porsche 996 hard to start when warm

[marksawtell]

hi there, thanks for any help in advance!

From cold, the car starts easily. if Ive been driving for a while and the car is at normal running temperature and I stop, when i go to start the engine again it barely turns over. if i turn the key again 5 seconds later, it also struggles turning over, by the third time it starts.

I thought possibly its the battery but surely this would be worse at a cold start??

Any help will be appreciated :-)

[Loren]

So you are saying the starter turns more slowly when warm?

[logray]

If what Loren says is correct, I had the same problem.

Of course, check the battery and starter (and perhaps alternator).

In my case it was the positive battery cable that goes from the starter to the alternator to positive jump point on the engine. The cable was very badly corroded.

[Noelinc]

You are lucky to have easy access to that engine.

Had the same issue with a 986 Boxster.

After an hour of understanding how to access the engine, I looked at the rotor in the ignition system. And it was bad.

At the same time, I've changed the coil ignition pack, the alternator and the sparkplugs.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Noelinc

[1schoir]

Mark:

The particular type of difficult starting that you describe is often a result of loose or corroded connections between the starter and the battery and/or ground.

Verify that all of the connections are tight there and also verify that your battery connections are tight and secure at the terminal posts and that the negative cable also has a good, secure ground.

Regards, Maurice.

[marksawtell]

So you are saying the starter turns more slowly when warm?

yes that is correct. I havent had time to get underneath to check what the other guys have said about checking the connection to the starter motor. I checked the battery and both connections were good. Sorry ive taken a while to respond, ive not been near a computer...

[molds55]

Please keep it going guys, my 1999 996 cab is doing the exact same thing. If you fix it, please post the remedy.

[logray]

The common solutions are above in this thread but I'll summarize again.

1. Low battery ((remove and have bench tested at auto parts store for free)

2. Failing starter (remove and have bench tested at auto parts store for free)

3. Failing alternernator (remove and have bench tested at auto parts store for free)

4. Corroded wiring:

a.) ground straps from engine to chassis or battery to chassis (inexpensive easy to replace parts)

b.) positive lead from starter to alternator to jump point in engine bay (inexpensive but more difficult to replace)

5. Failing sensor such as flywheel position sensor

In my case it was 4b, and this seems to be fairly common problem if you've eliminated the other possibilities.

[white99c2]

in my car it turned out to be he starter.

[Chris_C]

Please keep it going guys, my 1999 996 cab is doing the exact same thing. If you fix it, please post the remedy.

On my 2000 C2 I had a really rough time starting when it was hot. Everything sounded healthy, it would just never "Catch" ; No check engine light or anything.... So I decided to bite the bullet and purchase durametric's software/hardware. It found a recorded fault - which i cleared and waited untill it happened again. Sure enough it was there again after the next failed starting attempt... Crank position sensor was toast - so i would add that to the check list if you havent solved it yet :)

Chris