Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 22:51:46 -0230
Reply-To: Bob Norman <B.Norman@THEZONE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bob Norman <B.Norman@THEZONE.NET>
Subject: Re: battery cable contact problem
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Darie,
The problem with my vanagon starter turned out to be bad contacts in the
solenoid. The ground wire fix didn't solve this problem but it did make
my starter turn faster when it was working. My symptoms were as
follows: When trying to start in the morning I'd get one chance with
the starter, sometimes two, but no more. If it didn't start on the first
or second try, the starter wouldn't work after that, just a little
click, that's it. Leave it for twelve or more hours, and I'd be granted
another try or two. Usually on the second try, I'd have to hold the key
for a second or so before anything happened, then after that nothing
again.
I took my motor out, cleaned the terminals, cleaned the wires, charged
the battery, etc... Reinstalled the motor with the ground wire fix,
turned the key .. rerrererre... Second try,...hesitation for a
second....rerrerrreeere. Third try,...nothing but a click.
Out comes the motor again. Into the garage and onto the bench. This
time I fixed it.
Two predictions: 1. Your problem will be back. 2. The following will
fix it.
I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that this is your problem, and it's
easy to fix yourself.
First, undo the nut holding the big braided wire onto the solenoid, undo
the two screws that hold the solenoid to the starter and slip the
solenoid off the starter.
Next undo the two screws that hold the end cap onto the solenoid (these
may be sealed in with silicone).
Now comes the interesting part, take a soldering iron and heat up the
solder on the two contacts on the cap, there is one on each side by the
screws, one has two thin wires sticking up through it, the other has
one. A little heat to each side while you pull straight up, and the cap
will come off when the solder melts.
When you look inside your problem will become apparent. You will see a
copper bar on the solenoid and two copper contacts on the inside of the
cap. One or both of these will be corroded, as will the corresponding
section of the bar.
Clean them up with some emery paper or similar, put it all back
together, and reattach the solenoid to your starter.
Test it with a battery or a battery charger to make sure that its
together right and that the drive gear pops out, and reinstall into your
camper.
That should do it, worked for me, my starter now turns faster than a
politician. I think it's a VW thing, as I had to do this fix with my
'63 Bug. and my Golf had the "clicking flu" for a while as well.
Anyway, best of luck, let me know how you make out.
Cheers,
Bob Norman
'81 Westy
Gander, Newfoundland
Canada
Duclos Darie wrote:
> Hi,
>
> thanks for your reply. The starter I got was neither new nor
> manufactured. It was from a "junk yard". There are some pretty
> sophisticated junkyards in Switzerland where they test, categorize
> and enter into a database every single piece of car they take
> apart. This place I go to has huge storage sheds full of parts,
> ordered by vehicle type, part type, etc. and they're in pretty
> good working order. They give you a month's warranty on them.
>
> But now I have removed the "new" starter and sent it back since
> it didn't solve the problem. I have put my old one back in and
> it's working fine now that the cable has been jiggled.
>
> I'll try the ground solution. But I'm not sure it's relevant:
> the problem wasn't insufficient battery power to start the motor;
> it either didn't make a peep (well except for a little click), or
> it started in a 1/2 second.
>
> Bye.
> Darie
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