Mine did this, it turned out to be a bad ignition switch.   ...JMM

Justin M. Mayrand
1980 Westy "SuperVan"

On Aug 30, 2006, at 11:32 AM, Woody Halsey wrote:

> Dear All,
>
>
>
> In the 20 years I have been happily driving my V'gon, through two
> engines and more replaced parts than I care to think about, have gone
> through just about every challenge discussed here over the years. The
> one thing my beloved wagen has never done is fail to start. It has
> always fired up "au quart de tour," as the French say. Until
> yesterday.
>
>
>
> Here's what happened. Drove 40 miles to Logan airport, engine purring
> through the all-new exhaust system. Parked. Went to a meeting at the
> airport Hilton with the families of the students we were sending to
> Italy last night. Retrieved van in parking lot and drove over to the
> hotel to pick up colleague, wife, four kids and their 13 huge bags to
> check in and 8 small backpacks to carry on. They marveled at the
> capaciousness of the V'gon. (I took the middle seat out and
> carpeted the
> middle section years ago.) Drove to the terminal. Unloaded. Turned key
> to return to parking lot. She wouldn't start. Battery strong, engine
> turned over and over and over. No go.
>
>
>
> Went home on the back of the AAA flat bed, dropping van of at garage.
>
>
>
> This morning, she started right up the first time and the mechanic
> wondered why I was there. But then it refused to start the second time
> he turned the key.
>
>
>
> So, does anyone have an explanation?
>
>
>
> So far we know:
>
>
>
> a)          Battery strong
>
> b)        Plenty of fuel, no sign of fuel pump problems.
>
> c)          Spark string at the distributor cap (but terminals inside
> have heavy black deposits - I scraped them off with my pocket knife -
> probably should replace no matter what.)
>
>
>
> Theories to date:
>
> a)          Something to do with temp? (Started up when cooled down
> this
> morning ...?)
>
> b)        Loose wire somewhere?
>
> c)          Vapor lock somewhere?
>
>
>
> All suggestions welcome. Many thanks in advance.
>
>
>
> Woody
>
> 83.5 V'gon
>
> Haverhill, MA
>
>
>
>