Hello.

I'm experiencing an intermittent problem when starting my 997.1 Turbo (manual, but I doubt that's relevant here). Every 3-4 starts it will turn over but not catch, and when it fails to catch, it stops. Every time this happens, it starts fine on the second try.

Only 23K miles, and I already did plugs (colder, forget which ones) and coils. Car has the EVOMsit flash and Fabspeed "Quiet" exhaust - no other mods.

Haven't been able to identify any sort of pattern. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Chris

 

I had this issue last year as well. It occurred after a bunch of mods consisting of upgrading to an EVT700 from the EVT580 plus a new clutch and flywheel. I was told it was probably related to the gap distance between the flywheel and a crank position sensor. If incorrectly gapped it will sometimes fail to turn over I guess. After 'regapping' it still did it once in a while. Oddly enough, changing out my battery seemed to make it better. My car ended up throwing a connecting rod bearing and I had a full engine rebuild. I also went back to the OEM flywheel during the rebuild. When I got the car back it has been perfect. I mentioned to my guy (new shop) to recheck the gap while doing the flywheel.

 

Thanks Seattle.

I have an EVOMsit flash, but no clutch work yet (that's coming though, slippage). As far as I know (one previous owner - leased it - 20K miles when purchased) the clutch and flywheel are original. So I guess when I get the upgraded clutch and lightweight flywheel, I will ask the shop to make certain the crank position sensor and flywheel are "gapped" properly. Just FYI, my perf shop recommended the Evolution Stage 2 RS-ST Lightweight ClubSport package. I suspect you are beyond that ;-).

My concern was getting stuck somewhere - in other threads, I have seen the battery mentioned as a possible cause...even though it cranks very strongly. I actually need to look at that and see if it's still OEM - if so, that ought to be changed anyway (it's a 2008).

Chris

 

I started with a Clutchmaster's Stage 3 (8-puck, I believe) w/ LWFW. HATED that clutch but it came with the car. Ended up going with a Sachs Stage 2.5 w/ LWFW. Much nicer clutch for daily driving. However, I ended up hating the noise the LWFW made. I'm ok with noises but it was ridiculous, IMHO. The OEM flywheel on the Sachs Stage 2.5 was/is perfect.

 

I have this happen to me once in a while too and my car is a stock tip

 

Did you check the battery? Had that happen and it popped a message about the tip. Happened to have a need to call durametric and they send it was battery volts low. Topped off the battery and WALLA problem gone


Wait you did colder plugs and coil? Why

 

How long have you had the battery? This happened to me about 2-3 years ago. About half a dozen times...and then...bam. Battery was dead. Replaced the battery and everything seemed to be fine.

I also have the EVOMS 775 kit, but I think that may be unrelated.

 

Thanks all.

I think the battery is OEM, so that's probably it. My friend with an '07 997tt had the same issue, and the battery replacement seems to have fixed it.

WRT the question about plugs and coils from a previous reply - I had the shop do the colder plugs and coils when I did the ECU flash - colder plugs to handle the increased boost - and since it takes like, 6 hours of labor to do the plugs on a 997tt, I asked that they do the coils "as long as they were in there". I had read that coils can be an issue in these cars, due to their location, and (again) I was going to be running higher boost.

 

Had this on mine at 30,000 miles.
I would describ it as being a 'lazy' starter motor.
Car had recently had a new battery, thought it then maybe the earth strap.
Porsche fitted a new starter under warranty and it has been fine ever since..
18 months and circa 15000 miles

Edited to add : I certainly noticed straight away how quickly the starter motor spun up after the change.

 

Thanks Scrogger ;-)

Pardon my ignorance, but what is an "earth strap"?

 

Think it is known as a ground strap in USA.
Strap from battery bolted on to car body, have been known to cause problems on 997s so I was told.