924Board.org

nazcalito · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 8

I put a new starter motor in a 1979 924. Problem was not resolved.

Problem. I turn the ignition and a lot of the time, the car starts up just fine. Every so often, though, the starter motor goes <CLICK!> <CLICK!> <CLICK!>... and won't start.

How to resolve the <CLICK!> <CLICK!> <CLICK!>... I roll the car forward on a slight incline, get in, put it in gear, and pop the clutch. Even if that doesn't push start the car, when I turn the key again, it goes <WHIRR--RMMM...> that is, it starts up just fine.

This works for a while and then I get the <CLICK!> <CLICK!> <CLICK!>... again.

I once had an old MG that had this problem once in a while. The Haynes manual said it was a defective design where the starter motor gear got stuck in the flywheel, and to resolve it, I was supposed to put it in gear and rock it by pushing on the back bumper until the starter motor gear popped out, or push start it, which would accomplish the same thing. I have tried putting the 924 in gear and rocking it, but I can't get the gear to pop out if that is what the trouble is.

It acts like the starter motor gear is sticking, but what else would cause this?

Paul · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:53 am Post subject:

Assuming the new starter is good, there are only a few other things to look at:

Battery
Battery cables (especially the one from the battery to the starter).
Ignition switch
Starter grounding
Damaged ring gear
_________________
White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

Min · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:19 am Post subject:

Also the white connector on the firewall that has the wiring for the starter in it. Tends to corrode and cuase this behavior, I had this exact issue for awhile, my fix for it was to bypass the white connector with a jumper wire firing up the starter for a moment or two, this would allow it to fire up properly with the key. Eventually it failed completely and I had to bypass the white connector on the firewall. Ended up cutting it out and replacing it with spade connectors.

Min
_________________
Custom means it didn't come from a box.
1980 n/a with EDIS and Megasquirt II Injection. 7 different colors and counting.

Mike924 · Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 2601 Location: IoW UK