starter cranking voltage and other starter problems

[robintb]

Hello,

Can anybody suggest what voltage I should be measureing accross the battery during cranking (81' 2.0 A/C)? It seems to drop to below 10V (sometimes 9V). Would this indiacte a dead battery?

The starter wont turn over at anything under about 12.5 - 12.6 V - is this normal?

Furthmore, I had to rock the van in gear, I was told this can loosten the starter. Sure enough it worked, now not so easily.

Having the same problems as many threads would suggest. There's a drain on the battery somewhere - for some reason the +ve terminal splits into two wires, both go down under the van, and the one which contains the drain joins into what I think is the main loom heading towards the back of the van.

So, is it normal that there should be two wires coming off the +ve terminal?

Answers to any/all of the above would be fantastic, as I is a stuck camper at the moment.

Many thanks.

Robin

[robintb]

ahh, also, just charged the battery indoors, it read 13.5 prior to putting back in the van. Started first time and its reading a voltage of 14+ v during idle tick over, so I guesss it's nothing to do with the alternator.

[Fritz]

It's a common problem when things start to get a bit tired, mine does a similar thing even though the starter works perfectly when on the bench with a good power source etc.

Have a look at this thread which came up in the last couple of weeks,,,,,,,
http://archive.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic ... r+problems

Regards

Fritz,,,,,,

[dazzzer1]

check the earth strap betwen the gear box and chassis

[ghost123uk]

Check this post here ->
http://archive.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic ... highlight=

Lots of info there

Remember that owners of flat 4 V Dubs should NOT try and run the starter off the vehicle as they only have 1 bearing inside the starter, the other on is on the engine casing (where the spigot goes)

I reckon replacing the spigot bush if necessary, fitting a re-con starter, a new battery and making sure all the heavy cables are in good nick and well connected is worth it's weight in gold - mine was a lazy starter, but now it turns over as fast as a new BMW engine does