The ignition switch almost certainly has nothing to do with your problem.
It sounds like mostly a mechanical problem with the solenoid and/or the
movement of the starter drive gear on the shaft.

Larry A.

On Mon, Dec 10, 2012 at 3:48 PM, David Clarkson <dvdclarksn@aol.com> wrote:

> Don't know if anyone is still following this thread but my problem
> began as an intermittant slow turning of the starter and then I had one
> instance where the starter would not disengage after starting until I
> revved the engine a bit. The current situation is that when I tried to
> start the engine the starter motor would not stop turning until I
> disconnected the battery but it never turned over the engine. I ordered
> another ignition switch since it
> was only about $6 and mine had almost 300K on it (geez according to Ben's
> site looks like I'll need to find a steering wheel puller to replace this
> part). In the mean time I
> disconnected the switch completely and then reconnected the
> battery-same problem. I am now thinking that something both mechanical
> and or electrical is going on with the solenoid. Any opinions or
> similar problems out there?  Maybe a problem with the starter
> bushings? Oh and this is a 1990 Vanagon with a manual tranny. I am
> looking for a solenoid online but have had limited success. Any
> suggestions should this be the problem on where I might find a good
> solenoid? I might go with the new/rebuilt starter/solenoid I saw on the
> samba. The seller says  he doesn't know if it is for a manual or auto
> but it looks different than the automatic starters listed in the same
> section. I hate to be that guy that just starts throwing parts at a
> problem but at this point I can't imagine anything else that could have
> failed.
> It would be just as easy to swap out the entire starter/solenoid assembly
> as just changing the solenoid and I would have a spare starter on hand that
> I could have rebuilt with new bushings. While I'm in that neighborhood I'll
> clean and check all the wiring. I can't imagine anything simply wiring
> related after looking at the Bentley that could be causing this symptom but
> it would be good preventative maintenance as well as a good time to check
> for adequete voltage at the starter. Any opinions from the been there done
> that members of the list would be an early Christmas/Hanukkah/
> Kwanza/Festivus gift from you to me. Thanks everyone.
>
> David Clarkson
> 90 Westy-can't seem to get the planets to align to get started
>