Steve 96C4S

Ok, I hear ya. Loud and clear, clear as a bell. So, I should just drive the car? Great idea actually. Rain, shmain. Snow, well, that's another story. I don't have snow tires and aren't dealing with getting those when my daily driver has all seasons but rain shouldn't be an excuse not to drive this car. I actually used my rarely used wipers yesterday to clear pollen off the windshield and they work , not great, but passably.

Grotesque floor? Oh crap... Maybe in the next year my project will be to get some guys over here to just do this epoxy coat after all. I want it... badly.

Steve

Dave Crellin

hate to be the bearer of a "hang on....."

I had exactly the same symptoms over the last 2 years, and in fact one of the reasons I've bought a new car is that the Murphy's and Macgillicuddy's stuff drove my wife to distrust the car when the non-start happened to her. I could jump start it each time and carried a portable jumper for a while. But that's not acceptable long term - shouldn't be needed.

I switched the alternator, starter, and put in 2 batteries, and each time it started fine. then a few weeks/months later it happened again.

Of course the frustration was unpredictability. But finally it happened when it was in the shop, and diagnosed as a faulty starter relay.

My advice - switch that for a new one too. Steve - PM me if you want more details

Steve 96C4S

Thanks for this info on the faulty starter relay. If the car does this again, after driving it every day, then I will contact my indie about replacing that too.

I'll PM if this happens.

Regards,
Steve

henkinc

Steve - this is exactly what happened to me! The fix was a competent wrench who went in and sort of carefully pulled on the harness that connects the starter switch circuit in front of car to the way back that connects to the starter motor. Sometimes these harnesses get crimped and kinds short out inside, until carefully uncrimped. Anyway, 2 hours labor and has been fine since. NOW - if your car has the OLD harness that was replaced by factory under a recall, you might be able to get an entire replacement free. Here is info to see if you qualify for this, which is a REAL fix.

You can check the wire harness number which is on a label on the wire harness. Any wire harness part number ending in .00, .01, .04, .05, .06, .07, .08 and .80 is a defective harness. Mine ended in .08 and had to be replaced. Open your engine compartment and look to the left. You will see the black plastic relay cover on the far left. Looks like a black triangle. Remove the three screws from the cover and remove the cover. Now you have an open view of the start of the wiring harness. Part number starts with 993.607.016 and ends with 2 numbers mentioned above. If the label is facing away from you and you can't read it, move a mirror of some type underneath the harness to verify the part number. My part number was 993.607.016.08. If your harness has one of these numbers, I would take it to your nearest Porsche dealer and ask for the W301 Service campaign to fix it at their cost. Parts and labor are very expensive...Good luck-

Steve 96C4S

To henkinc,

Thanks for this info. This is extremely helpful and I will check it tonight if I could ever stop... working! It's our busiest time of year, but I'll tell ya, driving the 993 all day today was a blast. It kind of barely started a few times, pretty weird. Something is amiss, for sure.

Steve

kilodawg

Resurrecting this thread just to document another case exactly like Steve 96C4S experienced a few years ago. Rennlist comes thru again in helping to diagnose a problem and save me money.

This morning I got up early to wash and glaze the car. Backed it out of the garage and she started just fine. A couple of hours later when done I went to start it up. All the interior lights and the fan came on as normal. I pressed the fob, the immobilizer light went off and then I went to start it and nothing..No crank, no sound just nothing.

I was concerned that my immobilizer might be acting up but I decided to take the battery and have it checked. It needed a charge but was indicating still good. I brought it back but there was only enough cranking power for one start and then nothing again. So a new battery later and all is well.

I did not expect a battery failure to occur like this but obviously this is a pattern for 993's. I think I'm going to start just replacing the battery as a standard maintenance task every three years. That way I am at least in control of things....

marcb993

Yep, every time this has happened to me, it was always the battery.. Even jump starting wouldn't work. Once I even melted a pair of jump start cables, which was an interesting sight.

Now I have a battery cut off switch. Whenever the car is not being used for more than a few days, I turn the switch into the off position and I have never had a problem since. Perfect if you don't want to or are unable to mess around with trickle chargers (for example in communal car parks).

The only drawbacks are needing to reset the clock and re-enter the radio code, and on my car at least, I need to disable the alarm siren, which begins to wail the moment the battery is disconnected (powered by its own auxiliary battery), provided the car was locked and alarmed when the power was cut.