mattpatin

I'm new to rennlist. It looks like a very informative site. My 1999 996 is slow to turn over after I drive it a bit. It starts well in the morning, but then will start sluggish if I drive it for just 30 minutes. It's not the battery. Anyone had this problem? It seems weird that it's sluggish when the engine is warmed up. Any ideas as to what it is? My only thought is that it's the starter. Thanks. Matt

Shark Attack

Miles/ year would be of help.

Mine does this. I blame the starter at 135,000 mine is prolly tired.
But I have heard they go bad at any given time. Mine always sounds kinda lazy actually. But when the car is warm it is a tad slower to turn the car over.

dennis hiip

I had this problem and completely checked out the electrical system. The weak link was the battery so I replaced it. Problem greatly improved but then after a period of time the starter again dragged intermittently when warm. I replaced the starter. That was the problem.

joelpirela

The problem is the positive cable that goes from the middle of the transmission to the starter/alternator. An over-crimped connection from the factory makes the cable transfer less electricity once it gets hot from the engine bay. I'm testing now to replace my cable with the 997 version to see if I can get rid of the slow start. My alternator/starter/battery are new and the problem still persist. You will get better start once they replace the starter, because the new/fresh connection to the cable, but it will degrade with time again.

joel

TRT41

+1 had the same problem, replaced the cable, solved.

mattpatin

Thanks very much to all for the information! The car has 65k miles, but I'd assume the starter could go bad at any time.

Matt

speed rII

My starter went out of business at 51k miles....

Macster

And both of my cars have their original starters. One has over 244K miles on it and the other around 68K miles.

In the OP's case I suspect the battery. My 03 Turbo exhibited the same slow to crank symptom just a bit slower than normal too and I took the car in. CPO car. The Porsche tech checked the battery first thing in the AM and it checked out ok but he checked it later in the day -- after about 6 hours of the car just sitting -- and the battery had lost some power, considerable power.

A new battery had the engine cranking right over and starting right up, cold or hot.

I know starters fail but it just occurred to me I've replaced more batteries in my Porsches (1 in the Boxster and 1 in the Turbo) than starters. Two batteries. Zero starters.

Sincerely,

Macster.

911mike99

. Mine does it to. 11.3 compression is lot for the battery. Just make sure your battery is full charge when you go out and you should be ok.

Mark I

Suggestions. Many of the auto parts places test battery under induced load and decent alternater analysis free of charge. Check connections including ground connection. Once those influences are eliminated, its almost sure to be the starter (not unique to Porsche). Hot engine tired starter is common. Finding a capable wrench to replace faulty component(s) - might be preferable to a rebuilt unit. If it's approaching the doubtful phase, fix it...peace of mind vs. $. Good luck with remedy!

Macster

Compression doesn't really matter all that much. The cost in energy to compress the charge in the combustion chamber is almost completely recovered by the initial spring back/push back from this compressed charge and then there's the additional push of the charge when it burns.

(Those of us that have experience kick starting motorcycle engines can attest to the pushback from the pressure of the compression stroke even when the charge isn't burning. Give a motorcycle engine of any size (a 500cc 4-stroke for instance) kickstart lever a half-hearted kick and when the thing kicks back.. oh my!)

The starter motor is geared way down too. The gear wheel the starter motor gear engages is the flywheel which is 'huge'. The starter gear by comparison is a tiny pinion gear a bit larger in (pitch) diameter than the starter motor shaft. The starter as a huge mechanical advantage. The downside is the engine turns not very fast. The upside is the engine doesn't need to turn very fast to start and begin running.

Sincerely,

Macster.

logray

Had the same problem.

Replacing the cable from the starter to the alternator to the positive lead in the engine bay fixed it.


http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic/31797-strange-low-voltage-problems

Kazual99

Ok the slow starting when warm has become very frustrating. To date I’ve installed another new battery bringing the total to two batteries in two years. I’ve had the electrical system checked by two service departments and I’ve pulled the starter and alternator off the car and had them tested individually and everything past. The ground strap from the battery to car and the ground strap in the rear have zero corrosion and the starter wires in the engine are not corroded. The voltage readings taking at the battery and then at the starter are only off by less than .2volts using a Fluke meter for testing.
To say the least…I’m confused at this point. One theory I have is the starter once “heat soaked” by the engine loses its ability to perform.
I’m open to trying anything at this point.

chsu74

Ground is negative not positive. I have no issues with my starter when hot with 100K+ miles.

Kazual99

So I mistyped, my bad. This issue excluding the typo (negative vs positive ) is still the same, and several searches on this forum and renntech point to a few possibilities that include the starter as a possible fault.

Any suggestions CHSU74 you have are greatly welcomed. Even speculative banter is welcome