Did a search and I think I should replace the starter but would like to know what you guys think. I went up to Buttonwillow for a open test day. Did three sessions, car ran perfect. Went to start it for session number four and nothing, engine does not turn over gauge lights are on and everything works. Got a bump start, loaded the car and drove the 3 hours home. Shut it off and tried starting it and same thing. This morning I went to check it out and it started just fine. Checked the connections at the battery and starter. Battery is one year old. '86 911 3.2 . Thoughts? I really don't like problems that fix themselves

 

Starters can overheat. The solenoid can be bad. Loose relay... corroded fuse.... condensation.... broken wire in the harness... these cars are going on 30 years old... heat, vibration and g-force can shake things loose.

My go-to strategy is to take it to the shop and spend the $100 to have it diagnosed rather than throw expensive parts at the problem.

The old joke...

Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this...."

Doctor: "Then stop doing that."

 

I don't now about your 86 but on my 76 if the heater between the seats is off, the rotary valves at the back are closed and instead of letting hot air from the heat exchangers go into the cabin, it dumps the hot air straight onto the starter motor. The fix for my car is to put a heat shield between the starter and the heater valve........................or run with the heater on all the time.

 

Not even a solenoid click?

Starter brushes are almost worn out, or dead/open commutator/winding segment.

Miles?

 

I think we're brothers.. over the last two years I've spent hrs and hrs , checking connections, replacing parts, cleaning grounds etc on my '86 3.2 chasing an intermittent no start issue.

Every time I thought I had it, the car nearly left me stranded.

Lately, I've been carrying a hammer to knock on the starter, which seems to work.

We need to get our starters rebuilt. My first job in the spring

 

the maddening thing about this ( I think - correct me if I'm wrong) is that every time you clean a connection or a ground it supplies that extra little bit of juice that can make a marginal starter work.

Any of these little fixes keep you chasing while the starter continues to get worse.

 

I ordered and just received the high torque starter. I'm going to install it this weekend.

 

Or the one where the patient was saying that his body hurt everywhere he touched... and the Doctor proceeded to pull a splinter from the finger...

I almost replaced a starter.... bought a new one... only to find that the cable, at the starter terminal, was held in place to the connector by a few strands. From looking at it, you could not tell anything was wrong. Cut bad terminal, install a new one (with a big wire crimping tool)... and the starter is still in the car and working fine (new one sits on a shelve in the garage).

Nothing more frustrating than throwing new parts at a problem and still having the same issue...

Best of luck with the new starter