Most of us are savvy enough to recognize a bad battery.

You get in in the morning and turn the key, and the engine turns over a little too slow to start her up. You try again, then after a second or two she starts up.



The problem persists. One day you go out to start her up and she cranks over, fails to start and cranks slower and slower until she won't turn over at all!

You get the tick, tick of the solenoid engaging and then silence.

Sounds like a battery, right? Wrong.



You check your voltage gauge, she says 12 and drops a little when you try to start her, but no turning over.

You get a jump from AAA ( thanks FLASH ) and she still does not turn over.



For a moment you think that it could be the alternator, so you check the battery and it's fine. You turn on the headlights and you get bright lights.

Battery is OK, alternator is doing the job; could it be the ignition switch?



You climb under and check voltage to the starter when a buddy tries to start her and you are getting 12 Volts, not the switch.



You call back AAA with a flatbed tow truck and take your 968 to your local PM.



Surprise, it is the starter motor!! It feels like a bad battery but alas it is tougher and more expensive than that. ( DON'T ASK ME HOW I KNOW )



This problem started up out of the blue and went about a week before it failed. If this has JUST happened to you, do not assume it is the battery. This could leave you high and dry if your 968 is your daily driver.

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Sounds like GSS (Gummy Starter Syndrome) to me. Dave and I have rebuild instructions here http://www.968forums.com/index.php?showtopic=71 .



Although Sunset sells remanufactured starters for ~ $100.



Changing and rebuilding are both fairly easy. The most difficult part is breaking loose the bolts that have been holding the electrical connections in place for the last ten years.

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Bruce,



Yes, it does sound like that. I read the post this past weekend and was on the way to performing the project next weekend. Good post with all the details, unfortunately she stopped working all together this morning at a client's studio.



A rebuilt will be here in the a.m. for my PM to install. As my daily driver I could not take the time to make this one a DIY.



I'll check the old part to see if it is the GSS, and post the result.

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The GSS fix is a stopgap measure. I eventually had to replace mine with a rebuilt unit as well. Since this is a Must see thread - it is muy importante that the bronze nose bushing in the bellhousing be changed as well. They usually come with a new starter.

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[quote name='SILVY968' date='Oct 17 2005, 09:51 PM']Most of us are savvy enough to recognize a bad battery.

....Surprise, it is the starter motor!! It feels like a bad battery but alas it is tougher and more expensive than that. ( DON'T ASK ME HOW I KNOW )[/quote]

It's not just on our 968's. I've had the experience a couple of times over the past few years on my other higher mileage japanese cars (Toyota Truck, Honda Accord). All these cars had a smaller, high-torque starter compared to the old American style starters. In all cases, the gears were gummed up with clutch dust. Hmm... I wonder if this is more common on manual transmission cars?

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PM installed new BOSCH starter today.

Was not GSS, just plain worn out after ten years.

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