The VC kit wire is too short for the gear reduction starter, so make up your own longer one.

 

Stuart

 

From: Michael McSwain [mailto:michaelmcswain@gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 11:19 AM
To: Stuart MacMillan; vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
Subject: Re: Is something killing my starters?

 

Well I thought I had a plan until I followed your link Stuart. The description of the cable says it will not work with gear reduction starters.  I assume that it has to do with the gauge of the wire. I replaced my alternator wiring with a kit from one of the usual suspects a while back and I'm wondering if my kit had or should have had the same foot note. 

 

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 1:32 PM Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote:

I doubt that you'll have any further problems with that starter.  There are no "new" stock Bosch starters for the Vanagon, just rebuilds that are simply junk. The windings are old and subject to failure since they are all at least 25 years old, and the starter were weak from the get-go. This is why most vendors have stopped selling them.

I've replaced the end of the cable at the battery with a clamp on type with no issues.  Also be sure your braided ground cable is in good condition. This wire is a good thing to make or buy for your '85: http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_780_449/alternator-cable-upgrade.html

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Michael McSwain
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 10:02 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Is something killing my starters?

Well I took the starter out last night and it's definitely not responding to voltage at all.  I think I'm going to try one of Karl's adapters and a gear reduction starter along with a new cable to the battery.  My current cable is slightly frayed at the battery end and at least 2 strands of wire are broken.  So hopefully that's a safe bet. I will probably try the voltage test you described after new starter but before new cable.  Seems reasonable.

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016, 10:29 AM Steve Williams < steve@williamsitconsulting.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> My first guess would be the positive cable from the battery to the starter.
>
> If there is corrosion or deterioriation of the wiring, there will be a
> bigger voltage drop over the length of the cable.  Voltage drop is
> related to the amount of current being drawn through the wire, so it's
> best to test under load.
>
> If the voltage drop is too much (voltage too low @ starter), the only
> way for the starter to work is to draw more current to compensate for
> lower voltage.  High current is what will generally cause electrical
> devices to burn up.
>
> I've never had to do this, but I would think measuring the actual
> voltage from the starter post to a local ground WHILE CRANKING would
> be a useful data point.  Do the same thing at the battery end of the
> cable & see how much voltage loss is in the cable.
>
> The other disadvantage of high voltage drop is that the drop is lost
> as heat, which isn't really desirable when dealing with the current
> that a starter draws.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve W.
>
>
> On 26/06/2016 12:09 PM, Michael McSwain wrote:
> > I replaced my unknown age starter on my 1.9 about a year ago with a
> > brand new Bosch.  Recently it started displaying the same symptoms
> > as the previous one.  Turning the engine over seemed to get more and
> > more laborious and eventually it stopped doing anything at all.  The
> > last hand full of times it actually started, I turned the key and it
> > turned over once,  then a 2 second or so silent pause then it turned
> > over again and cranked up. Pretty much the same exact symptoms as the previous starter.
> >
> > So far I've jumpered around my ignition switch.  Nothing.  I cleaned
> > my battery/body and transmission grounds.  Nothing.  I bridged the
> > starter
> and
> > solenoid posts with a screw driver and got a little spark,  but
> > nothing
> at
> > all from the starter motor.  Silence on all counts except for the
> > fuel
> pump
> > priming which has been happening all along.  Does this just sound
> > like
> bad
> > luck and it's a bad starter or is there something else that could be
> > causing a premature failure of the starter?
> >
> > I also had my battery checked and it checked out fine.  I have one
> > of
> those
> > cigarette lighter volt meters that consistently shows 13.9 volts at
> speed.
> > If it weren't a 1 year old Bosch starter I would have immediately
> > assumed that to be the problem. Am I just in denial?
> >
> > Any thoughts would be much appreciated
>
>