Date:         Mon, 28 Jun 2004 07:00:40 -0400
Reply-To:     Vanagon Man <vgonman@MSN.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Vanagon Man <vgonman@MSN.COM>
Subject:      Hard start relay..........tips from someone who has used it.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Folks,

I have installed one of these on a few acvw's.............and i find them to
help in cases where the wire that comes from the switch to the solenoid on
the starter has become corroded or brittle over the years.........The relay
sort of bypasses that wire and uses a 12v wire that is about 2 feet long
instead.  If this wire is your problem, the relay solves this.

But, on several other vanagons i have serviced, bought and sold, etc, this
relay did nothing, and the starters that were on them worked fine when 12v
was attached to them.  The problem was within the circuit of the starter
system itself.  You can follow it on the wiring diagram in the Bentley, and
the bentley even tells you what color wires, and where they are connected.

On a few vans, a PO had spliced into the ignition switch pigtail for a
radio, and did a crappy job,m thus causing my voltage drop..........on
others, there is a connection a couple of feet from the ignition switch that
was corroded that caused the problem, and yet on others it was an
intermittent ignition switch.

My advice would be to trace from the switch first. What i did was run a 12v
jumper wire from the battery...................first i pulled the plug off
the ignition switch and jumpered to the terminal for the starter
solenoid..............if the starter turned over, well ignition switch
faulty.  If it did not function, i went to the next connection from the
ignition switch back....touch my jumper to it, and see if it whirred.  BTW,
first off be sure to replace or clean thoroughly the connections on the
starter.
Adam P
Charleston,SC     Coburn, WV
70 Single Cab "Whitey"
74 Beetle "Ol Yeller"
73 Transporter (STILL at paint shop)
1988 Vanagon Wolfsburg
1976 Transporter (New CA bus)
1974 412 "Goldmember"
1972 VW Super Beetle