GoWesty gear reduction starter

[otiswesty]

I've had my bus about 25 years and can't remember a day when we wern't push starting it for one reason or another. Thank God it's a stick shift. Any ways, I had replaced the started due to a "bad" solenoid about 5-6 times back in the late 80's. Finally heard about the hard start relay which I have had in the bus since then. This really did the trick, but lately I have been getting the occasional no start. Youn know, turn the key and nothing happens.

I decided to bite the bullet and finally get the gear reduction starter that Gowesty sells. I know they had a bunch of issues with them when they first started to sell them, but supposedly all sorted now. The bus has been getting alot more attention this past year because the Vanagon has been down in Baja on vacation since Feb of 2012. I had a shop here in Portland install the gear reduction starter on Monday and also put in a 75amp rewound rebuilt alternator that I picked up off ebay. This ought to help with the new fridge unit and second battery system.

Back to the starter, I picked up the bus yesterday evening and was driving home. About a half mile into it I started getting a horrible scratching and screeching sound from the rear. I immediately pulled off and opened the engine compartment. There was chatter in the alternator belt but the alternator looked fine. Then the noise suddenly stopped. I shut it down and checked the belt tension which was normal. Looking at the starter, everything looked fine and nothing was loose. Started up normally except for the funny sound of the new starter and headed home. I figured it was probably a tin screw or washer that got into the alternator and got kicked out.

Driving on the freeway about 5 minutes later, I think I can hear an unusual noise coming from the rear (not the usual loud engine noise). Then all of a sudden a loud racket, with something clearly flying off under the bus or in the wheel well. Whatever it was ricocheted off my wife's nice car that was driving directly behind me. She didn't get a glimpse of what the object was either, but it was definitly a piece of metal. Still drove OK so I continued to head home.

Once in the driveway, I let it idle in neutral and rechecked the starter and alternator and could find nothing unusual. Nothing loose or out of place

TBC ... gotta go get the bus before they close.
_________________
1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[SGKent]

drive it some more. You'll eventually figure out what came off.

BTW - solenoids go bad on buses. Gear reduction starters won't stop that. The grease in the solenoid hardens.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[bigbore]

everybody puts in these 75 amp alts or bigger to run more stuff and duel batteries I find it funny I have just the stock 35 gen and have extra things like force air furnace extra lighting duel batteries I run a tv things like that and the old gen seems to do fine. If I need more power or I do a long camp out I have the good old honda EM1000 plugged in to the side man at 6 hours to the gal its cheep to run and so quite you hardly even know its out there.
_________________
where its cold and snowy

[aeromech]

My first thought was that maybe the alternator pulley was cutting into the face of the alternator. Sometimes you need to shim it out some.
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[otiswesty]

Just thought I'd finish out this story...

I got my bus home after the bad sounds driving home and parked it in front of the garage. Now normally my E-brake is not well adjusted or even on. That night it happened to be well applied as well as adjusted properly. The next morning I was heading down stairs and heard a strange noise coming from out on the driveway, open the front door and lo and behold the van is running. Actually, it was the starter turning over the motor with no key in it about 12 hours after being parked here. Total poltergeist! The new garage door 3 feet in front of the bus was saved only by a combination of sheer luck and good bus Karma.

I had it AAA towed back to Trafton's after disconnecting the battery and headed off to work in plan B. That evening, I went to pick up the bus again, got there just before closing and picked up the keys. I went out to the bus and figured I would give it a look over before heading home. Opening the engine compartment, I thought I could hear some weird faint buzzing sound. I crawled under the bus and well by golly if the fuel pump wasn't running full time. Holy bejeebus,,, I went back into the shop and casually mentioned this fact.

The mechanic was sent back out to my bus, he pulled a wire off of the starter and "tucked it away up above it." That had be enough to convince me to just do my own work on the van, but I do have a demanding job that doesn't always allow this. They said that the projectile that struck my wife's car was likely a tool left up there. I guess that was reassuring, nothing broken off of the bus anyways.

This shop had recently been sold by the original owner. When I scheduled the appointment this was unknown to me. I had noticed that when I first picked up the bus that the charge was $75 more than I had been quoted on the phone. He said it was because I had said the bus was a '74 and a '78 is more work for the install. Actually, there is no way I would have said it is a '74. I mean like "whaaat?" It's been over a year and I will never go to that old standby reliable shop again. Really a shame when a change of ownership results in immediate reduction in quality of service accompanied by higher prices. Live and learn.
_________________
1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[kreemoweet]

14 months later -- better than never, I guess. At least I can breathe normally again!

You are talking about these guys: http://www.traftonforeignauto.com/ ?

That is simply heinous. You are aware that TheSamba has a place for reporting such bad (and also good) actors?
Although called the Buyer and Seller Feedback forum, it also applies to service providers.
In fact, Trafton's has a topic established there, where you could have learned of the ownership change.
I suggest you make a post there to share your experience with that outfit. Too bad you didn't do so last year,
you may have saved quite a few VW owners from yet another Hose Job. You don't even have to trouble yourself
with re-typing your entry, just link to the present topic.
_________________
'67 bug: seized by the authorities
'68 bug: seized by the authorities
'71 kombi: not yet seized by the authorities

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[otiswesty]

Duly noted cream
_________________
1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy