Rob,
Where did you get a "New" Bosch starter. All I know of is rebuilds for the
automatic. Yes, there is a crudely designed neutral safety switch. It
basically consists of a contact wiper on the gear shift handle and a contact
block. This also works the reverse lights. Yes, this is a common failure
point. The contact bar wears and or burns and the contact block heats up and
softens letting the contact points sink into the plastic. Accept for access,
both are easy to inspect and replace. The two parts are readily available
and reasonably priced. Just lift up the cover at the top of te shift console
and look down and to the right. You will see it. The two large red wires are
in series with the start circuit of the ignition switch and the starter.

Is is also possible your starter or wiring has a hot start issue.

Dennis

>From: Robert Stewart <robertmstewart@MAC.COM>
>Reply-To: Robert Stewart <robertmstewart@MAC.COM>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Van Not Starting - 88 Automatic with New Starter and Alternator
>Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 01:17:28 -0400
>
>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