It's driving me MAD!

[VEEDUB]

Here is my problem, I can get in my van turn the ignition and it fires up like there is loads of juice in the battery, I can leave it ten minutes and all I get is a ....click now if I put some jump leads on it she fires up turn her off ... she fires up on her own battery again. I have checked the wires to the ignition switch and all are fresh and good , as are battery terminals and connections to starter and solonoid , battery light goes out when you rev the engine so it's charging ok

Am I missing something here any help would be very much appreciated as it is driving me
Thanks in advance

[ewenmaclean]

Hello,

have you checked the connection to earth on the nose of the gearbox? Sounds like you're not getting a good connection between solenoid and starter - I know you've said you checked them, but worth cleaning up all those connections. Also there is a well known problem with worn bushes in the bellhousing which cause starting problems - there's a good few posts about that on here - might be worth checking out.

Hope you get it sorted

Ewen

[kevtherev]

This question has been done to death

Starter bush in bell housing worn or seizing.
Poor earths and or live contact at battery and starter
sticking solenoid.

[California Dreamin]

As Kev says, it's just a case of going through a well known list of causes to find which you have:
Starting with:
The solenoid trigger wire (standard spade connector which corrodes)
Poor earths on the gearbox & battery
Poor feed connections, starter & battery
Worn oilite bush which supports the end of the starter (wears oval)
Faulty ignition switch
Poor battery

Martin

[VEEDUB]

Thanks for the replies .. but why would a jump start cure the problem if it was bad earth/ solenoid / bell housing bush etc

[kevtherev]

A jump would cure a poor battery condition
After the first start the battery has expended a lot of energy if it's not up to it, it takes a lot longer to recover.
once jumped the shagged battery takes a big jolt of energy which can be used again.
The length of the cables doesn't help either.

Now this might not be your problem but it will happen to a battery in poor condition, after five years they are just about ready for the scrapyard

[BOXY]

Could it be the brushes in the motor not making a good clean contact with the commutator ring? The extra juice from the jumper battery overcomes the extra resistance and gets the motor spinning? If this is the case the brushes are soldered in and not really a DIY replacement, and the commutator might be U/S anyway.

[ghost123uk]

Replied to a very similar question a while back and it seems in his case I was right and he was very happy to sort it.
Now of course this might not be the case with yours, but worth a try.

I had this on our Scirocco, and as you say it drives you mad !

Mine and the other guy's on here was this.

A blown diode in the alternator.
Most of the time the engine stops and the alternator stops with 1 of the OK diodes making contact = no problem.
But sometimes it stops with the duff diode making contact and this duff diode can quickly drain the battery.
I identified it by connecting a current meter into the feed from the battery and slowly turning the engine over with a spanner WITH THE IGNITION OFF = SAFETY !!
At one point in the rotation the current meter read a big drain.

Swapped alternator for a spare I had = all OK
If yours does this I am pretty sure you can change a diode quite easily.
Note, the diodes are not the same thing as the easily detachable voltage regulator / brush pack on the back of the alternator.

Hope this helps

John

[VEEDUB]

Thanks again for the replies... This is what makes this club great I've go some things to check

[Mocki]

you dont say what engine, but it could also be the ignition timing too far advanced on a petrol engine.
gives same symptoms, but depends where in the cycle it lands when it stops as to how it behaves.....

[VEEDUB]

2.0 air cooled. It's on the button and does not feel like timing.