> right before we finally got it fixed did we learn about banging the
> starter. In Wyoming we had a ford relay put on the starter by a garage that
> had a lot of old busses on the lot. We drove from Wyoming to Maine in
> August heat with out the problem happening again. Anyone know of any
> problems with this fix?
>
It works, but it's not the best solution.  The best solution is to use
NOT a Ford solenoid but rather a standard $4 fog light relay from any
FLAPS.  Even betterer is the Bosch WR1 kit made just for this
application (plug and play, it's prewired and all that so I've heard).

The trick is the Ford solenoid takes almost as much current to trip as
the VW solenoid, so it's really not that great of a solution.  But it
will likely work for some people.

--
Sean Bartnik
Fredericksburg, Virginia
1981 Volkswagen Vanagon L Westfalia
1974 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible
http://www.type2.com/bartnik/myvan.htm
http://www.mwc.edu/~sbart7kb/vwbooks.htm