Matt Cooke

Thank you sir!

jreifler

Question re: starting. Every so often, my RSA will "miss" a start when the key is turned. 9 times out of 10, it starts instantly and without issue. But now and then, it seems to just "miss," and makes a little electrical whirring sound.

It never persists, and starts immediately on the second key turn after "resetting" by turning the key back a position.

I seem to recall my 3.2 doing this from time to time as well, but it seemed to coincide with having the AC on, and would start right up with AC off.

Car has zero other issues and runs incredibly well. This itself is not really an issue either; more of a curiosity to see if it's normal operating behavior.

Thanks!

Foxman

Sadly, there could be a new or rebuilt starter in your future.

jreifler

That's okay if that's the issue. I'm casually going through and refreshing everything on the car anyway, and (mostly) enjoying the process. Just finished all suspension bushings + Elephant parts + KWV3s + mounts, along with new body and door seals. Most obnoxious job so far was the MPL slave cylinder. Doing brakes and rotors this week.

Anything I should keep an eye out for that might hasten the need ? Will that non-start symptom just gradually worsen ?

jmesh

Dumb question, I hope. There's a slight wisp of clutch smell when I shift after having let a friend drive the car last week. He used to race cars but turns out to be terrible at shifting! Is this anything to worry about? The clutch still seems to work perfectly, no change in feel and shifts are crisp.

Foxman

It’s probably the starter’s bendix drive, and it will only get worse, particularly with hot starts.

jreifler

Well, on to the next one - Since it’s 115 outside today, stopped by my mechanic to recharge the AC. It was blowing cool air, but not cold, and not terribly strong. Car lived its life very sparingly used in the Northeast for the last 15+ years, so probably never really used the AC. Mechanic said it was damn near empty, so he filled and I left.

Within 10 minutes, I noticed a “drag” on acceleration on the interstate. Not really a stutter or dip in RPMs, but a distinct pulsing lag independent of engine speed, as if the motor was being overtaxed. It persisted at lower speeds, but vanished entirely with AC off. Also seemed to coincide with a sort of whining fan noise from the dash / frunk area. Drove it around for another hour experimenting, and it continued intermittently. It’s not doing it right now, but do we have any idea what the issue could be ?

Would a failing compressor tax the engine like that ? Never happened before - even with AC on full charge. Only just appeared today immediately after the AC was recharged.

bass 1

How can I determine if my front struts are blown? Normally, if a shock absorber rebounds very quickly when compressed it is obviously no good. The OEM front shocks removed from my 964 require decent force to compress, but then hold position and do not slowly extend. To me, this seems like they are shot... but thought I would check here first. Thanks for any input!

JohnK964

They are 30 plus years old 🤣 I took mine off removed springs and compressed them. 2 weeks later they were still compressed when I threw them in the trash.

edvc520

Two noob questions:

what is the purpose of a rear parcel shelf?

do our fog lights stay on once the ignition is on? Mine does and it seems weird as the fog light switch does nothing.

thanks in advance

s65e90

I mean it will never leave you stranded, you can always bump start a stick car.

s65e90

They're shot. They should be hard to compress and rebound right out.

cobalt

Shocks,

If they do not show significant need for force on compression and do not rebound quickly they are NG. I found most factory units (BOGE) were NG decades ago on cars with very few miles. My 94 turbo had 24k miles on it in 2003 when I swapped them out and they were NG.

Rear parcel shelf:

The US DoT required rear passenger seat safety. In order to pass DoT requirements for rear passenger restraints they either had to install belts and have them tested to the standards or Porsche chose to install the rear shelf so they wouldn't be categorized as a 2+2. Eliminating the need for rear seats, belts and testing.

Fog lights must have been rewired to come on with the ignition.

cjoenck

Your friend needs upgraded driving skills. If he terrible shifting, how did he do racing? Seriously, he probably reduced the clutch life a little but it's not fatal I assume, since the clutch doesn't slip. Just don't let him drive again.

jreifler

So, starter was indeed on its last leg. Has since been replaced. Now onto tracking down a misfire . . .