Broken starter housing?
11-24-2010, 02:35 PM
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Broken starter housing?
Okay guys, has anyone heard of this happening?
I was on my way home for the holiday yesterday, had a 250 mile trip and planned on leaving the 944 here and taking back a pickup that I had just bought. Anyway, I was about 30 miles out of town and stopped at a rest stop. Got back in the car, turned the key and all I got was a whirring sound. Thought to myself, "Oh crap! My belts must have broke." (First job I did on this car was the belts at about 600 miles ago.) I tried a second time a noticed that it wasn't even trying to crank. Decided that my solenoid wasn't pushing the starter out to engage with the flywheel.
At this point I was happy to have my tools with me (for working on the truck I bought) so I pulled out a big crescent wrench and reached under the car to bang on the starter. Barely tapped it to make sure I could get lined up to actually hit it and the dang thing wasn't even fastened securely. I figured that it just needed tightened up. So I pulled out the jack for the first time, threw the spare under the passenger rear wheel and jacked up the driver side. I couldn't get the starter to mount flush enough to line up the bolt closest to me so I tried the other bolt. Well the other bolt wouldn't budge and I realized that it was still attached to something. Backed it out and the corner of the starter that it was screwed into fell to the ground. I realized at this point that I may be screwed as my starter now only had one point of mounting.
The other bolt turned out to be stripped or the threads were smashed (it was dark and my fingers were numb) and had backed most of the way out. I got this bolt in well enough to hold the starter in place to get the car started and me home. (It was barely above zero with plenty of wind. I was laying on ice during this whole ordeal.)
Because I'm at my mom's place and it's too snowy/cold to get under the car I can't post any pictures. The 5th post of this thread has an image of two starters side by side. https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...e-picture.html
The starter on the left looks more like mine, but mine is now missing the bolt hole on the left of the image. I now have a nice 1/4 inch triangle of metal with a hole through it.
Anyone ever have this part of the starter break? Any idea on how it broke?
Lastly, any suggestions on finding a new starter? Everything works just fine, I just can't get it mounted without that mounting point.
I was on my way home for the holiday yesterday, had a 250 mile trip and planned on leaving the 944 here and taking back a pickup that I had just bought. Anyway, I was about 30 miles out of town and stopped at a rest stop. Got back in the car, turned the key and all I got was a whirring sound. Thought to myself, "Oh crap! My belts must have broke." (First job I did on this car was the belts at about 600 miles ago.) I tried a second time a noticed that it wasn't even trying to crank. Decided that my solenoid wasn't pushing the starter out to engage with the flywheel.
At this point I was happy to have my tools with me (for working on the truck I bought) so I pulled out a big crescent wrench and reached under the car to bang on the starter. Barely tapped it to make sure I could get lined up to actually hit it and the dang thing wasn't even fastened securely. I figured that it just needed tightened up. So I pulled out the jack for the first time, threw the spare under the passenger rear wheel and jacked up the driver side. I couldn't get the starter to mount flush enough to line up the bolt closest to me so I tried the other bolt. Well the other bolt wouldn't budge and I realized that it was still attached to something. Backed it out and the corner of the starter that it was screwed into fell to the ground. I realized at this point that I may be screwed as my starter now only had one point of mounting.
The other bolt turned out to be stripped or the threads were smashed (it was dark and my fingers were numb) and had backed most of the way out. I got this bolt in well enough to hold the starter in place to get the car started and me home. (It was barely above zero with plenty of wind. I was laying on ice during this whole ordeal.)
Because I'm at my mom's place and it's too snowy/cold to get under the car I can't post any pictures. The 5th post of this thread has an image of two starters side by side. https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...e-picture.html
The starter on the left looks more like mine, but mine is now missing the bolt hole on the left of the image. I now have a nice 1/4 inch triangle of metal with a hole through it.
Anyone ever have this part of the starter break? Any idea on how it broke?
Lastly, any suggestions on finding a new starter? Everything works just fine, I just can't get it mounted without that mounting point.
11-24-2010, 03:18 PM
#2
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Is there an auto electric/starter-generator shop where you are? I believe a lot of German cars use the same nose as ours (VW/Audi and some American cars). If you can't get a new starter, they may be able to fix yours.
11-24-2010, 03:44 PM
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Not that I know of in Laramie, but I will be going down to the Fort Collins/Denver area over Christmas break so may check around.
I don't know too much about starters, is the nose the deal that holds the motor and solenoid able to be replaced separately?
I don't know too much about starters, is the nose the deal that holds the motor and solenoid able to be replaced separately?
11-24-2010, 04:26 PM
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Ft C has a bunch of indy shops that can help you. Yes, the nose is the aluminum part that mounts to the BH.
11-24-2010, 04:59 PM
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Thanks athens, but I want to check around FoCo before buying anything. If possible I'll just replace the nose. If I can't I'll get ahold of you to see if you still have yours.
