this morning when i was driving an awful noise started from the engine bay.. sounded like transmission area. it was running fine and had power but a sort of grinding/whirring noise seemed to be starting. drove about 5 minutes like this and the car shut off. when it did, i noticed some buzzing from the fusebox... didnt sound like a relay buzz, but might have been. i shook the fusebox around a little and the noise stopped. but the car wouldn't start back up. popped the hood and the negative battery terminal was half melted into a pool of metal on top of the battery. even with the key off the brake light on the gauge panel stayed on (when normally it never comes on, the e-brake switch is disconnected). so i pulled the negative terminal and towed home.
we had a lot of rain the past few days and my fusebox appears to have gotten wet.
i replaced the negative terminal and let the fusebox air out a little. tried firing it up. it turns over, but now sounds like the starter is grinding on something... its similar to the nasty sound i noticed earlier... but obviously slower because the engine is trying to start up.
it turns over but will not start...
i'm thinking that something in the fusebox shorted, or a relay... and this is coupled with starter issues... perhaps it fried? if i don't get any other ideas i'm going to go ahead replacing the fusebox (which is corroded) and try to find a hefty starter... possibly the fuel solenoid got fried as well, but i'm hoping that its fine until i try starter/fusebox.
anyone know a good source for westmoreland fuseboxes? 1982 NA diesel (but its a 1.6TD in the bay).
any help appreciated!
That doesn't sound good at all man. Wouldn't a gas cluster be the same? less all the snap-on relay holders ontop of it?
Any metal shavings or bare metal if you look in the timing hole on the tranny?
LMK if you need a mk2 diesel starter
hey tyler. i didnt know the gas cars were the same fusebox.. i have a spare 84 gti box i will try. the starter does not sound good.. will need to be replaced. are you going to be in town soon or will we have to ship that mkII starter? i might have a good one around here but i think its from a gas car. -lanny