M Turner

Hello everyone. I joined up seeking some input, suggestions or in other words some help with a problem with my elderly father's 1983 944.

I am automotive literate, as I am an off road truck builder and enthusiast. However, I know nothing of these Porsche's, nor am I remotely familiar with them. So, hopefully I should not have any trouble discussing vehicle lingo with you but please be gentle! I don't know German, lol.

My father recently retired and will be moving soon. He wants to bring his Porsche with him but it had not ran for several years due to a bad starter. He ordered one and I replaced it for him. We drove the car around that afternoon only for the starter to fail several hours later.

​​​​​He was able to get a refund and tried a starter through another distributor. I again replaced it for him... and this one went too. Before replacing this one I reviewed the proper wire connections and terminal locations just to be sure I didn't goof it up the first time. But with 2 starters going bad within the same day of replacement, I wonder if there isn't something else going on with the car?

Does anyone have any knowledge whether or not these cars have wiring issues or a knack for burning up starters?

The car has proper battery voltage for starting. And the car always starts right up. But the after several starts, it acts like the drive gear is either not extending or as if there is a dead spot on the flywheel. Then after several attempts like this, it does nothing. Battery still with 12.8v or more.

I really appreciate everyone's input and support. I know it can be difficult to diagnosis these sort of issues without being with the car in person. Hopefully it is a know issue with a remedy. Thank you again for your time and happy new year!

murrayg

Hi M Turner,
I have an idea...first some 944 starter basics... There are 2 different starters for these cars, as expected, an early one (until 85) and a late one (85.5 and later). The early one is a field coil design, the late one is a permanent magnetic design. The mounting pattern is the same, either will fit. Your 83 definitely uses the early one. In the later cars, shields were added to the position and reference sensors to stop the motor from "kicking back" while cranking, and damaging the starter. Are you sure you're using the right starter for the car??

V2Rocket

the starters were revised but they function the same regardless of model year.
you don't need to search out a fat-body early starter for your early model car - a starter from a 1990 will work just fine 100% on a 1982 944.

the note of the sensor shields is still valid though.

944s don't kill starters with regularity - my car is on it's 2nd starter since leaving the factory in late 1984. the one i have been using since replacing the original in 2006 is the later style skinny-body type, never a problem.


however, 944s DO have a reputation for ignition switches made from hot-glued dogsh¡t which i would definitely investigate.

Toast54

The ignition switch is fairly easy to get to. I replaced one on my 924S...turned out NOT to be the problem, but the switch should last me a long time. Once spring rolls back around, I can pull everything and see what I did to mess the hi-lo beam up :|

M Turner

Hey everyone. Thank you for your input. I'm also a little bummed it isn't a known issue that has an easy remedy. For the record, my father is the one who ordered the starter, so who knows what he got. But it did look just like the original.

For what it is worth, I visited my father just this past weekend and said "hey, let's see if it will start?" So we threw on a battery charger to make sure we had full power and to our surprise the starter came alive. However, it was doing the same thing as before, it was just spinning as if it was not extending. So I told him to put it in first, let out the clutch and I proceeded to rock the car back and forth as hard as I could. Then I told him to try it again. And... VIOLA! She started!

So with that being said, I am fairly certain the flywheel has some dead spots. As for previous symptoms of the starter not doing anything. I would assume we were getting it a little too hot from repeated attempts at trying to start the car and well, it just stopped working temporarily or we had ran down the battery. Then again, I was still registering 12.8v.

Either way, we have seemed to have found the issue. I appreciate everyone's input. Thank you.

mikehayes

If you remove the starter, you'll be looking right at the toothed ring bolted to the pressure plate. Take it out of gear and rotate the engine with a 24mm at the front of the crank and you can check all the teeth. If it is broken, it's unfortunately a big job to get in there and replace it.

Jfrahm

It'd be hard to get the wrong starter and have it still spin in the correct direction. An old Jetta starter will fit but spins the wrong way. I think there are no other starters that'd kinda fit and sometimes work.

marc abrams

Not to hijack this thread but I didn't know that. The old fat boy doesn't like turning a crankshaft covered with 20w-50 Brad Penn in the cold.

Arominus

You should run thinner oil in the cold, M1 0w40 is good for the winter months if it actually gets cold. A bigger starter only helps so much against the tub of cold molasses that is an oil pan full of 20w-50 in the winter.

You only need the updated ref/speed sensor shields/bracket if your bellhousing has been notched (or if you have the kick back).

marc abrams

You're probably right. Rather than changing to a different oil, I'll change were I live. This will be my last winter on Long Island, N.Y.
Anyone here want to buy a snow blower? It's a six speed!