I had the same issues on one of my vans. I think the original spade connector has a little plastic bit that locks on to the starter. Mine had broken off and hence the female side of the spade would eventually work its way loose. First, get a remote start switch and keep it in the van. Then you can at least start it from the back. After it happened a few times I eventually had it solved by having a shop crimp a new connector on when some other work was being done.

Good luck.
Aaron

On Mar 11, 2012, at 6:46 PM, craig cowan wrote:

> My '90 Automatic left me stranded today. Luckily it's in a safe place.
> Here's the story....
> 
> Last week I ran into an issue with the bus not cranking or even clicking
> when the key was in. It turned out to be the solenoid wire had fallen off.
> Reconnected it, and it ran great.
> 
> Today I drove down  a rough road to a friend's farm. That's where the bus
> now sits. When i realized it wouldn't start again I climbed under and sure
> enough, the wire was off. I tightened up the connector a bit with a pair of
> pliars and in putting it onto the spade, bent the spade. Youch.
> Anyway, now the spade wiggles. I think there may be an internal break as I
> still get no cranking at all.
> 
> I checked and there is 11.8 volts coming through that wire when the starter
> is meant to be engaged. So clearly eveything up stream of the starter is
> working.
> This was a used starter and It may be time for a replacement. Does anyone
> have one they're tripping over? : )
> 
> Curiously....
> There is a second wire on the opposite side of the solenoid. It is
> white/Red and thin guage, coming out of the same loom as the Big Red wire
> going to the solenoid. What does this wire do?
> Are these two spades interconnected and interchangeable for putting the
> thick red wire on?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -Craig
> '87 Sunroof Syncro
> '85 Residence
> '90 GL Automatic