I noticed my car hesitated to start so the question is what would be the cause. It's a 6spd, clutch in, turn ignition, its churning but wont start right away then it'll start. Could the battery be running low, starter, coil pack going bad ?? I'm hoping it's just the battery?


TIA

 

Loads of info on the internet about this problem. From what I understand it could be a host of things.

1. the battery could be running low
2. alternator might not be charging the battery as well as it should (should be easy to verify this with a voltmeter between the alternator and battery)
3. Alternator cable degradation, causing a good alternator to not be able to charge well (apparently common-ish on 997 gen1)
4. Lazy starter

Mine has always been a lazy starter, but usually only when hot. From my research, this tends to put my likely cause as Option 3 above....

Good luck with solving the issue, and remember to post back when you know what caused/fixed the problem...

 

^^ Pretty much answers your question. Battery is easy to replaced, if it's old, you want a new one anyway, starter is a bit tricky to get to.

 

thanks,
guess I'll stop by Autozone & have them check the battery & go from there

 

Yes, start with the battery as it is the easiest item to diagnose. An alternator is also a good suggestion. The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that your alternator is indeed the cause of the problems with your charging system. Sometimes bizarre electrical problems can be caused by a number of faults other than the alternator. It's important to troubleshoot the system prior to replacing your alternator. Have them test your alternator. Here is a DIY with some info on it. Starter motors fail over time: it's just a fact of life. It may be that a starter motor is working fine one day and then all of a sudden dies the next day. Or, sometimes the motor gets weaker and weaker and turns the car over slower and slower. This is a possible sign that you should replace your starter motor as well. Here is a DIY on its replacement. Good luck and let us know what you find out!

-Luccia

 

I took the car to Autozone & have them checked the battery. He said it was only 50% charged. I guess it sat too long in their showroom. should I get it recharged or just buy a new one. I don't know how old it is. IF it does the same thing with the new one, I could rule out the battery. Here's what it look like. Does it look too small for this car? There's about 3" left on the tray. The one I bought for my old 996 was much bigger than this.

 

Size looks right, there should be a clamp on the left that holds the bottom of the battery down. I'd charge it and go from there. Do you keep your car locked? These cars use more power in standby with the doors unlocked. So keep it locked, even in your garage. Also if you don't drive your car frequently a battery charger is recommended as even locked they can drain.

Picture is a little blurry, but more importantly what's up with the rusty battery tray? I'd fix that while you're in there. There's supposed to be a vent line also, but I can't tell if your is missing? Maybe that's why it got all rusty.

Edit, I see the vent line is there. Maybe it was off at one time and drained acid onto the tray.

 

no, I never locked the doors when it's in the garage even on my old 996. Learned something new everyday bout the 997.
yeh it's the battery acid drained on the tray. I don't see any rust anywhere else. There's 2 more holes for the clamp bolt. I may go to a wider battery to fill up the gap. This one look like it belong on a civic.

 

You can go wider, but you'll need to do something about the nuts on the bottom as the wider location doesn't have them. The narrower location has tapped holes.

 

Most modern "maintenance-free" batteries no longer use a vent line or spew acid like that. I would ditch the battery just for doing that.

You also seem to misunderstand something about the battery. Your car's alternator should charge it back up to nearly 100% every time you drive any reasonable distance. If it is reading only 50% then either the battery is no longer capable of holding a proper charge or there is a problem with the alternator or the cable between the alternator and the battery.

Since it is clear to me you should ditch the battery for a quality modern one, that seems like the first course of action (as Pelican Parts recommends). While the battery is out, thoroughly cover any place you see that acid has touched/rusted with baking soda and gently rinse (try hard not to splash). You will see a lot of bubbling when it first gets wet as it reacts with the acid. Repeat several times until you see no more reaction from the soda (it doesn't bubble anymore). That will neutralize the remaining acid. Be sure to thoroughly rinse the bottom of the car as best you can. Also rinse any surface the washed-out solution touches since it will stain any surface it comes into contact with, especially concrete.

 

just go to Walmart and get H7 and be done with it...Personally id get some rust remover stuff and repaint with paint for battery trays.

 

I would do the same, take out the battery, take out the tray and clean it out, then replace it with a H7 from Walmart. I just recently replaces mine and my tray does not look like that.

 

If the battery doesn't fix it, check the alternator/starter cable and the ground wires in the engine compartment. If your battery tray looks like that I wouldn't be surprised to find the grounding points corroded and causing a bad start. I just had this issue, although mine turned out to be a loose cable going to the starter. It's a common issue that is often mis-diagnosed. The dealer I bought my car from thought it was the battery, too.

 

So I took the car to my indy to get a new battery, he charged it up 1st to make sure if its still good. Its at full crank amp when charged. The tech guy said he noticed the right brake light was on & that's what draining the battery. He then checked the right side makers & pulled out the bulb. The right brake light turned off & all good. He said there's could be something wrong with the side marker socket. I'm like what ?? I've never heard of that before. Now I get the "check right side marker" & "check right brake light" b/c of the bulb been removed, I get that. Anyone have this electrical issue ?? I don't want to put the side marker bulb back on till I know what's the culprit is. Do I really need a new side marker socket??

don't you just luv buying used & the gremlins start to come out after you took delivery.

 

Eh, it happens. If that's all you have to worry about I'd say you're good. My car's passenger seat doesn't move forward or back, the starter needed replacement (did that along with the IMS bearing), and I now have a bubble in one of my new PS2's thanks to all the road construction around here.