Club 80-90 Forums

I have also had less than ideal experience with refurb starters over the years, and yes 3-4 years life seems typical. See my earlier post http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=143906 The new unit I fitted 2 years (10,000 miles) ago is still doing fine (0.95kW boxed by JP Group Denmark...

I got one from Serial Kombi in France a couple of years ago.
Seems to still have them in stock. https://www.serial-kombi.com/en-GB/tran ... 2-n311315#

jp

High idle speed on a DJ - could be a faulty idle speed control unit (ISCU). Not the little box in your pic but the black box mounted above the offside wheel arch; a power transistor in this unit often overheats and fails. When idling you should be able to feel the idle stabilization valve vibrating ...

Mastic is what Westfalia used when it was built. The waste pipe should extend well into the tank; it is not supposed to be a watertight seal. As you surmise, if the tank is overfilled its contents drip out at the top. Much better than dirty washing-up water coming up the waste pipe and into the van ...

I had exactly similar symptoms this time last year. It got steadily more frequent over a few weeks. As I was about to depart for a trip to the south of France, I bought a new starter from GSF and popped it in the wardrobe just in case. Eventually I changed the starter motor in a supermarket car park...

Used a crowbar to prize the alerrnator and get the belt tighter. I would advise a little caution here. With a big crowbar, or a heavy hand, it is possible to get the belt so tight that the alternator nose bearing (or worse the water pump bearing) soon wears out. You just need it tight enough so the...

This is where I got my solenoid from: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STARTER-MOTOR-SOLENOID-12V-FOR-VW-TRANSPORTER-0331303055-56-76-132-555-/111405742694 As far as I can tell from ebay, they don't have any in stock at the moment, but I guess you could phone. The list of part numbers might also be helpful...

I presume I can't test the solenoid whilst it is still attached to the starter but off the vehicle?

Correct. You need to remove the braided wire to the brushes, take out the 3 torx screws and unhook the solenoid from the pinion actuating lever.
jp

Checking the solenoid. If you remove it from the starter motor you can do a couple of checks. 1. Apply 12v between the spade terminal and the threaded terminal that was connected to the brushes. You just need to touch a wire onto the spade and the solenoid should activate with a very solid thwack. Y...

Actually you could say that there is a unit behind each light cluster :) And if you describe it as 'passenger side' you need to be clear whether the van is left-hand or right-hand drive :D Part no 251-907-393 is indeed the Idle Speed Control Unit (NOT the ECU and not the Idle Stabiliser Unit), and i...

AFAIK any suffix will work. Originally I had an A. After 17 years this failed. I replaced the power transistor. This year it failed again, so I sourced a D suffix from a breaker in Germany. Although listed as tested and working, it turned out to also have a duff power transistor. Replaced with a spa...

The BBB is capable of delivering 8 Amps. I believe one reason Westfalia fitted such a beefy device was to allow it to power the Eberspacher heater when the leisure battery was flat. The Ebbo needs lots of amps for the glow plug on start-up, much less when lit. So you just need to remember not to swi...

Splitting case
I just used a small hammer and chisel. Started on the brush cover first, just carefully tapping all the way round the join. After a couple of minutes it began to move.
Then splitting the join at the bendix end was similar, but slightly easier.

jp

Faulty Idle Speed Control Unit can cause high revs and difficult starting. Can you feel the Idle Speed Valve vibrating when you turn the ignition on?
(The ISCU is the box of electronics behind the air intake and accessed through the right-hand rear light cluster.)

jp

OK, I understand the condensation process. What might cause arcing? Ignition switch was a bit poor - slightly resistive in the start position; so I replaced it. Maybe poor switch meant less current into the solenoid, hence less force on the contacts? Price from GSF was £126 (discount weekend) includ...