alhambra starting issue

[george haynes]

hi everyone my sister has a 2005 alhambra diesel (presume its same as sharan if not i apologise), it seems a bit hit or miss weather it starts. sometimes turns over fine others wont hardly turn at all, she tried a new battery but its still the same before i get to involved i wondered if anyone knows of any common problems otherwise ill be checking starter earth wiring etc, thanks for any help and a merry christmas to all out there

[the_old_diver]

I'm in the middle of a simiar problem on my 97 Sharan CL TDI. Just before dark I managed to get the starter motor off and in the morning I will fit a different solenoid from my old Passat TD starter. Unfortunately the starter assemblies are different (although the solenoids are the same) otherwise I would have just swapped over the complete starter.

The tell tale symtom for me that pointed towards the solenoid was that the car got progressively reluctant to turn over but the dashboard lights did not dim when trying to start, which to me suggested the battery was OK but the starter circuit was not.

I has suspected the earth connections but a jump lead from the battery neg to the engine block didn't make any difference.

Mine has the AHU engine. I'll let you know how I get on.

[george haynes]

great thanks for quick reply keep me informed thanks

[the_old_diver]

OK, as you might have seen in my other thread. I swapped the solenoid for another one and the engine starts perfectly now. Of course, in the process I cleaned up all the high current connections - from the alternator to the solenoid, from the battery +ve to the same solenoid terminal, from the solenoid to the starter motor itself - that little bit of bridging braid and the negative lead from the battery -ve to the engine block.

I hope this is of some use.

http://www.lauber.pl/download/CQ_pol...ish_german.pdf shows a list of solenoid components and the unit they fit. I don't know how much solenoids cost or how much a garage would charge to supply and fit one. It is conceivable that they would charge less for fitting a complete "refurbished" starter assembly if the time saved outweighed the increased labour cost for swapping over the solenoid.

My AHU engine had solenoid # 0331 3034 147 ( it also says 647) and was made by Bosch.

Cheers, OD

PS unless you're dead rich it might be worth cleaning all those high current contacts before pronouncing the solenoid guilty...

[george haynes]

thanks for your help, think ill get a complete unit and clean up wiring whilst doing job , second hand/recon starters not to expensive and as it wont be my money think ill just get job done in one, once again thanks

[phil miller]

thanks for your help, think ill get a complete unit and clean up wiring whilst doing job , second hand/recon starters not to expensive and as it wont be my money think ill just get job done in one, once again thanks

ive got a known good S/H one if you want it mate