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Update - After cleaning the current bolt up and noticing a little more grunt out of the starter but still not what I would expect I replaced the starter this weekend. Oh and I still need to check to see if the voltage drop the dealer reported still exist. Based on my results I think it probably doesn't.
Friday afternoon I removed the old starter. Intimidating at first but pretty easy once you do it. My new starter came Sat afternoon and in my excitement to install it and put everything back together I didn't get a good seal on the rear manifold. Car would start really rough but once it adjusted and warmed up would settle down and idle just fine. Figured I had messed up good this time.
After sleeping on it I put two and two together. If there was no check engine and car would eventually run I figure it must be simple and air leakage based. Af first I thought I might have busted up some sensor and was in for a big bill at the dealer. I embarked on removing the throttle body and both tubes in the manifold again. This time though I took my time and made sure everything was put back together perfectly. This all went really fast as most of these projects do once you've done them before.
So for now it looks like I save $2100 over what the dealer was asking to replace the whole harness from battery to starter. New starter is powerful and car turns over and fires up fast. Not bad for a simple cleaning of the battery to firewall cable and current post, and a starter for $120. If anything else changes I'll update post.
Oh I wish I knew where I could donate my started for a core rebuild.
So your still maintaining that this electrical terminal post that goes through the front firewall still contributed a lot to resolving the infamous hot restart issue in the 997.1 cars?
Update - After cleaning the current bolt up and noticing a little more grunt out of the starter but still not what I would expect I replaced the starter this weekend. Oh and I still need to check to see if the voltage drop the dealer reported still exist. Based on my results I think it probably doesn't.
Friday afternoon I removed the old starter. Intimidating at first but pretty easy once you do it. My new starter came Sat afternoon and in my excitement to install it and put everything back together I didn't get a good seal on the rear manifold. Car would start really rough but once it adjusted and warmed up would settle down and idle just fine. Figured I had messed up good this time.
After sleeping on it I put two and two together. If there was no check engine and car would eventually run I figure it must be simple and air leakage based. Af first I thought I might have busted up some sensor and was in for a big bill at the dealer. I embarked on removing the throttle body and both tubes in the manifold again. This time though I took my time and made sure everything was put back together perfectly. This all went really fast as most of these projects do once you've done them before.
So for now it looks like I save $2100 over what the dealer was asking to replace the whole harness from battery to starter. New starter is powerful and car turns over and fires up fast. Not bad for a simple cleaning of the battery to firewall cable and current post, and a starter for $120. If anything else changes I'll update post.
Oh I wish I knew where I could donate my started for a core rebuild.
So your still maintaining that this electrical terminal post that goes through the front firewall still contributed a lot to resolving the infamous hot restart issue in the 997.1 cars?
I can't say for sure without checking the voltage drop, and well assuming the dealership actually saw it too. They said they did but I don't have proof.
Clearly I needed a new starter, however as I indicated after cleaning up the 'current' PIN I had already noticed an improvement. For $120.00 with shipping well worth giving it a go is my view. Will the starter last I donno, it seems to be good quality. I used the same one from EBay that another gentleman on the forum used.
I'll report back after driving in hot weather and starting and stopping a bunch. Right now the car is on trickle charger at night. I'll not do that tonight and see what happens too.
OK - so my inexpensive solution to the bad firewall pin has been successful. Cost me about $35.00 but it all depends on if you can find the used parts. I grabbed a power distribution box from a 996 on eBay for $20 shipped. Most cost more, but I made an offer and it was accepted. I also used a 996 battery cable- which I got for $15 on eBay. Other options on that could be a generic, or cut off the end of the 997/987 slip fit connector and put on a bolt on type connector. The 996 battery cable is shorter than the 997/987 one, but it fit for me. I have an H6 battery- if you have a smaller one you could have issues.
The other issue with the power cable is that the OEM 997/987 cable has a wire that goes off someplace that is connected into the slip fit connector. I believe that the kit from Porsche includes a simple crimp connector for it, which is what I used... so it was not really an issue. Just something to be aware of.
Ill share my experience. This was done on a 2006 Cayman S. This should work on 997, 997.2, 987, 987.2 - but this is intended as a reference. I am not a mechanic, if you break your car you are on your own.
