Must be a VW thing. My 81 Diesel Caddy slowly took longer and longer to start - then wouldn't. Turns out the ORIGINAL starter winding wires were slowly disintegrating!  Rotting. Falling apart.

When I took it for rebuild to my local auto shop discovered the rotor would still spin very fast and very quietly. Under load - almost no spin at all.  The winding wires that terminated at the solenoid inside the round connector had rotted or burned out so no amps were getting through.

Tried to get windings (Bosch) but were $167 to buy. New (rebuilt) was $79 from Advanced Auto. Go figure which this cheapskate bought.   The  Vanagon is almost ready for the local VoTech engine switch and lots of other mods. So get ready for my whining. Keep smiling.

Peter Marsh
Naples