85 Refuses to start

[daniel5560]

Yesterday I finally was able to pick up my new 85 Vanagon. Drove home in it totalling about 1 and a half hours. Later I moved it around my driveway and it all seemed good. Went to fire it up this morning, and got nothing. Lights all work fine and batt is fully charged, but it refuses to crank over. I went over the terminal connections. Any one have a similar prob? It would be nice to go out driving as I just got it.

Thanks
Dan

[BavarianWrench]

We have all had that problem it's new owner syndrome all it takes is money to fix. Try banging on that starter. The problem could be anything. Starter, Batt, voltage drop through the switch, batt poss, batt neg, chassis ground. If you bang it and it works its probably your starter. I hope its warm by you in the morning. Good Luck

[weinerwagen]

Typical Bosch issue with its starters. You might try replacing ALL the leads to the starter, but a cheap quick fix is a starter button wired so you can give the
starter motor a tickle when it refuses to kick....
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Must be coming in the 85 i have two 85,s and they both have /had this problem. I carry a sarter stick now ( just a long paint pole) to bang on it now and then. Even a new started had this trouble probly new wires and bearing would fix it.

[spigot]

This happened to my Syncro when I first got it. I found if I held the key in the start position for anywhere from 2 to 20 seconds, it would eventually turn over. I kept a long screwdriver handy to bang on the solenoid when the key trick didn't work... and became eerily aware of any significant slope when ever I parked. (I parked at the HIGHEST point, in case that needed any clarification... gravity, you know.)

I eventually replaced the starter, and have had no problems since.

[daniel5560]

After going over every connection, it is the starter. It started fine yesterday but today was no go. Well looks like its time to replace the ailing starter.

Thanks
Dan

[daniel5560]

Well I went outside and gave the starter a few whacks with a hammer, but its still froze up. It worked yesterday. Could it be that far gone to where you cannot free it up?

[mjamgb]

VW in their infinite wisdom decided the longest wires possible were the order for the day in nearly all the vans. They outdid themselves in the vanagon by putting the battery up front too! (I wonder, is the battery in the back of the EV???)

The end result of this is the voltage drop is significant and greatly enhanced by any corrosion or loose connections. On top of that, the solenoid seems to be a weenie on rebuilt Bosch starters.

For some reason, mine decided to just keep on crankin' recently. Key off, key removed and still goin'. Stared at it for about 15 seconds of this sillyness than it shut off (fortunately at the time it wouldn't start so no harm).

My #1 suggestion for starter trouble is to break and make every single connection in the system. Clean them up and add some vaseline to reduce immediate corrosion. Most of the time this works unless the starter or battery are dead, dead, dead.

Mike!

p.s. if you are replacing stuff start with the battery as they fail more often than the starter and are less expensive (and easier to replace!).

[BavarianWrench]

Sounds like you have V.D. (voltage drop). Jump power to the starter terminal on the starter. You have to crawl under the car to do this. Many an aspiring volkswagen mechanic has been killed performing this very procedure. Make sure your not in gear, take a jumper wire from the battery connection on the starter, then tap it to the connection of the smaller starter wire, and try not to hit your head when you jump back in shock that the moter is spinning. Or just replace the starter and clean all the other connections, it will work and you'll never know why and thats really how Van ownership is supposed to be.

[daniel5560]

Fired up today. Hmmmmmmmm very odd. I think the starter is haunted. It started Friday, no go on Sat, Ran Sun, No go Mon, and was fine today. Ill have to check for that voltage drop, and go over the connctions again.