Thanks everyone for the info and links to other resources.   To answer your
question Neil, no it happens every time -- cold start, whatever, it is
consistent if nothing else.  I happen to have another starter, that works
just fine, and will swap that in and see if that resolves the problem.

That starter will come out of an 86 tintop that I just purchased to harvest
some parts.  I've got a question or two related to that but I'll start a
new thread with those.

Rick

On Tue, Sep 15, 2015 at 6:12 PM, Neil N <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:

> Does this happen regardless of engine temp?
>
> On Tue, Sep 15, 2015 at 9:10 AM, Rick Cooper <rickdcooper@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> ...  There's an initial 'umph' --
>> starter gives kind of a push, then it stops for 1/4 to 1/2 a second before
>> it starts again and, this time, carries on to start the engine.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Neil n
>
> Blog: Vanagons, Westfalia, general <http://tubaneil.blogspot.ca>
>
> 1988 Westy Images <https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/New1988Westy>
>
> 1981 Westfalia "Jaco" Images, technical <http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/>
>
> Vanagon-Bus VAG Gas Engine Swap Group <http://tinyurl.com/khalbay>
>