Because of the number of replies suggesting the Jay Brown Hard Start
Relay, and because of the great reviews it's gotten and the fact that
it makes sense to me, I ordered it about 4 hours ago. Thanks everyone!

I'm so looking forward to having some warm, dry weather to install
some upgrades on my van!!! Heck of a Christmas present, in my mind . .
.
Marc

On Tue, Dec 23, 2014 at 12:57 PM, John Rodgers <jrodgers113@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have one of Jay Browns starter relays on both of  my vans. Recently I
> discovered that I could pull the relay cover and actuate the relay by hand,
> thus making it work as a remote start switch when working onthe engine.
> Very handy.
>
> John
> On Dec 23, 2014 10:49 AM, "Stuart MacMillan" <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Here is a nice relay setup:
>> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1119534 (Won't work
>> with an automatic with factory cruise control for some reason though.)
>>
>> Stuart
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
>> David Beierl
>> Sent: Monday, December 22, 2014 9:46 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: Trying to understand starter stuff
>>
>> At 11:03 PM 12/22/2014, Marc Perdue wrote:
>> >Hi all,
>>
>> Excellent!  I now have three verified cases of a starter control lead
>> coming
>> off without causing a hard start failure:  your Van, my '89 2.1l, and my
>> '71
>> Fiat 128.  I solved that one after running out of gas in an uphill  line to
>> buy gas somwehere in upstate New York, when it became clear that the motor
>> would crank if it were torqued slightly sideways.
>>
>> Starters have some challenging necessities.  They have to have big cables
>> direct to the battery; a heavy switch that can switch them on and off under
>> load without burning up quickly; a means of engaging the pinion into the
>> flywheel ring gear; and a positive means of disengaging it when the motor
>> starts, so the starter doesn't burst from overspeed.
>>
>> Back when the world was new the electrical switching was done by a
>> heavy-duty relay that would today be called a contactor but was commonly
>> known as a solenoid.  It was mounted somewhere between battery and starter,
>> and a light wire from the starter button or key switch used to activate it.
>> For testing you could use a screwdriver to jumper between the big battery
>> cable connection and the control terminal.  Starter "solenoids" were a
>> commonly available FLAPS part and no doubt still are; as they regularly
>> failed in use.  Last one I bought cost three or four dollars.  Excellent
>> for
>> switching a couple hundred amps DC but not rated for continuous duty.
>> They're meant for starting cars, once per trip segment, plenty of time to
>> cool in between.
>>
>> Engaging and disengaging the pinion was accomplished by a clever invention
>> called a Bendix drive.  The pinion was mounted on the starter shaft and
>> engaged a pair of helical slots in the shaft.  It was kept wound down to
>> the
>> bottoms of the slots by a light spring that pressed it away from the end of
>> the shaft.  When you hit the button, the shaft would spin violently and
>> hurl
>> the pinion into engagement during the first few revolutions.  And when the
>> motor started, the ring gear would spin the pinion back down the track out
>> of engagement.  It worked a treat, so long as you kept it clean and not
>> gucked up with oik or grease.  The Bendix Corporation waxed fat and happy.
>>
>> Came the day that someone thought it would be better to combine actions.
>> If
>> the contactor were mounted on the starter it would simplify wiring, and it
>> could be used as a real solenoid, to physically throw the pinion into
>> engagement as well.  Or rather a solenoid could be thus used, and with some
>> contacts added could perform the contactor function as well.  An
>> overrunning
>> clutch would handle decoupling the starter from the engine, leaving the
>> pinion in engagement but not forcing the starter to keep up with it.  Full
>> disengagement would happen when the key was released.  Over a decade or two
>> this method largely took over for starting cars, and that's how Bosch did
>> it
>> on our starters.
>>
>> The big cable goes direct from battery to starter, where it meets the
>> thinner wire from the alternator that supplies charge.  That connection is
>> subject to corrosion.  The ground connection through the starter, bell
>> housing, transmission ground strap may be defective.  The solenoid itself
>> wears and gets crudded up; you have to take the starter apart to clean it
>> up.  Non-A/T versions of this starter have no bearing at the pinion end;
>> the
>> shaft inserts into a sleeve bearing that's in turn inserted into the bell
>> housing of the engine.  That wears and needs renewal.  And the solenoid
>> gets
>> its operating power not from that fat cable but from battery to panel to
>> ignition switch and back to the starter.  It only needs two or three amps,
>> but it's a long trip.  It's easy to see if a relay could help it -- just
>> jumper the alternator B+ post to the starter control terminal.  You can
>> reach it by reaching your hand over the top of the bell housing, quite a
>> way
>> forward and then to the right.  There's probably a spare terminal to latch
>> on to.  If it cranks snappily that way and listlessly by the key, add a
>> relay.  If it makes no difference, neither will the relay.
>>
>> Yours,
>> David
>>