My van would regularly turn the engine slowly once or twice and then fire up and has now deteriorated to not starting if it's warm. Popped to Morrisons last night (3 minute drive) and when i came out the van wouldn't start, seemed like a flat battery but i knew it wasn't. Ended up leaving it over night, went back this morning and started first time but tried again when i got to work (about 2 mins away) and it wouldn't start again. I'm guessing i have a dodgy connection somewhere.
I would say it is quite possible yours is not a simple bad connection because the symptoms are the wrong way around. Normally the load imposed on connections and batteries is higher when everything is cold. I would put my money on the starter motor itself, or possibly the bush, the one mentioned above that stays in the bellhousing when the starter is removed.
There is a way to check. Get your meter out and get a friend to help :-
Set it to the 20 Volt DC setting.
Unplug all the smaller wires from the terminal on one side (only) of the the coil (to stop the engine starting up).
Hold the red probe very securely to a nice bare bit of alloy anywhere on the engine.
Hold the black probe onto a nice bare bit of metal on the main bodywork near the engine, the screws that hold the ignition amp (small black box near the front left of the engine bay would be good).
Now get someone to crank the engine.
Make a note of what the volt meter says.
Anything more than about 1 volt indicates that the engine earth (from the "nose" of the gearbox) to the chassis needs attention (or another earth strap adding = easier
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Now put your meter across the battery terminals (at this point it should read about 12.6 volts).
Now get your friend to crank the engine.
Make a note of the reading. Depending on the condition of your battery it will likely fall to about 10 or 11 volts, make a note of the exact figure.
Now put the red probe on the top heavy duty connector on the solenoid (top of the starter) and the black probe to a good earth on the engine (note = not the body this time). At this point it should read the same as when it was on the battery, check
Now crank the engine again and read what the meter says.
If it is anything more than around 2 Volts less than the figure got from the battery whilst cranking, then yes, the +ve feed cables and / or connections from the battery to the solenoid are suspect.
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If the above does not show any poor readings then it could be the tiny but fat cable that links the starter to the solenoid (not unusual that issue).
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Don't forget to put those wires back onto the spade connector on the coil
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Mind you, your symptoms could also easily be a failing starter motor itself, in fact imho that is the most likely and you can sort out the connections at that end, plus the obligatory replacement of that afore mentioned bush (a bit tricky that job) at the same time
Let us know what you find as it will help others.
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