provenceman

Hi All

My 87 928S4 auto will not start

Good battery

Makes a ratcheting noise but will,not turn over

Bad relay?

Any suggestions will be most appreciated

Provenceman

Kevin in Atlanta

How do you know it is a good battery?

davek9

clean grounds and battery connection, it sounds like your describing the starter solenoid "clicking", usually a weak battery or poor connection. Could also be a bad starter/solenoid if batt and connections are good

provenceman

Hi thanks for responding Kevin

I put volt meter on the battery and it is reason 13.2 volts

Appreciate the reply

Robert

M. Requin

Look at the ground strap, esp. the end that attaches to the car- peel back a little insulation, if you see green, replace (clean contact point as well).

Fogey1

Good advice. A "ratcheting sound" almost always means not enough juice is getting to the starter, either from a bad battery or a bad connection somewhere.

There are a few other points in the system that can hamper the connectivity/flow of current. Battery terminals might be loose, the connection at the starter itself and the 14 pin connector come immediately to mind.

Read through the New Visitor thread
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...questions.html
and look for "annual electrical maintenance."

Bilal928S4

It could also be that the battery does not produce 13.2V when it is under load. Take a reading under load.

provenceman

Thanks everyone for your replys to my issue

Will try all the suggestions and get back to you all

Regards

Robert

provenceman

Just wanted to thank everyone for your kind suggestions

Turned out to be the battery after all

Even after testing the battery, it was bad

Many thanks for your support

Ground straps ok and so,was the solenoid

Regards

Robert

Kevin in Atlanta

Glad it was something simple.

Landseer

Don't overlook the ground strap as a secondary or parallel cause.
We've seen them reaching end of useful life, internally corroded (beneath the plastic cover).
Some manipulation of them, as when changing a battery, gives them a little more life.
With an ohm meter they appear ok, but fail in capacity to pass electrons during a start.
All of us should consider replacing the ground straps at this stage, 30+ years.