Alan

Your explanation sounds reasonable enough - good luck with it staying fixed this time...

Failure of the starter to spin is never the stock alarm - if you think it is you are either deluded or you actually have a non-factory alarm... it just doesn't work that way - but the question comes up several time a year every year anyway.

Alan

SeanR

Been over that with John a few times. It's more fun to watch this instead of him ordering a rebuilt starter.

PC-85-928S

I had a similiar problem a few years ago.
Would drive fine, park at a location, go back out, turn key to nothing.
Interior lights still working, would not take a jump.
Ended up being a bad ground strap.
Strap looked fine, but under black plastic covering, it was green.
I figured it out by putting jumper cable on battery ground and the ground wing nut.

soontobered84

5+ years since I de-gunked the starter shaft and i have had exactly zero problems since. Just a follow-up post.

x98boardwell

Wow, great follow up... searching for what I think is the same reason. Are the holes easy to locate on the starter when on a lift, is it just the exposed hole by the gear area?

Thanks,
Bryan

Piper_GT3

Ok. here we go …… needle + haystack

I am experiencing exactly what post #18 explained. I have a 90 C4 that every 1 out of 25 starts, it just will not turn over. Basically the electrical acts like it is being vampired and just saps the system. It honestly sounds like chickens when the key is turned. Electrical saps in and out. Stereo, dome lights, and dash lights sap in and out (power draw)

this has been going on for like 3 years and at this point, it has to be a bad ground …… just have no idea which one and how to check them all???

ok, here is what I have done so far in the 3 years to trouble shoot.

1. tested all fuses, and DME all check out good. DME replaced with new

2. New Bosch starter

3. new ignition

4. new battery

typically if I push, or roll the car like 5-10ft it will fire right up. But no luck this time. Probably because it shifter the bad ground contact point when rolling the car.

The starter “clicks” when I turn the key all the way over, but wont fire. While the key is in and turned, power again (vampires) goes in and out …..

so, on the the bad ground. Pandoras box here ….. no one can seem to tell me where the F the ground points on the car are!!!! I believe the 964 has 5 ground connections to the chassis, but thats just passing info tid-bits from other threads over the years. Anyway ……. If anyone has a lead, I would absolutely love to get my car started so I can hear what my brand new fabspeed + fister exhaust actually sounds like!!!! I cant even fire up the car for the end of project payoff!!!! Lol . At least it died in my garage.

Alan

You will likely get much more relevant/accurate responses on a 964 forum. However in your place I would first swap the battery ground strap for a new one.

Alan