hyphen

well, today was the day. the rain passed and sunshine broke thru. time to get the car out from winter's sleep.
got to the car storage turned the key &... it almost started to crank then rat-tat-tat-tat-tat. On retry, it did the same.

almost like something was stuck or prohibiting the engine to 'turn' as it didn't even get close to a 'firing' sequence.

i checked the fuses but there's only a couple that have to do with starting the car. I didn't have a toolkit handy and getting those 17 year old relais out is tough with bare hands. Not to self, next time bring pliers.

has enyone experienced this before? (not me). almost fuel starved. I had the battery disconnected all winter since mid-November & never touched it since. I tried the headlamp motor and they work fine as a power test.

many relais are marked '53' and upon inspection of the EuroSelect (or Porsche parts book), p/n 141 951 253B is quite common.

also FYI, the defroster relais can be swapped for a faulty ignition system relais on a 87/88 model!

_av
928s
1986.5

Rich9928p

This sounds like a simple case of an undercharged battery. Charge the battery up and you should be rolling.

Shane

Bad or low battery, just had this happen last month on Helmut.

type_928

Ditto on the undercharged battery. Disconnect battery, recharge and then retry.

Jay Wellwood

If it is a newer Battery - you MAY be SOL...the newer Batteries are less forgiving when they are initially run down from taking a charge.

Ask me how I know this!

Neil Warwick

Had the defrost relay stick and drain my battery overnight last year. Same scenario in am; fortunately I have a spare battery, which I kep charged. In Australia we can drive our sharks all year so we don't usually have your problem, however, I keep a hydrometer, voltmeter and a bottle of water with the charger.

Enjoy yhe summer!

hyphen

well, I charged the battery for 24 hours & popped it in. The engine started to crank (did not fire) then a ticking sound coming from the fuse panel.

I thought maybe relais was damaged or expired. After checking the fuse/relais guide, I pulled out the one's most likely to be involved with engine start & see if any felt 'warm'. No such luck

I tried again to get it started & the car looked like a classic case of low battery, incabin lights turning on & off, cranking noise, no firing, a wah-wah -wah -wah & this incessant tick-tick-tick-tick coming from what seemed to be forward of the fuse panel.

The battery is a Porsche Dealer battery I got about 2 years ago & this was the first time i'd charged it. The guage on the charge showed it at 80% or so when I started to charge it.

The car was working fine before I put it away early for the Winter & I suspect maybe a moisture/corrosion type issue somewhere. Next move?

_av
928s
1986.5

Shane

Clean your grounds and have someone looks at that battery. I've seen batteries before that charge up fine but don't have enough cranking amps to get the car going. Could still be that you need a new battery, but check and clean all your grounding (earth) points.

Jim bailey - 928 International

If as you say "The battery is a Porsche Dealer battery I got about 2 years ago " My guess is it has failed. Take it to a parts store for a load test . The Porsche batteries sometimes have spent a long time on the shelf . Also check the connections at the battery and the ground on the chassis .

Shane

Yeah what he said^.

SharkSkin

If you bought a battery 2 years ago with the intention of storing it, you should have bought the battery and the electrolyte separately. You can store a battery almost indefinitely if it's dry, never had acid added to it. If you bought the battery with electrolyte added, and never performed any charging/maintenance, it's probably toast.

Randy V

Battery is toast. Take it to the auto parts store for a load test to confirm, then buy a new one.

hyphen

SharkSkin, I had no plans of storing the battery after purchasing it. Had to store for the winter in fear of road salt damage to the shark.
_av
toronto

Garth S

Hi Hyphen,
As everyone said, most likely an undercharged or dying battery. I know the problems of winter storage all too well, as do most in the salt and snow belt.
While a battery will give 5-7 years service in a daily driver, irregular use literally kills them. I've tried many things: constant trickle charge, weekly charge up, disconnect the ground strap, removal of the battery to warm storage is a series of increasingly improved results. Still, 4 years is about max - and with the battery left in the car and disconnected, 2 years is below avg. but not unusual.
The battery will appear to take a charge, but assumes what is referred to as a 'surface charge': It will read @ ~12.5v, but have lost the amperage output required: The test referred to is for cold cranking amps (CCA), and should be in the 800 range. A local NAPA/Cdn Tire will test as a freeby.
Assure yourself the battery is strong before tearing into the fuse panel.

Nathan Valles

I'll open this to the experts, but is there any reason not to hook up a second battery by using a set of jumper cables, same as when you need a jump. Should remove any question about battery strength and capacity by having 2 batteries hooked up to the car.