My first suspect would be that you've got a starter that is thinking
about quitting very soon.

Stan Wilder
83 Air Cooled Westfalia

On Fri, 14 Jun 2002 16:35:58 -0700 dave bowers <dave@SPARKPLUG.COM>
writes:
> Hi Folks,
>
> My 1986 Westy has some new behaviors in light of all the hot
> weather
> Portland has seen this week.
>
> I've been using my AC a lot, and now yesterday and today I found
> when I go
> to start my van with the AC on it pauses when I crank it.
>
> There is a distinct weeeer, than a long pause ... and then it tries
> to
> start. Twice ... the starter managed to turn over enough to start
> with the
> AC on ... tho, once it just sat there like the battery was dead
> (Both are
> brand new).
>
> When I simply turn my AC off she starts just fine. I've noticed
> some
> acceleration lugging at lights, when I have my AC on and press the
> gas pedal
> too (usually in the morning when I first start her). She seems to
> be
> struggling to a certain point and usually gets going. Once I thought
> she was
> going to stall as I started to go through a light. I turned the AC
> off,
> threw it in to neutral and pressed the gas a bit. Got the revs up
> and
> scooted away. All new belts, she normally idles fine too.
>
> Anyhow, I am more curious about the problem about having the AC on
> and not
> being able to crank/turn over enough to start. 2 in 3 times she
> will, tho
> there is that one time there seems to be no power (belts?
> alternator?
> battery? electrical? starter?).  Somehow, there seems to be a power
> problem.
>
> Would anyone have any ideas what I should have looked at to diagnose
> this
> problem? It's not a big deal for me to just turn my AC off before I
> start,
> tho I often leave it on when I pull in somewhere and forget about it
> when I
> leave my car.
>
> Any information you can share would be a great help. Feel free to
> email me
> directly if you like.
>
> Thanks!
>
> dave bowers
> Portland, Oregon
> 1986 Westy "G2"
>

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