slow turnover

[Wild Bill]

When I have been running my car 1997 986 and it is at running temp when I turn it off and start it again it has a slow turn over but starts. It seems like the battery is weak I had the battery alternator checked and they said it was fine. One other thing intermittent starter sticking and making nasty sound. Can I just take starter out and lubricate it, and what type of lubrication would you use?

[flaps10]

Battery "checked" means what? In most cases a check from a gas station "tester" might show enough voltage, but wont show the field collapsing once a (real) load is placed on it. Last time that happened to me it was on a motorcycle road trip with my oldest son. His headlight was bright but the bike wouldnt crank.

Hit it with the cables from a road crew and it spun right over. Back tracked to the nearest town and got him a new one. Fixed.

Try jumping it with a healthy car and let us know if there's any change. I don't know if any " lube this spot" fixes for the boxster starter, sorry. Its enough of a job that if i had it out, i would be freshening it up.

[healthservices]

Check your cables especially the ground from the engine to the chassis

[healthservices]

This is how important grounds are. Look at this infiniti...



two attachment points for the engine ground...



at each end...

[Wild Bill]

Thanks I will do that!!

[NewArt]

I disassembled my starter to clean and relubricate it. I had the sticking that you described and this cured it 100%. Not a dificult job..

[san rensho]

If you are absolutely sure the battery is good, then the symptoms you describe, slow cranking when hot is exactly what I had when my starter started to fail.

Reman Bosch starter is very cheap and pretty easy to install.

[Jamesp]

+1 on all the posts below. There appears to be a high electrical resistance in the circuit. Could be in the high amperage cables as HS has indicated or it could be in the starter itself. The only way to figure that out is to freshen up each item in the system. I'd start with the cable connections and then move to the starter. The cables are easier and cheaper. Check for corrosion on the outside of the cable connector fitting and on the inside where the fitting is swaged to the electrical cable. If the cables check out the starter is the next suspect.

[thstone]

I had a similar situation and went ahead and replaced pretty much everything so I'd never have to worry about it again; replaced the starter, alternator, start/alt/battery cable, and the ground cable. While I was in there, also replaced the belt, idler pulleys and the tensioner pulley.

Since I DIY'd all of this, the total parts bill was about equal to that of having a shop replace only the starter.

Should be good for another 15 years.