Club 80-90 Forums

ghost123uk wrote:

MidLifeCrisis wrote:1) Battery is flat - have you measured voltage at the battery or can you substitute a known good battery?

My money is on that

Several days later :-

mawelby wrote:Just tested the Battery, and it was only producing 10.5v! Swapped it with the leisure battery and she started!! The multimeter was well worth the money.

When do I get my prize

Oh, ang on, it should perhaps go to MidLifeCrisis as he was the first to suggest it as likely

The trouble with batteries is they reach a peak then decline bloomin rapidly. Catches lots of folk out that one - me too in the past.

If you want to improve throughput to the starter/alternator in general, take a look at: http://wiki.club8090.co.uk/index.php/VW ... ain_cables" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; as most of these campers/vans have corroded cables unless sorted in recent years. When you fit a new battery, as a minimum clean up all connections thoroughly and check for any signs of exposed copper strands at connectors and clamps and if need be, replace accordingly.

mawelby wrote:Swapped it with the leisure battery and she started!!

Just re-read that. Note that using (most types **) of leisure batteries as starter batteries is not good. They are not designed to supply hundreds of Amps the starter takes and it damages them.

** = Some leisure battery types claim they can be used as starter batteries.

Many of us use starter batteries under both front seats as most 'leisure' ones don't fit under there. So check yours and hopefully you will be fine.

I currently have a similar issue but I know what it is.
More and more frequently I have to get in the engine bay and give the ignition cable to the solenoid a jiggle and then try to start it.
Seems there is a break in the cable somewhere near the starter. So always worth trying a short ring spanner short out between the main positive from the battery and the ignition spade on the back of the solenoid. I've had to start the van that way a couple of times now (its like trying to hold on to slippery fish and not fun at all).
I'm now going to replace the wire. For my information and also so it is retained in this thread for future reference does anyone know:
1) Does that wire run from the starter into the cable box in the engine bay?
2) The cable diameter/current rating. I think it might be 3.7mm (around 30A).
Cheers

discipleofsketch wrote:

CovKid wrote:If its the brushes, I'm doing a 'how to' on that job shortly. Brushes are only about a fiver whereas a new starter is, well, horrendous....

Look forward to it!

I currently have intermittent starter issues, but the intermittent nature makes it hard to properly diagnose. It starts instantly 90% of the time, other times there is a pause before the starter turns, other times nothing but clicking. It always starts though before I find an assistant and get in the engine bay with a multimeter.

The starter battery was showing a good voltage, but as I read on another thread, it could still be struggling to produce the Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) needed. It was old and bit leaky so i've just bitten the bullet and replaced it, which will at least rule it out as the cause if it happens again.

Try checking your earth straps have a good connection.

Sounds like the starter motor solenoid to me, just changed the solenoid on my kitcar for a very similar problem which went from intermittent to permanent.