Delay in firing when turning ignition

[ju]

Hi, any help please. I have an Aircooled 2l van which has recently started having a problemwhen starting. When you turn the key there is a delay before the engine turns over. It fires up well when it does turn over, but thedelay is getting progressively worse (wasabout 1 second,now 2-3 sedonds). Can anyone tell me what to look at to solve this problem. is it the solenoid, or capacitor on the dizzy?

Cheers, Ju

[phredd]

Sounds to me like "electrical resistance" in other words dirty terminals on the end of power leads.
Then again, but I doubt it, duff battery of flat battery.

Phredd

[ju]

The voltmeter registers between 13 & 14 volts when the van is running, I don't know wether this is helpful information or not

[dugcati]

yea dead cell in the battery and more dying sounds plausible... that or the solenoid on the starter is sticking and progressively getting worse..

[Red Westie]

Delay before the engine turns over....well I'll give you a list:
Poor earth points (everything should be free from corrosion, tight and in good condition)
Loose battery terminals (check the obvious first)
Poor solenoid feed /corroded terminal (pull off the spade connector to check and clean)
Poor braided earth cables (easy to see and rectify)
Copper braided wire between solenoid and starter motor corroded (seen this loads of times)
Worn out starter brushes (also common)
Starter armature support bearing/bush (if it hasn't got a supporting nose cone) doesn't normally cause a delay in starting..rather a slow turn over.
faulty battery (not convinced)
Faulty ignition switch (very common)
These are the common ones....
Martin

[ju]

cheers for the list, i will go through them and hopefully findtheissue. thanks again, Ju