[67bug]

The EMPI setup is a little better than stock but not as good as a more traditional header setup. If you get a different air cleaner, stay away from the tiny ones. Also make sure you can attach a breather tube to it.

 

[JohnNewb]

So today U was playing with starter. I put it back on and direct wired it. Solenoid energizes every time. Starter finally spun after ten tries. Spins a few times and then doesn't. I think it is a Bosch but says remanufactured in México. Is it possible to disassemble and clean it up like old American starters? If I replace it, are the low cost self supporting starters worth trying? Huge price difference and same warranty.

 

[67bug]

You can clean it up just like the American ones. Same general design. I did two of these about 6 months ago. I usually clean up the armature before putting it together. I have an old South Bend lathe with some tooling to support VW starters and generators in the tailstock. If you don't have a lathe, you can polish the armature contacts with light sandpaper backed with a wood or metal block. The surface needs to be flat for the brushes, which should be checked to make sure they are not worn down. Same as you would do for a US starter.

Are you sure the starter is not binding somewhere? You might slightly loosen it and see if it turns better. Solenoid contacts might be burned. Might look at that first.

Unless the brass contacts on the armature are completely worn down or the windings are shorted, it is much cheaper to just overhaul the old starter. Generally worst case is the brushes need replacing, armature has a lot of burn marks or the solenoid contacts are burned. All are relatively easy to fix.

 

[JohnNewb]

You can clean it up just like the American ones. Same general design. I did two of these about 6 months ago. I usually clean up the armature before putting it together. I have an old South Bend lathe with some tooling to support VW starters and generators in the tailstock. If you don't have a lathe, you can polish the armature contacts with light sandpaper backed with a wood or metal block. The surface needs to be flat for the brushes, which should be checked to make sure they are not worn down. Same as you would do for a US starter.

Are you sure the starter is not binding somewhere? You might slightly loosen it and see if it turns better. Solenoid contacts might be burned. Might look at that first.

Unless the brass contacts on the armature are completely worn down or the windings are shorted, it is much cheaper to just overhaul the old starter. Generally worst case is the brushes need replacing, armature has a lot of burn marks or the solenoid contacts are burned. All are relatively easy to fix.

Engine is out of car so I can see the bendix move out every time. Solenoid seems to overheat and stop after multiple tries and then starts against after cooling off. I'll try loosening mounts. I wanted to remove and put a little grease on shaft end. This car has sat for six or seven years and didn't turn at all when I bought the car. Another worry is it works intermittently with engine out. What will it do trying to turn engine over?

 

[67bug]

The solenoid should only engage for a few seconds while you are cranking the engine, so should not overheat (unless it is a 6V solenoid in a 12V car). Remove the spark plugs and try turning the engine over by turning the nut on the alternator clockwise. The engine should turn easily just using a < 1' long wrench. If it does, try cranking the engine with the starter. It should spin pretty easily.

You can check the starter motor by powering the starter from the bolt at the bottom of the solenoid instead of the bolt at the top of the solenoid. Normally the power is at the top bolt and the bottom bolt gets its power from the contacts in the solenoid. This bypasses the solenoid altogether, which will probably not engage the bendix gear. The starter should spin freely and fast. If it does, there may be a bad solenoid and you could open up the solenoid and look for a contact problem.

If the solenoid windings are shorted together or shorted to ground internally, that would make the solenoid get hot real fast. Since the winding resistance is so low per turn, it is nearly impossible to measure a resistance fault. Testing the current draw of the solenoid windings (current to the small starting terminal) might reveal a short as an unusually high current, like 20A. I cannot remember the value range and would have to grab a starter to make a test, if needed.

If the engine is hard to turn over with the plugs removed, and possibly also hard to turn over with the starter with the plugs removed, you have an engine problem. I would suspect the shims at the flywheel end of the crank are too tight (common rebuilding problem), or the cylinders are rusty.

 

[JohnNewb]

I'll try the other terminal and see. The motor will be out of car for some time. The plastic cap on solenoid is cracked. Solenoid draws enough current that the contacts in my remote starter fried closed.

 

[67bug]

The current through the remote starter switch to the small start terminal on the solenoid should not fry. It is likely the starter solenoid windings are internally shorted. Normally there is no fix for that. New solenoid time.
I suspect the previous owner spent a lot of time cranking the engine and eventually overheated the solenoid windings causing them to short together. Let me know about the ease of turning over the engine.

 

[JohnNewb]

The current through the remote starter switch to the small start terminal on the solenoid should not fry. It is likely the starter solenoid windings are internally shorted. Normally there is no fix for that. New solenoid time.
I suspect the previous owner spent a lot of time cranking the engine and eventually overheated the solenoid windings causing them to short together. Let me know about the ease of turning over the engine.

I have turned it with plugs in. It turns but you can feel it has compression. After degreasing I'll pull plugs and check it though. It has a leaky main seal so needs a lot of cleaning. I plan on starting it on a pallet before it goes back in car. I cut a transmission shell and have another starter from an older bug that is twelve volt but has the larger shaft so fits my cut off six volt housing bushing. I could buy the adapter bushing and use it but think I'll keep it for my test stand use.