2009 Porsche Cayman

2009 Porsche Cayman - No Start Pawlik Automotive Podcast · Jun 22, 2026

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Car

This is a Porsche Cayman, a sports car with its engine placed closer to the middle of the car. Here, they’re talking about a problem where the car wouldn’t start at all when the key was turned.

Term

When they say “no click,” they mean the car makes no sound at all when you turn the key. That usually suggests the starter isn’t getting the right electrical signal, not just a minor starting problem.

Term

battery issue

A battery issue means the battery doesn’t have enough power to crank the engine. If the battery is weak—or if the connections are bad—the starter may not work.

Term

click-click-click

“Click-click-click” usually means the starter is trying to work, but it doesn’t have enough power to actually turn the engine. This is commonly caused by a weak battery or bad battery cables.

Term

bad battery cable

Battery cables carry power from the battery to the starter. If a cable is loose, corroded, or damaged, the starter may not get enough electricity to crank the engine.

Term

ignition switch

The ignition switch is the part you turn with the key to tell the car to start. If it’s faulty, the car may not send power to the starter.

Term

starter motor

The starter motor is what physically turns the engine over to get it running. If it’s not working, the engine won’t start.

Term

solenoid

The solenoid is like a power switch for the starter. If it’s bad, the starter may not engage properly, so the engine won’t crank.

Concept

series of tests

Instead of replacing parts randomly, they test things in order. That helps them figure out whether the problem is the battery, wiring, or the starter system.

Term

adequate power

Adequate power means the battery has enough electricity to actually crank the engine. Some batteries look fine at rest but can’t supply enough power when the starter is trying to work.

Term

signal wire

A signal wire is the wire that sends a “command” to a part. In this case, it tells the starter solenoid to engage when you turn the key.

Term

power wire

A power wire is the wire that brings electricity from the battery to a part. If a car won’t start, checking this wire helps show whether the starter is getting power.

Term

grounds

“Ground” is the electrical return path that lets electricity flow properly. If the ground is bad, the starter may not work even if the car has power.

Term

diagnostic part

Diagnostics means figuring out what’s actually wrong by checking the right things step-by-step. In this case, they can’t properly diagnose the starter until they can reach it.

Term

emission air pump

It’s a small pump that helps the car burn off exhaust gases more cleanly right after you start it. Because it sits in the way, the mechanic may have to remove it to reach the starter.

Term

starter bolt

The starter is held in place by bolts. Here, one of those bolts is hard to reach, so they had to take off other parts first.

Term

voltages and power

They’re checking whether the starter is actually getting the right electricity. If it is, but the starter still doesn’t work, then the starter motor is probably the bad part.

Term

intake ports

Intake ports are openings in the engine head where air (and fuel, depending on the system) goes into the cylinders. If you drop a bolt or nut there, it can end up inside the engine.

Term

intake valves

Intake valves are the parts that open to let the air/fuel mixture into the cylinder. Dropping a small part near them is risky because it can get sucked into the engine.

LIVE

Hi, it's Mark.

I'm here with Pollock Automotive in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Vancouver's best auto service experience, and we're talking cars.

How are you doing, Bernie?

Doing very well.

So today's guest is a 2009 Porsche Cayman.

What was happening with this vehicle?

This vehicle was towed in because it wouldn't start and turn the key and there's no click

or anything, no engine start.

So is that typically a battery issue or is that the click-click-click problem is a battery

issue?

It all depends.

It could be a dead battery.

It could be a bad battery cable, a ignition switch, starter motor.

There's a wide variety of things that can cause that to happen.

Is there still solenoids?

I remember replacing solenoids way back.

Yeah, there's a solenoid on the starter and those can be bad as well.

But yeah, so for us to figure it out, of course, we have to do a series of tests, diagnose and

figure it out.

Start with the battery and go, hey, how's the battery?

We test that.

The battery's good.

Then we go from there and go, okay, is there adequate power getting in the starter?

Starters are pretty simple.

There's a power wire and a signal wire that when you turn the key, a signal is sent to

the starter to energize the solenoid and turn the starter on.

So it's a pretty simple circuit.

But what isn't simple about this car is the location of the starter.

Here we go with the Porsche.

Beautiful red color.

Striking red.

You know, attractive looking car for sure.

So there is the engine, which is located mid of the car, which you have to lift the,

I was going to call it the tailgate, the lift gate in the back open up and there's some

covers to remove and that's the engine.

And the starter is nowhere to be seen because it's buried underneath all the things that

we're looking at.

You're circling around there and the starter's underneath there.

It's right in the center of the engine underneath.

So all that center intake piping needs to be removed.

Air ducts need to be removed so we can access the starter and then test the power and grounds

to the starter.

So that was the next step in the operation.

Many cars, it's pretty simple to assess whether it's the starter or not.

But on this vehicle, it involves quite a bit of work just to get to the diagnostic part.

So if we compare here to here, all that stuff's been removed.

Yeah, all that stuff's been removed and that arrow points to the starter.

We had to remove more than that.

This is actually the new starter put in with some of the components replaced.

Actually, we have another closer view that you can see that black piece below the starter.

That's an air pump, an emission air pump, and that had to be removed along with some

of the piping just to get access to lower starter bolt, which is wedged right in there.

So once everything's removed, it's actually easy to change.

But anyways, once we remove things, we're able to determine, yes, the starter's getting

all the correct voltages and power and the starter motor itself is bad.

But I notice here you've got, there's Kleenex.

There's something stuffed in somewhere.

That's those are the intake ports on the cylinder heads.

The moment we remove things, we plug them up because it's very easy to drop a bolt or

something down there.

And that's where the intake valves are.

So if you dropped a little nut or bolt, it would be sucked into the engine and not a

good thing.

So a lot in order to change the starter.

So once the starter's changed, how'd the vehicle run?

Perfect.

Start it up right away and the way it went.

Another happy customer.

Yeah.

Happy customer, happy car.

If you're looking for service for your Porsche in Vancouver or Porsche, depending on which

flavor you like, the guys to see are at Pawlik Automotive.

You can reach them online at pawlikautomotive.com.

You can book your appointment right there or you can call them.

They use the phone, 604-327-7112 to book your appointment.

You have to book ahead.

They're always busy.

Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Thanks so much for watching and listening.

Thanks Bernie.

Thank you Mark.

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