Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2015 11:31:16 -0700
Reply-To: Jim Arnott <jr.arnott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Arnott <jr.arnott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Fwd: * 10/4/2015 Needed NOW! Vanagon (1981) ONLY starts when cold
/How To FIX this advice. PLEASE . . .
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
This showed up in my inbox. Probably ought to be in the Vanagon List’s inbox as well.
I don’t know that Ms. Linda is on list, so please remember to reply all.
Jim
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "LEM" <lemberkeley@yahoo.com>
> Subject: * 10/4/2015 Needed NOW! Vanagon (1981) ONLY starts when cold /How To FIX this advice. PLEASE . . .
> Date: October 4, 2015 at 9:05:19 PM PDT
> To: "LindaMerrill" <lemberkeley@yahoo.com>
> Reply-To: lemberkeley@yahoo.com
>
> 10/4/2015 Needed NOW! Vanagon (1981) ONLY starts when cold /How To FIX this advice. PLEASE . . .
>
> HELP! [Okay to forward to "right" wise ones]
>
> Do You know how to solve this?
> To get the Vanagon starting reliably warm
> and cold?
>
>
> Or, do you know someone who will/might
> know how to solve this?
> To get the Vanagon starting reliably warm
> and cold?
>
> Do you know "the right person" who I can
> talk to ASAP about how to fix this, and who
> should do it that I can actually afford?
>
>
> HERE is what I Know/think:
>
> (A)
> In the last few months, my 1981 Vanagon
> stopped starting when it is warm.
>
> It starts easily when cold.
>
> Once the Vanagon is driven far enough to
> warm it up (maybe a mile + ), the van will
> not start again until it is cold again.
>
> Given an hour-plus to cool down, the van
> will again start again, just fine.
>
> (B)
> Several people have worked on this -- and
> charged me for that -- and the car still only
> starts when cold.
>
> (C)
> The Bosch starter has less than 200 miles
> on it. A new/rebuilt started caused the same
> only-cold starting a few days ago.
>
> The second, long bolt to hold the starter on is
> missing. I got a M10 D-Head 123 mm bolt
> from The Bus Lab, and a mechanic was not
> able to install that bolt -- saying it does not
> fit / "wrong bolt" -- today.
>
> (D)
> This is an ASI camper conversion, and has
> an old auxiliary battery under the driver's
> seat -- which does not hold a charge.
>
> Months ago, someone disconnected this
> old auxiliary battery -- to keep the battery
> isolater from trying to charge IT instead of
> the main, passenger-side battery.
>
> With only the one battery hooked up, the
> battery isolater still seems to be working,
> the alternator seems to be working, and this
> very new battery seems to have adequate
> power.
>
> The temperature gauge does not seem to
> work properly, and sometimes jumps and
> stutters, going right from barely warm to
> hot and back in two seconds.
>
> (E)
> Yesterday, a very accomplished Volvo
> MechanicB was confident he could diagnose
> a solve this no-warm-starting.
>
> I easily started the cold car, drove it several
> miles to the two mechanics, and shut it off.
> And it would not turn the engine over, warm.
>
> We waited for it to cool down, and MechanicA
> prepared to swap the "newish" Bosch
> starter back in so I could return the brand-new
> starter.
> Starters out, MechanicA saw that the "fat"
> wire that goes to the starter had a broken
> specialized connection. So, he used a nut to
> hold that wire firmly in place on the threaded
> on-starter connection; then he attached the
> two thinner wires to the same threaded
> on-starter connection, below the fat wire.
>
> Then I started the now-cold VW with its
> Bosch starter, and took it for a test drive.
> I got it warm, stalled it, and it would not
> start.
> We pushed it to pop the clutch, I drove it
> back to their place, and they began testing.
>
> MechanicB (the expert) tried various things.
> MechanicA watched a few warm non-starts
> and saw that the Bendix was not being
> thrown far enough to engage -- when the
> van was warm.
>
> MechanicB looked at the positive battery
> wire by the post and said it was too flimsy.
> (Someone had spliced this too-thin wire
> onto the wire coming from the rear years
> before I bought the VW.)
> Well, he reasoned, if this cable gives a
> marginal connection when cold, maybe it
> carries too little power when hot.
> (A grounding issue somewhere?)
>
> So, both mechanics connected a good battery
> to the starter (using jumper cables, I think),
> from a few feet away, at the rear of the VW
> ar of the VW.
> Then, they used the same wire to "jump"?
> the starter without using the ignition key
> -- I'm getting fuzzy here --
> and the still-warm car started right up.
>
> So, MechanicB felt that his diagnosis ** had
> been confirmed:
> the non-original positive battery
> wire . . . was too flimsy.
> (Someone had spliced this too-thin wire
> onto the wire coming from the rear years
> before I bought the VW.)
> Well, he reasoned, if this cable gives a
> marginal connection when cold, maybe it
> carries too little power when hot.
> (A grounding problem?)
>
>
> AND. MechanicB reasoned that IF
> *** he got a correct-gauge battery cable,
> with connectors at each end and ran it under
> the car from the starter to (the positive
> ground ??? ) on the battery, all would be well.
>
> OKAY: MechanicB did his *** good-cable
> purchase and battery-to-starter swap-in ...
> He then started the cold car with the
> ignition key, drove the car in circles around
> a building to warm it up, and then shut it off.
>
> AND, now warm, again it would not start
> with the key (one guesses that an observor
> would again see the Bendix only going
> part way toward engaging . . . ), just as before.
>
> MechanicB is very upset, and thinks that a
> push-button starter, on the steering column,
> will solve this . . . And he has no other ideas.
>
> MechanicsB and A have NOT
> found a starter relay on this van
> and believe that the ignition switch must
> be fine.
>
>
> MechanicA was not involved today and
> I filled him in by phone. MechanicA does not
> see how a push-button starter will fix this
> situation, if the low-power doesn't get the
> Bendix to thrust all the way and engage.
>
>
> ......
>
> I need to get this car starting reliably!
> And, I paid for the AUG 2016 registration,
> which needs a smog certificate to complete
> it. I want it to start when warm before I take
> it to a Test-Only smog shop, and I park this
> VW on the public street.
> It needs to be smogged so it can stay safely
> parked on the street.
>
> Money, time, and car functioning are major
> issues for me here. Into small savings to
> pay for this already ...
>
> I need: the repair actual solution, a truly
> affordable person to "get it done right the
> first time," and to pass my smog.
>
> ...........
>
> Thank you So much!
> Nowe that you know all non-mechanic I
> can think might apply, here are my original
> questions again:
>
>
>
> Do You know how to solve this?
> To get the Vanagon starting reliably warm
> and cold?
>
> Or, do you know someone who will/might
> know how to solve this?
> To get the Vanagon starting reliably warm
> and cold?
>
> Could this knowledgeable "right car person"
> please talk with me about how I can get
> this car fixed ASAP an starting when warm?
>
> ((( Really low on funds, I have a new ignition
> Switch for this 1981 Vanagon that I could
> take back for the $27 refund. Are there any
> relays (what kind?) or wires you suggest
> I buy tonight?.
>
> Do you have any helpful diagrams or
> instructions you could forward to me?
>
> I so wish I knew how to do this, so I could
> do it myself. Or be helpful to a mechanical.)))
>
>
>
> Thank you!
>
>
> Still hopeful . . . and distessed,
>
> L
>
>
>
>
|