Orsmo

just finished waxing my daughters 85.5 944 and was going to move it and it won't crank. turn the key and nothing. I do hear something turn on, i'm guessing it's the fuel pump.

I replaced the battery.
I checked voltage at the dme relay and the ignition relay. both good.
I checked the voltage on the red with black strip wire on the ignition switch. when i turn the key to start it, i have 12 volts on that line at the switch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Fintro11

try wiggle the wires behind the intake manifold, the same thing happened to me before and wiggling the harness and checking the connections back there and she started right up

Orsmo

wiggled the wires and no change.

flightline

If it won't crank it means that either:
1.) The main connection from the battery to the starter (thick black wire bolted to the solenoid) is somehow disconnected (unlikely) or
2.) The +12V start signal to the solenoid isn't getting through or
3.) The starter solenoid or motor is bad.

Under the car, right behind the oil pan, you'll find the starter motor and solenoid. One the solenoid, you'll see three terminals:

......O....Battery supply......................thick black wire
0..........Signal from ignition switch.....red w/ black stripe
......O...To motor...............................white

With a multimeter, you should measure +12V on the battery supply, and 0V on the Signal. Have someone turn the key to the start position, and you should see +12V on the Signal. If you do, you should replace the starter.

If not, you have to find out where the signal is being interrupted, as you already confirmed that you have voltage at the switch. There is a connector with the red/black wire and a smaller blue wire directly above the brake booster. Check continuity between the solenoid and the plug, and between the switch and the plug. If it's between the switch and the plug, the problem lies somewhere in the central electrics box, but you should really, really hope not. If it's between the plug and the solenoid you just have a broken wire that needs to be replaced. Good luck.

Fintro11

Yeah I also forgot to mention that one night I went on a date the car ran fine. We went to the movies when we came out no crank. Ended up Being the wire that connects the starter to the solenoid. The wire over time had burnt through. But I think that might be extremely rare

Orsmo

well, i got under it to check the starter voltages and had the 12v on the direct battery feed. connected a test lead to the solinoid post and cranked it to see if i had the 12v on the red/black wire... and the car started.

as happy as i am that it started, i also don't like pfm fixes.

now to go over the either thing with a fine tooth comb to see what i find.

flightline

This kind of thing can be really frustrating. My guess is that the solenoid is just dirty and sticking. I can't think of anything else that could have spontaneously fixed itself.