starter motor turns very slow

[veryhappyvanman]

Hi all,
The starter on my 1983 1900cc van will only turn very slowly. I have cleaned and replaced all earth conections, replaced the battery and starter and its still the same. Does anyone have any other suggestions because I am stumped.

[New Kentish Campers]

Hi, try looking here: https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/VW ... rter_motor

[ghost123uk]

Hi, as you seem to have covered most bases I suspect you have the fairly common worn starter motor bush issue.

Try reading these =
Here = https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=106794" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
And here = https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... sh_removal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

p.s. Don't ever test the starter motor off the van as the rotor is only supported at one end, the other support being the bush that is likely shot.

[veryhappyvanman]

Hi, Thanks for your help. I did not realise that the bush could cause this ploblem. the replacment starter was second hand so did not come with bush but I have now ordered one and fingers crossed that will sort it once fitted.
I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again

[CovKid]

Despite claims to the contrary, starter motors can run slowly when fairly knackered. A bush may cure it but it may be time for a new or rebuilt starter. Had two or three like that in 25 years.

[nevill3]

My starter motor failed last month, when I stripped it down I found that two of the brushes were none existent and it looked like they had been that way for a while, the comutator(I think that's what the brass bits called) looked good except for a couple of the contacts which were severely pitted, I had probably caused this when I "hot wired" the starter to try and get it going when all my other tests had failed to move it.

To cut a long story short I ended up having to buy a new starter motor at short notice and when I elected to keep my old starter the auto-electrician informed my that the new one wasn't the same type as my old one but of a "modern design". The new starter does sound very different, much more like my Golf's or Polo's starter, so I would go for a new one every time now instead of a reconditioned one.

(my new starter motor was £120, expensive I thought but I was desperate)

[ghost123uk]

The new starter sounds, much more like my Golf's

Ah, sounds like a Golf

[Mocki]

Don't bother with a GsF starter, I bought a new ( not recon) one from GsF, and it turned slow from the beginning, Suomi though as I had changed the bush and all electrical connections were fine and dandy I would change the bush again, as I doubted my fitting of the first one, though maybe I had burred it putting it in.... Changed it , no difference, put my old spare starter on, and all was good. GsF are getting the new one back under warranty !

[Jabes]

Hi

From my very recent experience, I would go with the bush. I was surprised what a difference it made and I had similar problems to you.

Cheers

[ghost123uk]

Don't bother with a GsF starter, I bought a new ( not recon) one from GsF, and it turned slow from the beginning, Suomi though as I had changed the bush and all electrical connections were fine and dandy I would change the bush again, as I doubted my fitting of the first one, though maybe I had burred it putting it in.... Changed it , no difference, put my old spare starter on, and all was good. GsF are getting the new one back under warranty !

Jeez, that must have been irksome to say the least

[veryhappyvanman]

Thanks for everyones advice I have now fitted a new bush but the problem is still there. After turning the key on and off a few times trying to get it to turn at the correct speed it suddenly started working fine for a short while and then back to turning slow again. I can not think of anything else that I could do but there must be a fault somewhere.
Any other suggestions welcome.

[ghost123uk]

Well if you are sure all the relevant connections are good and the starter motor you fitted was a second hand one, then the next port of call would be a new starter motor From here

The only last attempt at diagnosis would be to (carefully !) connect a multi meter set to read volts onto the main terminal of the starter (and the black lead of the meter to earth of course) and get a volt reading whilst cranking (with the coil disconnected so it WON'T start ) The voltage at the starter, when cranking, should be at least 10 volts, any less means there IS a bad connection on the heavy cables somewhere.

btw, have you got a volts reading off the battery whilst cranking ? (if so what is it ?)

[CovKid]

Or DIY

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.p ... -tranny%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Starters vary, but not by much.