections, its still a good idea/preventitive maintenance thing.

If you can hear at least a "click" when turning key, chances are,your solenoid is at least kicking in.

Nothing happenend with the direct ignition from under the hood. So this afternoon I removed the starter and hooked directly to a battery that tested OK, and still nothing. Pretty sure bad solenoid, it does not make a clicking noise. Thanks for the help.

http://stores.ebay.com/Triodiode-DC-Electric-And-Tractor_W0QQssPageNameZVIStoreHeaderLinksQQtZkm?

This is where I got my new replacement solenoid for about $25.

By the way, the solenoid might click and engage the pinion and yet not energize the starter. I must do both.

thanks for the link, but went ahead and bought a remanufactured bosch starter this morning. Just installed it and the car fired right up, although the new smaller starter with gear reduction sure is alot louder(gear whine) than the original, now I know why my wife's 87 NA sounds like it does.