Date:         Thu, 4 May 95 10:27:45 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Kautz <dkautz@hpsidms1.sid.hp.com>
Subject:      Re: Kinda Stumped

 Matt Burkel writes:

 Here's my major concern, I turn the key and she won't respond,
 this has been ongoing for a while (I'm still poor), at first
 I assumed the starter or solenoid, I would bang on the starter
 and she would start, I changed the starter, and she works great,
 for 3-4 months, then she does the same thing, so I start thinking
 it must be the ingnition, from the key back. My friend that owns
 a VW repair shop says that changing this is a pain, so he gives me
 another starter (used but looks good and works) I put it in and it
 works great for another semester, I also stuck a button (in a secret
 spot behind my seat ;)) that puts juice directly to the solenoid, but
 this button is not fused and sometimes hangs up (won't stop cranking,
 even with no key) now the same thing is starting again.


 Matt, I had a very similar problem with my '72. I think what you are seeing
 is a voltage drop in the circuit that energizes the starter solenoid. I 
 followed the circuit with my voltmeter from the battery up to the front of
 the car, under the dash and back to the starter - where I found that the
 crimped on terminal, the very last thing in the path, was loose on the wire.
 This is not such a surprise if you think about it: that wire is out in the
 weather and is subject to engine vibration. To fix it, I brushed on some
 acid flux to clean it up, soldered the crimp and rinsed of the excess flux
 with water. End of problem, total $ cost = 0. If I had to do this again, I
 would start tracing the circuit at the starter end  instead of the battery
 end - I would have saved myself about 45 minutes.

 I can send you a copy of the wiring schematic for you bus <the one from
 Bentley> if you want. Send your snail mail address to me at 
 dkautz@hpsidms1.sid.hp.com

 Good Luck,

 Dave