I had the same thing happen to my 87 Vanagon, where the braided wire looked
fine but literally broke apart when i applied some gentle pressure on it.
Think of a well worn S.O.S. pad i guess.  You can fix this problem by simply
replacing the braided line with a thick battery cable.  You will need to
take the starter apart and solder on your newly cut battery cable but it
does work.  There is a thick rubber seal that seals the hole where the new
cable exits the starter that will require some attention.  I remember
needing to cut the seal to get the new cable through.  I used some heavy
duty silicone seal to make things water tight then bolted everything
together.  Thus far all works well.  FYI
Claudio Cella
87  Vanagon  GL  7 pass.
90  Jetta  TD
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew" <Andrew@VWMAIL.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 4:30 AM
Subject: Re: 85 Starter Woes

> On my 84, the heavy braided (pos) wire going to the starter motor from the
solenoid, corroded off recently. This summer, the same thing also happened
to the Jetta. All that winter salt, even though we wash it off, we still
miss some.
>
> Andrew
> 1984 Westy "Speed Bump"
> 1996 VW Jetta Trek  "Little Beep" (the wife's car)
> The Basket Bus  http://www.creativegifts2go.com/vw.html
>
>
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