Vw t25 Westy 1.9AAZ Diesel Not starting

[matt10000wba]

Hi,


Please can anyone help....nightmare morning, dropping my wife at work at the hospital...her car has no mot and the van has decided to break down in the snow...now back home as it bumped with RAC but now won't turn on. 1.9AAZ TD

**Engine won't turn over, start doesn't even click.  Battery has 12.5v, I've checked connection to solenoid and cleaned connector - all good and power is fine (confirmed by RAC).  Earth looks ok to gearbox...He added a lead from + on battery to solenoid and it was still the same, no click and not turning over...He also created his own earth from battery to engine....nothing at all..wipers stopped working for a minute on way home, now working again...

Any ideas would be gratefully received....I'm semi-literate on things but not overly knowledgeable...Cheers
Matt

[mrhutch]

got a spare battery you can try???

or a multimeter??  

Cold weather can easily make the battery drop a cell, will still show 12v+ with no load but drop to 7v+ under starting load

[matt10000wba]

Hi,

Thanks....no spare battery but I can put the battery on charge.......multimeter was showing 12.5v.  It's not even making the ticking noise...

[mrhutch]

Rig up your multimeter to the battery

(assuming you are on your own) position your phone so you can record a video of the multimeter screen

try to crank the bus

Watch the video to see the voltage drop

 

[matt10000wba]

Thanks, I'll try that...any other ideas?  Ta

[mrhutch]

you need to test one thing at once.  start with the battery

[davidoft1]

It’s either your battery or your starter motor, was the charge light in when you drove home ?

[matt10000wba]

Hi, charge light wasn't on.....can't find my multimeter now either, not been a great day...

[davidoft1]

Hi, charge light wasn't on.....can't find my multimeter now either, not been a great day...

Got jump leads ? Put Jump leads to your mrs car , or swap the battery but I think your starter is faulty

[ZsZ]

Try to put ground from battery to the starter mounting bolt with a jumper cable.
I had problems with oxidized bellhousing making bad ground for the starter which made similar symptoms in wet and cold weather.
Removing starter, cleaning mating surface and assembling with dielectric grease solved my problem.

[matt10000wba]

ZsZ - thanks, is it fairly straight forward taking out the starter - two bolts?  Anything else likely to drop out?  Thanks Matt