Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:01:21 -0400
Reply-To: Larry Alofs <lalofs@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Larry Alofs <lalofs@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Starter related question.
In-Reply-To: <55A1346A-309E-46E7-89B0-6ABCE6369DBF@NBNet.nb.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Check the short cable between the solenoid carefully. If it is faulty, it
might be the reason that your solenoid actvates but not the starter motor.
It is made of very fine strands of copper which can corrode away to nothing
if not protected.
The starter from an '84 is about 15 or 20 percent weaker than a late model
one. It way work, but don't spend very much money for it.
Search back thru the posts for that past month or so. The Jetta diesel
starter with the adapter sold bya list member (Westy Ventures?) sounds
like a good way to go.
Larry A.
On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 2:44 PM, Roy Nicholl <RNicholl@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:
> All,
>
> Tuesday morning we had a “no crank” situation in the Hyena (’88 2.1 WBX)
> and were “late for swimming lessons” as I shifted the kid pod from the
> Westy back to "Mom’s car”.
>
> My multimeter and kit is at another location - I’ll fetch it on Friday -
> but today at lunch I had 15-minutes so I pulled the plug off the ignition
> switch and stuck a strand of 14/2 Nomax between 12V and 50. I head what
> sounded like the solenoid “slam” into place, but only the once. I then
> went aft with my stand of 14/2 and bridged #50 at the solenoid … nothing.
>
> Batter seems fine … according to the simple meter on the charger … will
> measure this again with multimeter.
>
> So it is looking like the {original} starter has packed it in … I’ll go
> out on Saturday morning with the meter just to make certain I’m getting all
> the required voltage at all the required places.
>
> While I was under there, I noted there is nothing attached to #16 on the
> solenoid … isn’t there suppose to be a connection to the ignition system
> (coil) here?
>
> Let’s assume I need to replace the starter.
> 1) Do I really need to disconnect the right axle to do this {as I was told
> over the phone today}? It looks like I should be able to get at all the
> bolts (after a little cleaning) … not as easy as the ’66, but should be
> possible.
> 2) Is there an improvement that can be made over the OEM starter? {i.e.
> something like a starter from a mk2 jetta i4 that is cheaper to procure}
> 3) Is a rebuilt starter worth the cost savings (50%)?
> 4) Was there any significant change in the starter over the years? The
> Hyena is a 1988, but I know of a possible ’84 donor nearby.
>
> I also noted a couple more ground straps that need cleaning/attention
> (including the one between the solenoid and starter) … I’ll take care of
> these before ordering a new starter. I’ve never had a starter fail
> completely w/o any prior warning before, so I’m not 100% convinced I do not
> have another notoriously bad ground/earth.
>
> I may as well use this as an opportunity to remove all that current from
> the ignition switch and install some additional relays.
>
> Roy
>
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