My first suspect would be the cold oil.  Maybe switching to a lighter grade
oil would help.  I encountered this problem in a non-VW of mine.  I then
realized I forgot to switch from my 20W-50 for the season.

Chris.

'85 Westy.

----- Original Message -----
From: John Branstrom <Syncro86VW@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2000 8:45 AM
Subject: Hard starting when warm

> Yesterday even with the temp in single digits my 86 syncro still turned
over
> very slowly when trying to restart it after it had been shut off just a
> minutes earlier.  Just wondering what causes this?
>
> I've had 3 Vanagons 2 air-cooled and the water cooled syncro.  This has
been
> a chronic problem on all 3.  Is this just the nature of the beast or can
this
> be remedied (replacing starter never made much difference).
>
> Blitz