mk2 1.9 td swap almost complete. Questions...

[theman53]

You could run your headlights with the ground being telephone wire. But as soon as anymore load is on it nothing. Do the  drop voltage test and you should have the answer or know where to get it from there.

[Rabbit on Roids]

lights dont take much power to run. starters and glow plugs take lots and LOTS of power to operate. my money is on a loose/bad ground. clean your batt terminals too. in a diesel, it is SUPER IMPORTANT to keep up your charging system.

[Henchman]

If you just want to get the engine running (to prove to yourself it will).  Fuel, 12v to the stop solenoid jump 12v to starter with jump leads.

Ian

[brandon5]

My battery shouldn't still work seeing as i ran it with my other motor. i tested the voltage in it a few days ago and it said around 12 volts i think? Today i tried connecting jumper cables straight from the battery to the back of the starter (negative) and the power to the starter directly. And nothing happened. So i'm going to once again try charging my battery and cleaning the posts. But if that doesn't work then i'm stuck because the starter work on my other car to.

Thanks

[Rabbit on Roids]

i swear to you. grounds.

i fought with a starter one night. changed different solenoids, different starters, everything. well the problem was the batt posts were dirty, the terminals were loose, and my connections were bad. clean all your ground connections and batt posts. ground from the battery right to an ear on the starter. then you know you have a good ground going to it.

[brandon5]

So i cleaned the posts and everything today. Charged the battery to full. I even hooked up jumper cables straight to the starter from the battery and nothing happened. But the lights work and my cluster still works. Im really lost now as to what it could be. What should i be looking for if the starter was working on my other 1.6 and when i swapped it, it wont even crank.

thanks

[Powered by Spearco]

Have you tryed to turn it over by hand at the crank shaft? Will it turn over then?
Have you bench tested the starter?

[brandon5]

How would i go about turning it by hand? No a bench test hasn't been done but the starter was pulled when it was working.

[Powered by Spearco]

Put a 19mm socket on the crank shaft bolt, and turn it clockwise/ running direction. If it will, good. The starters not lock up on the engine.
Hot wire the starter to start it to verify it works and back track from there.
It does sound like a ground issue.
You have the ground from the battery to the body and the to the engine or trans. Not a motor mount bolt.

[theman53]

The bushing in the trans could be done for. If it was really bad I could see the shaft binding a bunch and not letting the starter turn as well.
BUT, I would by new 1/0 cable and replace them. It won't hurt and most of the time it is something in the connections or cables that aren't letting it go. Even if a wire looks good it could be junk somewhere on the inside. Burn you money has a write up on voltage in the FAQ...check it too if you don't just want to throw cables at it.

[brandon5]

So i used the 19 mm to turn it and it did work. It was kinda stiff but it did give in. After that i tried hot wiring the starter and nothing happened.

[Powered by Spearco]

So it still sounds like wiring or a intermitently bad starter?

[truckinwagen]

bench test the starter.

put it in a vice(or if you don't have one you can put your foot on it on the floor to keep it from jumping), wire it to a battery(jumper cables work fine for this) and jump the solenoid.

it should stick the gear out and sing as it spins, if not, or if it spins slowly, then you need a new starter.

also are you sure that you are jumping the right terminals on the starter?
some VW starters have extra spade connectors on the other side of the solenoid that don't excite it, if you are wired there it wont turn over.

-Owen

[brandon5]

ok ill try that tomorrow seeing as to take the starter out i have to take out the front mount to. Im pretty sure im doing it right because theres only one spot i can see to hook it up to. and thats where the battery is hooked up.

[truckinwagen]

I didn't mean that there was more than one place to hook up the cable from the battery, but rather some starters have more than one spade terminal, and that it is possible to hook up the wire from the ignition switch to the wrong one.

either way a bench test is the way to confirm a bad starter or not.

-Owen