Of course you had it in "park". 'But......

Is there ever any issue with a switch or same, that works in
conjunction with the gear selector? i.e. a safety switch that allows
starter to turn over only when in "park"?

Neil. (who has never driven a Vanagon Automatic).

--
Please send me your Vanagon/Westfalia links!
http://vanagonlinks.googlepages.com/home

Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia.
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil

On 8/7/07, Robert Stewart <robertmstewart@mac.com> wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I have an 88 automatic, all of a sudden last Sunday the van would not
> start. I use the van every other day and drive it all weekend long
> without an issue till recently.
>
> On Sunday I went to the van after about 3hrs and tried to start her
> up. Nothing, the lights on the dash were on with full power, stereo
> worked just fine, I even pulled out the jumper system and charged up
> the battery just to be safe, nothing worked. I then opened up the
> plastic shroud around the ignition removed the plastic and exposing
> the steering column and the lead wires to the ignition, I could see
> nothing wrong.
>
> I wanted 5 minutes and gave it shot, she started up instantly as
> usual. What the hell is going wrong here?
>
> The starter was replaced about 4 months ago with brand new bosch
> unit. I don't even here a clicking at all, just nothing happens when
> you go to start the van, just the lights on the dash, no sound nothing.
>
> I also replaced the alternator about 9 months ago, I believe I got
> from Vanagain.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> --
> Rob
> NYC/Bloomingburg NY
> 88 Wolfsburg, Silver
> 222,225 miles - automatic
> AIM: rmstewart@mac.com
>