How Sensitive Is A Porsche Starter?
You may not know it but the modern Porsche starter has come a long way. What you use now is simply a masterpiece designed to make your driving experience exceptional. The concept behind it is simple though. It is designed to turn over or as many mchanics like to say, to ‘crank’ the engine so as to start it. It is made of a powerful direct current electric motor as well as the solenoid attached to the motor. To that extent, the design alone is simply something to marvel at. But that’s not all. Read on to learn more what makes your Porsche starter sensitive and unique.
Power
The Porsche starter is powered by a unique 12 volt battery. To crank the engine, the motor first needs ample supply of high electric current. That is exactly where the battery comes into the picture. It simply powers up the starter. It also ensures the starter has sufficient power. That explains why a weak battery will turn on the lights but will not turn over the starter.
The Solenoid
A typical Porsche starter solenoid has a small connector for the Porsche control wire. It also has two large terminals. There’s one for the thick wire which powers the starter motor, and the other for the positive battery cable.
The solenoid works just like an electric relay. Once activated via the control terminal, the solenoid automatically closes high electric current circuit. It then sends battery power straight to the starter motor. As this happens, the starter solenoid shifts a little so as to push the starter gear forward so as to mesh it with the flywheel or the engine flex plate.
The Concept
As aforementioned, the starter needs high electric current so as to crank the engine. That is in fact, why it is connected to the car battery with large or thick gauge cables. The negative cable connects to to negative terminal to the transmission or engine cylinder block, right next to the starter. The positive cable on the other hand connects the positive battery terminal with the starter solenoid. More often than not, poor or faulty connection at either end of the battery cable can easily cause the starter to fail. This is but one of the many reasons why your Porsche starter is sensitive.
How It Works
As soon as you turn the ignition key to START or as soon as you press the start button, the battery voltage runs through the starter control circuit and immediately activates the starter solenoid. This happens if the transmission is either in Neutral or Park position. The starter solenoid then powers the starter monitor. As this goes on, the solenoid pushes the starter gear slightly forward towards the engine flywheel in automatic transmission models or the flexplate in automatic transmission models. Note that the flywheel is attached to the engine crankshaft. So the starter spins and turns over the engine crankshaft. This powers up the engine and the car starts. In Porsche models with START button, the system simply disengages the starter immediately the engine starts running.