Hot cable on battery - slow start - inter cutting out

[Smiffo]

Evening all.

As the title suggests, I have had recent intermittent cutting out of my van - usually approaching junctions.
The only way to stop it is to keep the revs up, meaning trying to brake and apply throttle..!!

Anyway, the forum and wiki suggested checking earth contacts and they "looked" ok, but I have to admit I haven't removed connections, cleaned and re terminated though....

As time went on, and symptoms became progressively worse, I noticed a distinct lack of power to the starter motor too - almost like a drained battery - and at times my water temp and fuel gauge would drop at the same time as the lack of power and stalling etc....

Today I decided to see if the battery was duff, but as I put my hand near it I could feel the heat instantly.
One of the positive nuts was loose, causing poor termination and that was making the smaller red cables to get quite hot - the rather large thick cable I assume goes to the starter motor was ok though.

The point of the post is to ask the simple question; could all of the symptoms be caused by this loose nut or am I likely to find some issues resolved and others still there..???

The symptoms were so intermittent that even though I have driven it and it seems ok, i can't help but feel this would be too good to be true if that was the root cause all along of all the faults...!!!!

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[California Dreamin]

Evening all.

As the title suggests, I have had recent intermittent cutting out of my van - usually approaching junctions.
The only way to stop it is to keep the revs up, meaning trying to brake and apply throttle..!!

Anyway, the forum and wiki suggested checking earth contacts and they "looked" ok, but I have to admit I haven't removed connections, cleaned and re terminated though....

As time went on, and symptoms became progressively worse, I noticed a distinct lack of power to the starter motor too - almost like a drained battery - and at times my water temp and fuel gauge would drop at the same time as the lack of power and stalling etc....

Today I decided to see if the battery was duff, but as I put my hand near it I could feel the heat instantly.
One of the positive nuts was loose, causing poor termination and that was making the smaller red cables to get quite hot - the rather large thick cable I assume goes to the starter motor was ok though.

The point of the post is to ask the simple question; could all of the symptoms be caused by this loose nut or am I likely to find some issues resolved and others still there..???

The symptoms were so intermittent that even though I have driven it and it seems ok, i can't help but feel this would be too good to be true if that was the root cause all along of all the faults...!!!!

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Certainly responsible for the slow cranking.
Outside chance of it being responsible for cutting out....this would depend on just how loose the connection was.

Martin

[Smiffo]

Thanks Martin.

Driven all day today, and there is still slow turn over when starting, but everything else seems OK.
Problem is it was intermittent anyway on cutting out - I will run it all week and see how it goes.

Appreciate your reply.

[CovKid]

Check cables throughout: http://wiki.club8090.co.uk/index.php/VW ... ain_cables" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also check connectors at coil and condition of distributor cap.

Usually, an air leak on the induction side of engine (carb, hoses, inlet manifold) will cause engine to die when slowing down for a stop or junction. Mixture isn't strong when engine revs drop. From start, the choke compensates but as soon as choke is off, idle mixture becomes to weak due to too much air.

[Smiffo]

Thanks CovKid.

Interesting read that was - I even followed on to see your cable upgrade to the front fuse box....

I will see what symptoms persist before i try something else, but it's interesting you mention fuel mixture.
I took the van into the garage recently to see what they thought - and they adjusted the fuel mixture up, saying it was running too lean...
Needless to say it seemed OK at first but the symptoms returned quite soon.

I'm wondering now if there are two issues causing all my problems?

The wiring issue for slow starting and intermittent dash problems, and then an air leak for cutting out?
It's possible that as the air leak gets worse the cutting out comes back, irrespective of the electrical problems...

Time will tell, but I will see what happens and certainly post my findings and frustrations here..!!

Thanks for your advice - very insightful and certainly food for thought.

[CovKid]

If richening the mixture provided a temporary cure for the cutting out, then an air leak seems more likely. Check for tightness of hose that goes from dizzy to carb - it should not slide on/off easily either end. Could be a leaky carb gasket, or gasket below carb. Richening mixture will only be masking the problem.

[California Dreamin]

Slow cranking can also be a sign of an 'oval' worn oilite bush (on petrol engines) where the teeth on the starters bendix gear are pushed out of alignment with the ring gear because of the bush wear. New bush costs about £3.50

Martin

[CovKid]

£1.56 at any branch of GSF

[Smiffo]

Slow cranking can also be a sign of an 'oval' worn oilite bush (on petrol engines) where the teeth on the starters bendix gear are pushed out of alignment with the ring gear because of the bush wear. New bush costs about £3.50

Martin

Thanks Martin.

I had bushes done ( along with starter motor ) at a garage last summer and has been fine since then until now, so I'm hoping it won't be that..!!

Iv'e been using the van as my daily commute and still no cutting out issues or dash issues, although slow cranking is still present.
I will check all the terminations as advised by CovKid I think.

I Looked at the air tubing into carb when CovKid posted before, and the rubber/braided bits seem quite perished in parts.
Although it seems to be the ones that come off of the carb and into a 4 way splitter - any idea what thats for?
Removing it didn't cause the engine to falter, but removing the single one from dizzy to carb did...

( I have ordered new tubes / braided connectors from Brickwerks anyway - for £5 plus delivery I thought I may as well renew them. )

E D I T: Tubes turned up today - just fitted them - took 20 mins tops.
However I did notice that although still not cutting out etc, the engine does still idle quite `erratically`...
You don't really notice it with the radio on, but just with it running on the driveway, it is OK until it warms up then runs a bit `rough` with the revs rising and falling a bit.

So, I assume this indicates air still getting into the fuel mixture somewhere?
( I did the sucking test on the air vac thingy - that seems ok - you can suck a bit, hear a click and then can suck no more )



Any information appreciated.