Hapy No-Start Again

Sadness arrived again just prior to Summer Solstice: Hapy refused to start. Today's post covers the initial issue, it's resolution and the subsequent issue that arose along the way. Finally a car post! Before I begin, for my US readers, Hapy Independence Day.

Glow-Plug Not Glowing

I jumped into the driver seat to get to an appointment on a relatively cool weekday morning. By relatively cool, I mean 55*F (13*C) or so. Hapy didn't want to start, and he was throwing a code. I checked and it was the glow-plug P0380 error. Joy. Hapy had been harder to start in the mornings on cooler days, and I probably could have put one and one together, but my brain is pretty full these days. Anyway, that evening after work, I shifted into diagnosis mode. It being so close to the solstice, we have workable daylight until 830PM or so. I started with checking the resistance for the 4 plugs. I feel like I replaced these when I did the new injectors, and when I tested them (lowest resistance setting on your multi-meter, you want them within like .6 of each other)... they all came up with the exact same resistance (.8). So, not a glow-plug problem. Before tearing into the harness that Justin and I installed, I thought I would check the relay and the fuse.  

First, I pulled the relay and checked the voltage at the relay: almost 0V. I concluded it was not the relay. Recall that I just redid all the wiring a couple of years ago, so I pulled out the notebook diagramming the circuits, and found the right battery-top fuse. It's the same as the one any other TDI of this vintage uses: #2. Knowing the wire was fresh, I figured it was probably not the wire. Still, it was wise to check the connectivity of the wire: almost 0 resistance, so the wire is good. I moved on to the fuse.

original adapter

On the supply-side of the fuse, I had 12.45V. Hmm... even after all those start attempts, and there were many, I still had lots of juice. On the other side of the fuse, however, I had almost 0V. Not 0, just a shade above 0. So, the fuse wasn't blown, it was just acting like a big-ol resistor. So, I removed the nuts (10mm) and pulled the fuse. Sure enough, there was almost infinite resistance. These fuses are basically a metal bar (see picture above), but because they are exposed to the elements, they can become compromised by the weather. I do not have a replacement, so I cleaned it up with a metal file. I would grind away on the crud a bit, check resistance and repeat. Once I was able to consistently get nearly 0 resistance through the fuse no matter where I set the probes, I re-installed it. The referenced image on the top-right, shows both the result of some filing (on the ends) and the built-up crud in the center. That crud covered the entire fuse bar.

Grinding Starter

new adapter

Had I not allowed the glow-plug situation bloom into a dead-bus condition, I would have been driving that next day. Unfortunately, In my repeated attempts to start the engine, the symptoms went from won't start to won't start and now it's grinding. Neat. I was having a minor flashback to the last time the bus was stranded, and started to conclude that the glow-plug circuit was probably the originating cause then too. Anyway, I got under the bus, and noted that the starter was a little loose. I tightened everything down, and tried again. The engine tried to turn a little bit, but then returned to grinding. I removed and re-installed the starter. Same thing happened. Thinking maybe I fried the starter again, I removed and tested it. The gear popped out and ran like mad. So, nope, starter seems good. I did note, however, that some of the edges of the teeth were ground/broken off. Much of the gear, however, looked brand-new. I re-installed and had the same experience. One other observation: the addition of the rear anti-sway bar significantly impacts the freedom of movement under the bus around the starter. The bar is right where either your arm or your head wants to be for starter work. I am glad I have the bar when I'm driving, but, wow, it's hard to work around.

At this point, it was finally getting too dark to see. So, I put the tools away and thought about things. I concluded that the adapter that I bought and modified all those years ago was the true issue. Had the glow-plugs not prevented a start, I probably could have kept going for years. Instead, that weakness helped point out another one: the adapter is too thick, so the starter gear only engages for the first, maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the gear width. Since repeated failed starting attempts caused many of the tips to chip off, there simply is not enough meat on the gear to mesh enough with the flywheel to actually turn the engine. Fortunately, there are now adapters designed for the TDI start mating to an old 002 transmission. I ordered one ($89US from Dune Buggy Warehouse), hoping I would not need to replace the starter again when the only thing wrong with this one are the chipped teeth. Since the starters cost double the price of the adapter, I felt this was worth trying.

hanging adapter

In the images on the above right, you can see that the starter seats slightly deeper into the newer adapter. The actual adapters seem to be about the same thickness, but the cut-out for the nose of the starter appears to be slightly deeper with the new one. The new adapter delivered with bolts that were far too long, and includes studs/nuts rather than bolts to hang the starter. I really like the change to studs, since the installer is otherwise holding the starter in place with one hand while setting bolts. This new design means that you can hang the starter on the bolts and then set the nuts. The kit also includes a small tube of blue locktite, which is to be used to set the studs and hex bolts.

The install was very easy, and the adapter seated very well. One of my challenges with the original adapter was that it did not seat perfectly. Recall, I had to grind some of the adapter to sit against the transaxle (See TDI Install Retrospective: Primary Electrical for more details). I believe it was still imperfect, as I noticed that the starter had a slight wobble when I installing and re-installing it. The new adapter, however, sat perfectly flat, and by re-using the (8mm hex) bolts from that old adapter (with some blue locktite), it popped right on and held firm. The starter set on the studs, and the 19mm nuts threaded on without issue. The kit includes lock-washers, which I hope will help prevent the nuts from backing off. The primary electrical (13mm nut) was next and then the trigger plug.... which suffered a splicing failure and needed repair. Considering that splice lasted 12+ years and multiple starter install/removal/re-install cycles, it's failure comes as no surprise.

bolt differences

With the starter in, I hooked up the battery again and realized that I had not put it on a charger after the failed start attempts. Well.. it was at 12.45V when I did the glow-plug thing, so I figured there was enough there to start. I was right; with a turn of the key, the engine fired immediately. I mean immediately, I never heard the starter, didn't hear the engine think about starting. I turned the key and the engine was running. I cannot remember Hapy starting that fast before.

So, that's it for today. With Hapy running, he has returned to my daily-driver. I have been sitting in on bass around Hillsboro, so having a means of getting myself and my stuff to an event independently was fairly important. After Hapy, we only have ToyoTruck as a dependable daily-driver since we are unloading GoRo (per Car-Go-Round).

Thanks, as always, for following along-