Club 80-90 Forums

Evening all,

Need to replace my defunct Starter Motor.
My dead van is a 1984 1,9. DG Petrol W/C

Been offered one off a 1,9 Petrol 1988 .

Does anyone know if an 1988 will fit my 1984 ?

I do have reservations , any advice, help will be great.
I'm also pondering of having my u/s one refurbished.

Thanks,

Chris

Yes it fits

Yes as Kev said, it will be compatible....don't forget to disconnect your starter battery first and replace the starter bush at the same time (they cost about £3.00) and a worn one often causes slow cranking faults. Once the starter is removed you will see the bush internally when you look through the starter hole.

Martin

Here is a link to our wiki "How To" https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... sh_removal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and = https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Al ... rter_motor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just in case

Thanks lads for your help.

My concern is all new Starters appear to be itemised in years ie:-

January 1980 to Deceumber 1986 then , 1986 onwards.

Am I going down the wrong track here?

Atb,
Chris.

Some have long and others shorter 8mm thread for the main feed cables, I've never come across one that wont actually fit.

I'd also add to check the small 6mm spade connector which is the signal wire from the ignition. Water runs along the cable settling into the back of the terminal causing it to fester and decay. I replaced the existing terminal, cutting the cable back to good, bright copper and used heat shrink to prevent the same happening again.

Ian

Very good information Ian, regarding 6,-mm Spade Connector, thanks.

I've seen somewhere on here advising an Earth from Starter Motor to body.

Where do I connect on Starter and what is present set up?

I understand the Starter is earthed to Gearbox which in turn is earthed to body.
Can't find any Earthing Strap on Starter to Gearbox, is one there?

Thanks,

Chris

freckvan1 wrote:Very good information Ian, regarding 6,-mm Spade Connector, thanks.

I've seen somewhere on here advising an Earth from Starter Motor to body.

Where do I connect on Starter and what is present set up?

I understand the Starter is earthed to Gearbox which in turn is earthed to body.
Can't find any Earthing Strap on Starter to Gearbox, is one there?

Thanks,

Chris

no, the earth goes from the nose of the gearbox, the starter earths to the gearbox by its body and bolts

The main 'engine' earth is attached at the gearbox mounting end but there is absolutely no reason why a second earth strap couldn't be added to a suitable position on the bell housing and chassis. Obviously the chassis connection needs 'bare metal' to earth properly....then paint over to prevent corrosion.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/classic-mini- ... 33736a5df5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Make sure the cable has sufficient slack and clearance but is allowed to flex it's entire length so it doesn't snap over time.


Martin

Thanks Mocki, where is best to connect an earth strap
on Starter Motor and do I secure this strap to body/chassis ?

Atb,
Chris

As Mocki says... There's no earth strap on the starter motor, it's on the gearbox.
the starter motor is earthed through the bolts that attach it to the bellhousing

the early manual petrol wbx starter is smaller and lower power than the late one but they are interchangeable (except on 1985 MY petrol syncros with the short difflock pin)

VW standardised on the bigger starter in 1986 when they/bosch also used the same core starter on the TD montego gearbox they built for BL (TD needs more grunt to crank), the BL version however has a slightly different bolt pattern and I think different tooth pattern so is not interchangeable but looks just like the wbx one if you saw them together you'd have to look hard to spot the difference

I advise moving the earth to the starter motor on 5 speed boxes to reduce the electrolytic corrosive effects of sticking a 12V potential across a steel plate that has a 1mm gap to a magalloy case where with the aid of some salty water you can see massive corosion of the gearbox end case; the 4 speeds suffer much less from this though you will often see quite heavy corrosion of the bosses that the gearbox mount studs fix into; using the gearbox as the earth contact was just a production line simplification (engine and gearbox lifted up into engine bay and mount bolted on with earth in one action) and doesn't really do anything for efficient cranking
Similarly the permenant live across the reverse switch on the gearbox together with the permenant earth to the gearbox causes corrosion of the case around the reverse switch housing and is why in late 1989 VW added a paper gasket to that mating face to mitigate the effects as by then they would have seen a lot of exchange gearbox cores coming back that weren't suitable for reuse due to the corrosion thus caused, and is why I have always fitted the paper gasket, now obsolete from VW and classic parts but which I make myself, though it has been remanufactured in america (but is a bit pricey)

wiki this please to save me reiterating myself

Good info Aidan...now on WIKI...

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/VW ... rter_motor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So the later motor may infact be more powerful than the original....bonus.

Martin

Well I've removed Starter and it's well and truly u/s,
undecided whether to refurbish or new one.
Thanks for all the advice received, really good.

Anyway now it's off, decided following advice, to remove Bush
and fit new one in Bell Housing.

Well despite every way I can try, I can't actually view the Bush straight on,
Ok with torch and mirror, but can't see how I can perform this op just by feel!

Jacked van up on O/s and that's it so far.
Does removing inner O/s Drive Shaft make this easier?
Can anyone advise on best way forward please?

I'm pretty damn thin and tried every position, but can't get anywhere near it!

Atb,
Chris

easiest way to remove the bush is with a "rawlbolt " the same size as the starter shaft , insert and tighten slightly and it will pull the bush out . no need to remove the box or shafts