Engine locked on start up. Need help! First Porsche ever, new owner!

[SirHiss05]

1999 996 Carrera with 6 speed. Owned car for less than a month, first Porsche ever. Many recent upgrades and low miles on fresh built engine.

 

Started and drove car early this morning. Starter was weak when I purchased car 4 weeks ago. Just replaced starter 1 week ago with reman unit. Better but still hard to start when warm. Occasionally have to roll start it when warm. No smoke, no sounds, no problems. Oil good and clean. Freshly built engine with many upgrades.

 

Went to crank car to go to work after having driven it to gym. Very sluggish turn over which it has been doing while warm. Cranked for maybe 2 revolutions, didn't catch, heard a pop sound and everything locked up. Tried to roll start it and it just slid the rear tires when I popped the clutch in 2nd, did not spin engine. Starter does nothing, doesn't move the engine. Nothing moving. Is it possible that there was a bad starter failure that locked up engine? Again, this is a low miles (less than 10k), fresh engine from UFO motorsports. New upgraded bearings and many other upgrades including new 3.6L crank, over bore Nickies cyl, JE pistons, upgraded valve springs and head work plus many others. Please help!

[DBJoe996]

I see you posted here as well as Rennlist.  I posted my comments there.  The starter bendix is stuck on the flywheel.  Remove the starter and get a brand new Bosch starter.  Also, you didn't mention in either post whether the battery has been tested or how old it is.  Sluggish/weak starting can be attributed to a bad battery, bad Y-cable, corroded ground connector on the engine.  Check those as well.

[SirHiss05]

Hey Joe. Thanks for the reply at both places! The battery is new, replaced it when I purchased car 1 month ago. Checked the ground connection and its good as well, clean and no corrosion, same as the rest of all connectors. I will definitely replace the Y cable. Hows the difficulty on that job? Anything weird I should be aware of or pretty straight forward?

[DBJoe996]

Not very difficult if you are already digging in there to remove the starter.  See Part No. 21 in this diagram:http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-parts/hardparts.php?dir=996-99-05&section=902-05

 

Good discussion on Y Cable replacementhttp://rennlist.com/forums/996-forum/870715-alternator-starter-cable-replacement-simplified.html

Edited October 22, 2016 by DBJoe996

[SirHiss05]

Ok update finally here:

 

Starter suffered a complete failure. It jammed the flywheel. Fortunately I kept the old starter rather than get the core charge. So, I greased the old starter, removed the failed starter, inspected the flywheel for any damage and reinstalled the old one. Started and runs fine. Thanks for all the great tips and help!

[Schnell Gelb]

It would be wise to follow previous advice to examine the "Y" cable, check for corrosion when the insulation is peeled back on the main cables at the battery.