[T3] Crankey car again!

[Jim Adney]

On 20 Aug 2013 at 22:13, Keith Park wrote:

> Until I disconnected the battery and it let go.  We conjectured on why this
> would happen with dying batteries but now it has happened with a fresh one.
> How does the solenoid fail in such a manner?  It did this consistently and
> when I replaced it it did not appear to be physically sticky at all, the
> spring felt fine.

I had this happen to me many years ago, and I never figured out the 
cause. That was an AT '71, and I had the starter in and out of the 
car maybe 3 times, in the mid of winter when it was -20 F out, plus 
wind chill. I finally gave up and exchanged the starter for a Bosch 
rebuild and it never happened again.

I can see how the engine starting might kick the Bendix and help stop 
the starter, but I don't see any reason why a weak battery should be 
any worse than a good one. I think it's a problem just within the 
starter, most probably in the Bendix.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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