Date:         Thu, 12 Oct 2006 09:48:22 -0400
Reply-To:     george_joann@BELLSOUTH.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "G. Jannini" <george_joann@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Subject:      Intermittent  Starter
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hola List,

   Thursday  morning started out well, but then our Tiico Westy refused to start after an ice cream stop on a trip from Atlanta to Circle yer Wagens in Sevierville TN.

   Symptoms:  Turn key- no response, neither clicking nor cranking...panel lights didn't even dim.  Whacking on the starter from underneath with a hammer didn't work either, like it had before we replaced the dad-gum thing.  Got a push start from a couple of good old boys, and proceeded up the highway.

   I tried turning off and on again whilst driving, but still nothing happening.   When we reached our destination, I cleared the wayback, opened the hatch and made another attempt to start normally, beating on the starter from above- still nada.

    Next up, I tried hot wiring from the solenoid to the positive terminal on alternator- Bingo!  (Thanks to Frank Condelli for having me leave a wire connected to the solenoid for just such an emergency.)  I  went to Lowes, bought some speaker wire and a door bell switch, extended the hotwire setup forward, put all our stuff back into place, and proceeded to have some fun at the show.

   What happened when when we fixed to leave Sunday morning should be pretty obvious to you all- the dammed thing started in the normal manner, and has continued to do so ever since.

  ::Scratches head::    Ignition switch?  Warranty issue with starter?  ???

     George & Jo/ATL     '89 WesTiico, Wernher