No start issue

Did a search but couldn't find anything with my exact symptoms.



2005 Jetta Wagon won't turn over, just one single loud 'CLICK'


Resting voltage is 12.2v (without key turned 'on')


ALL electrical works...lights, locks, buzzer, dash, glow plug, radio.


Was sitting for 3 weeks and just got back from vacation.


Will not turn over with boost, tried for about 5 minutes.


Would like some guidance before I start getting into it, thank you!

EDIT: rechecked battery on removal and its 12.2v not 12.8

That little wire that runs from the solenoid to the starter itself. It’s about an inch long and turns to dust in salty weather. A new starter will fix the problem.

Or the big wire that goes from the battery to the starter is bad. You can check that with your multimeter. Whatever the battery voltage is, it should be the same at the other end where it connects to the starter.

Or check the fuse block on top of the battery, using your multimeter again check both sides,of all the fuses. The first two are what count in this case but you should have battery voltage on each side of all the fuses.

Thanks. I see a tricky 'U-clip' for that wire. Any advice how to unfasten? I really don't want to break this connection but would like to clean up all connections now that battery and tray is out.

That’s not the wire I’m talking about, that’s a “trigger” wire. The short copper wire is right on the starter body. It’s about 3” long, older ones were just copper, newer starters had a plastic sheath over the wire.

The trigger wire does need to have voltage to it and sometimes they chafe under the battery tray. To find any chafing you have to remove the battery and battery tray. I forgot about that in my list of things to check. The trigger wire only has voltage for a short time after the ignition is turned if I remember correctly.

Battery is out, battery tray is out. Short copper wire looks good, all terminals under tray are clean. I'd like to take out the trigger wire to spray and clean, but again the connecter looks a little tricky, haven't come across one like this on the VW as of yet.

I will test starter voltage with meter shortly.

That wire is no problem, just squeeze the ears with your fingers and the connector will pull easily apart. Be careful that wire doesn’t pop off and you loose it.

12.2V is too low to start it. It should be closer to 12.6V. Put your battery on an external charger or take it to an AutoZone or similar store to get it load tested.

h.ubk

rangeroad said:

Did a search but couldn't find anything with my exact symptoms. ...................

Click to expand...

Got a kick out of this. We don't mind new threads too much, but the interweb, this forum are loaded with this exact symptom. If you like videos youtube will have several as well.
Apologies for posting after a really bad day with my work computer.

h.ubk said:

12.2V is too low to start it. It should be closer to 12.6V. Put your battery on an external charger or take it to an AutoZone or similar store to get it load tested.

h.ubk

Click to expand...

Yup, must have misread voltage when it was connected. Got it on charger now, will re-connect tomorrow morning.

I read that 12.8 and figured you had an almost new battery, 12.2 on the other hand is pretty much dead. That makes a lot of difference.

give the starter a couple love taps with a hammer.

leafs said:

give the starter a couple love taps with a hammer.

Click to expand...

That attention getter only worked on the pre-1967 6 volt Beetles..

Working at my uncle's VW Repair shop over 40 years ago, I remember seeing a few Beetles with a hole cut in the flooring just above the starter and hammer laying near by ... Yup! Sure did see that a few times!

Ok, looking at the starter from the top it appears that the braided copper wire is toast.

This fix looks good to me: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=256705

Anyone else out there do this fix recently?


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Disconnect battery negative terminal. Replace wire, refresh connections as needed. Reconnect battery. Fire it up.

Those short copper wires turn to dust in these northern salty climes.

Alright, got the starter out, thx to Wingnut tutorial which was the best. It wasn't until it was removed that I could see the ground wire was rusted right through the middle into 2 pieces.

In all years driving I've never had a starter up and die without some kind of audible forshadowing. Will report back tomorrow when I hit the shop and braise on a new copper PLATE... lol

on the road again...

Cleaned up starter and put Victor Huge fix on the copper braid. Brushes looked very good inside, bell housing was full of clutch dust as expected. Some pics below for reference should anyone happen to run into this problem. Thankful it happened at home rather than at the cottage!

It's highly recommended to have a look at the copper ground wire when battery is out or any kind of maintenance is being done in that area. I had no idea the starter could be compromised like that, its basically designed to fail (so people will buy new ones!) in my opinion.