Ken,
    Put a volt meter  across the length of the cable.  In other
words, from ground on the battery to the ground point
of the  cable.  You should measure 0 volts.  Try cranking
the engine, and see if the meter still reads  0.   If not the
cable is bad.  You can do this with any cable.  The battery cable
should also be tested.   Cables this old gain resistance, and
grow green crud inside, witch causes this problem.  GM cars
are the worst.

Kenneth Wilford wrote:

>I am having a strange electrical problem with an 84 Vanagon GL with manual
>transmission.  The van came in with a "not starting when hot" problem and
>also a slow spinning over starter.  I found a problem with the temp II
>sensor wiring and fixed that easily.  However the slow spinning starter has
>me stumped at the moment.  I thought the problem was just that the old
>starter was hurt because the woman kept spinning the thing over when it
>wouldn't start.  I tried putting in new ground straps on the engine and also
>a new one on the transmission but this didn't help at all.  Next I tried
>replacing the starter with a new one and this did not fix the problem.  The
>strange thing that I have noticed is that as I am trying to crank the van
>over the ground wire on the battery gets extremely hot.  At one point it was
>smoking hot.
>
>Anyone have a clue on this one?  It seems like something is shorting out,
>but I can't figure out what that would be.  I would appreciate any advice
>you have on this one as it is causing me much head stratching.
>
>Thanks,
>Ken Wilford
>John 3:16
>http://www.vanagain.com
>http://www.strictlyvwauctions.com
>http://www.eurovan.org
>http://www.vwcabrio.org
>Phone: (856)-327-4936
>Fax: (856)-327-2242
>
>
>
>