OK - so what did I do;
Parts list;
996 Power distribution block, part number 996.610.301.00
996 Positive battery terminal connector, Part number 996.612.090.00
1 ring terminal connector
dielectric grease
1 bandaid for my hand
1) Really a very simple task. When you get the 996 box, take the pin out of it. it comes right out once you take the nut off it on the inside.
2) Pull your Power distro box out... if you can't figure it out you shouldn't be working on your Porsche. Its very easy. The tip someone said about pulling the carpet down really makes it very easy.
3) remove the old pin, and put the new pin in the old box. Inspect the old box. Ive read that they can get corroded internally too. If they are bad- replace it. I put dielectric grease on the replacement pin - but may not be needed. its not present from the factory.
4) Put it back where it belongs! And attach the new battery cable, and crimp the connector onto the single wire that needs to now be connected at the firewall side of the block. Why did they do this?
Clean your drains while your in that area!!!
Now- I've tested my for half a day. Its a HUGE improvement. My car would turn SO slow after it was warm. Ive started it over and over and over. So far I am pretty happy with my $35.00 investment.
I gave my current bolt a clean up on the weekend was amazed at the surface rust that was on it considering the car is real garage queen and not a daily driver ,,,,didn,t remove the bolt just removed the positive cable from the battery and clean the current bolt with some steel wool and wiped it clean with some rust remover ,,refitted every thing ,,,,,and yes it makes a difference on the hot starts ...........I think this is something most 997 owners need to do considering some cars like mine are 10 years old know ,,,even the the cars with low mileage and weekend use need a look over ,,,the current bolts get surface rust and need a clean ......
This is my first post here. I have been reading a lot and learning about my car from all of you.
I picked up my 05 C2S (my first Porsche ) in November and have been chasing my hot start issue for the last couple of months.
I tried the starter cable, starter, and new battery with no success.
I finally replaced the +battery cable and the current bolt in the power distributor and my car now starts perfectly every time.
997-610-916-00 (current bolt repair kit)
997-612-908-01 (cable loom repair kit)
Now to move on to my PASM Failure that I got after 2 months with brand new b16 damptronics. Any thoughts on this?
Here is the old current bolt. The +batt cable had just as much corrosion around the crimped connection.
Great find. Bookmarked to revisit when I have a free weekend.
Gents - great article. I saw this a few months ago and knew I would need it at some point in the future.
I've had a slight slow crank since I got the car but not pronounced enough to really be noticeable, and it made no difference wether cold or hot crank. However I ran my battery down a few weeks ago testing a new bluetooth module and its now a bit more noticeable.
I suspected it might be my battery so I finally tested it yesterday and it was at 12.2 V engine off and 13.2V with engine on. I read 12.5V was normal with engine off, and 14V+ was normal with engine on. It looks like I have resistance somewhere decreasing alternator output. Im not sure what the 12.2 means re the battery health. Bad battery or low charge?
I charged it last night so we will see what the reading is today. I assume that will improve it in the short term but eventually need to track down the low output on the alternator. Im speculating it might be this bolt because in the prior owner's service records there was an incident a few years ago where the battery blew up and they had to clean the battery tray. I suspect the bolt might have corroded.
I didn't couldn't see from above where this bolt was located. Do I remove the battery and its somewhere under the tray?
After charging overnight my battery went from 12.2 to 12.9V with engine off. Starts much stronger. I dont think this fully solved the problem but will see how long it lasts. I will check the bolt this weekend.
Yeh give it a clean ,,,it made a difference on my car and as I mentioned above my car has always been a Garage queen and there was a quite a bit of surface rust on the current bolt ,,,Little elbow work to remove the surface rust has made a huge difference ,,,obviously after 10 years this is a component on the car that requires a little attention and it is an easy DIY
After charging overnight my battery went from 12.2 to 12.9V with engine off. Starts much stronger. I dont think this fully solved the problem but will see how long it lasts. I will check the bolt this weekend.
see if it holds the charge here is a quick voltage chart to determine charge level
09-18-2017, 01:09 AM
