When used in short errands trip, car won't turn sometimes it takes

[J_STATUS]

When I use my 996.1 for short drive to the stores and stop here and there.... once I try to turn it on it won't crank over the first try.... until 2-3 times of retry then it starts.

What could be causing this problem?

I just changed the battery but I don't drive the car often. Could this be that the battery is draining slowly due to non active?

It's a pain in the *** and sometimes embarrassing when people are near by and hears it won't start.

[Silver_TT]

If you don't drive the car often I would recommend keeping it hooked up to a battery maintainer.

Your battery is running down on charge or isn't being charged back up which is why it manifests itself on short trips. If the maintainer doesn't do the trick it's either the battery, cables, or alternator.

Edited December 26, 2012 by ferrugia

[Ahsai]

Try to jump the clutch switch next time if it's a stick shift.

[J_STATUS]

Thanks guys for the input. I am now using the trickle charge at 2amps over night....

[J_STATUS]

Try to jump the clutch switch next time if it's a stick shift.

I don't exactly know what you mean by that... What is clutch swtich? I do have the 6 speed.

[Ahsai]

Number 16 in this diagram. Very common problem. Car would not crank until this switch is activated by depressing the clutch pedal fully. http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic/29196-clutch-switch-what-functions-are-they/?hl=%2Bclutch+%2Bswitch

This switch fails sometimes. The other suspect would be the ignition switch itself.

[Silver_TT]

If you have a maintainer and you're leaving it hooked up then this problem shoudln't have anything to do with not driving the car often. If it was the clutch switch, the starter wouldn't be trying to turn over the engine. In other words, I interpreted your message to say that it's slow to turn over, not that the car doesn't try to turn over the engine on start. This recently happened to me and it turned out that it was my altnernator. I had Autozone test the alternator and they said it was fine, but it turned out that it was only charging at higher RPMs, not lower RPMs and therefore short trips like you are describing would drain my battery quick. Since you have a new battery I would have your alternator looked at. They can usually test it without taking it out of the engine. Don't neglect the possibility that the wiring harness from the alternator to the starter may need to be repalced as well. These are known to go bad and cause resistance in the 996 and earlier 997s.

Edited December 26, 2012 by ferrugia

[Ahsai]

If you have a maintainer and you're leaving it hooked up then this problem shoudln't have anything to do with not driving the car often. If it was the clutch switch, the starter wouldn't be trying to turn over the engine. In other words, I interpreted your message to say that it's slow to turn over, not that the car doesn't try to turn over the engine on start. This recently happened to me and it turned out that it was my altnernator. I had Autozone test the alternator and they said it was fine, but it turned out that it was only charging at higher RPMs, not lower RPMs and therefore short trips like you are describing would drain my battery quick. Since you have a new battery I would have your alternator looked at. They can usually test it without taking it out of the engine. Don't neglect the possibility that the wiring harness from the alternator to the starter may need to be repalced as well. These are known to go bad and cause resistance in the 996 and earlier 997s.

Agreed. My bad, I thought he meant the engine did not even try to turn. In addition to what you mentioned, the only thing I can think of is some parasitic drain. The voltmeter should read ~14v when the car is just started. It stays between 13-14v when driving regardless of rpm. If yours reads lower, your alternator is failing or you have bad wiring.

[J_STATUS]

Thanks guys very helpful tips. I will go ahead and get my alternator tested.

[J_STATUS]

the clutch swtich wouldn't make sense if my car starts for the first time at cold start correct? It only happens on short trips...

[Silver_TT]

Not unless you think your clutch switch only works on a cold engine :)

Again, I would:

1. If you have a Durametric I would see if there are any error codes.

2. Have the battery tested first (even if it is new). There is no limit to the weird problems that can happen if your battery isn't 100% working properly.

3. If the battery checks out, have the alternator tested and also check the resistance at each point along the wiring harness from the alternator to the starter. This can be done without taking the alternator out of the car and it should take literally under 10 minutes.

[txhokie4life]

CPS

has issues when it gets hot -- eventually fails altogether.

Mike

[Silver_TT]

If it was the clutch switch or the ignition it wouldn't be slow to turn over..... it wouldn't try to start.

[J_STATUS]

CPS cam position sensor?

[txhokie4life]

Sorry -- CPS -- crank position sensor.

If the DME doesn't get the right readings -- you won't get spark. Fuel pump might not run either (but I'm not 100% sure of that)

Mike

[keytohwy]

CPS cam position sensor?

I'm in the Bay Area and have a durametric you can use, should you need it.

[J_STATUS]

Thanks guys for the input. keytohwy thanks man. I'm around Concord area so not to far from Benecia. I honestly do not know how to use durametric and what it is. I hear a lot about it....

[keytohwy]

Thanks guys for the input. keytohwy thanks man. I'm around Concord area so not to far from Benecia. I honestly do not know how to use durametric and what it is. I hear a lot about it....

It is new-ish to me as we'll. I got the pro version so I'm not limited to how many cars I can read, partly so I could help folks like you. Let me know...I'm around.

[J_STATUS]

It is new-ish to me as we'll. I got the pro version so I'm not limited to how many cars I can read, partly so I could help folks like you.Let me know...I'm around.

Thanks man. Some say it can't be my CPS because the car starts... if it was the CPS the car wouldn't start at all even on cold start.

[Loren]

Not true - I have seen CPS issues where the car will start intermittently.

Most often when the CPS is bad (or going bad) the car will not start when warm/hot.

I think you start with the electrical system first as a weak battery or poor ground is much more common.

[J_STATUS]

What about alternator?

[J_STATUS]

Listen guys... at cold start it starts fine and perfect... Then when I drive it for 5-10 miles then I shut it off and within about 10-20 mins being off when you try to start it, it won't start at first or second try, it's always the third time.

Now if after the 5-10 miles of drive I shut it off and with 30mins or more, it starts perfectly fine. I'm guessing the engine has already cooled off.

So it has something to do with engine being warm and trying to start while warm I hope this makes sense and help.

TIA!

Edited January 7, 2013 by J_STATUS

[logray]

This sounds exactly like a problem I faced, and in my case it turned out to be bad primary wires on top of the engine.

What solved this problem on my car was replacing the large main that goes from the alternator to starter to primary jump point in engine. That wire can become corroded, and is a well documented issue here and elsewhere.

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

Any improperly tightened primary battery wires can deplete/damage an electrical system's capabilities in short order.

ALSO clean contacts and/or replace the primary ground strap from the body to engine near the RHS rear wheel.

That being said, there are are many possible culprits.

Certainly on the top of the list would be battery, alternator, and regulator, as well as wiring.

[J_STATUS]

Thanks I will look into it.

[DBJoe996]

Have you considered a bad/old/faulty starter motor solenoid switch? When my car did this, started cold just fine, then after warm would take several hits before starting again, I replaced the starter/solenoid with a new unit and it never did that again. I did check out everything else from the key switch, battery, CPS, cables and grounds. If you have eliminated those possibilities, I would look into the starter/solenoid.