Author Topic: 86' Golf, Dies after jumpstart (Read 3880 times)

vegfuel · « **on:** March 17, 2009, 12:04:20 am »

I just got my 86' Golf out of a shop that replaced all of my glow plugs with new ones several weeks ago. It starts up great and runs well. However recently it has been having a problem with the ignition. I go out to my car only to find that when I turn on the ignition to cycle the glow plugs, the indicator lights just flicker and fade and a weird buzzing noise goes off that intensifies :?.

So I then call my gf and she comes over and gives me a jump. When I connected it all up the indicator lights work and the car starts right up. I then take disconnect the jumpers and about ten seconds later the golf dies and the ignition wont work.
(One thing to mention is that every time I start the golf, I have to rev the engine a little to make the red battery light go out. What is this?) I then have to jump it again and rev the engine to make the light go out and it's fine. I can drive it anywhere and it will start right up even if I turn it off. It's when I leave it over night that this happens.

So my guess is that it's not mechanical and somethings wrong with a relay maybe.

Does anyone have any ideas?

thanks

CODE4LS1 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 17, 2009, 11:04:23 am »

Sounds like your battery is toast. I would try a load test on the battery or buy a new one.

jtanguay · « **Reply #2 on:** March 17, 2009, 12:06:18 pm »

Quote from: "CODE4LS1"

Sounds like your battery is toast. I would try a load test on the battery or buy a new one.

either that or the charging system... but it is very likely to be a bad battery. one or more of the cells could be bad, which make it virtually impossible to charge properly.

i went to work with a buddy doing CAA, and they have this really cool battery/charging system tester. with a few simple tests, it can tell you whether the battery is bad, or the charging system is bad, or if there is a current draw, etc. i'd love to get me something like that, but for $3000 or so, no thanks :lol:

burn_your_money · « **Reply #3 on:** March 17, 2009, 02:46:20 pm »

Do a voltage drop test on all the main wires going to and from the battery. Also clean off the terminals. It does sound like a battery problem but best to start with the cheap stuff first