Bus Won't Start
- coilette
- I'm New!
- Location: betwwen san jose and inuvik
- Status: Offline
Bus Won't Start
Sooo. When the key is in and on, my gas gauge doesn't move and the lights are wayyy dim. I push the starter button and the lights go off, but nothing else happens.... ?
everything has a balance
- vwlover77
- IAC Addict!
- Location: North Canton, Ohio
- Status: Offline
- vwlover77
- IAC Addict!
- Location: North Canton, Ohio
- Status: Offline
What year Bus? Might be worth a trip to the local Autozone or what have you to get the charging system checked out once you get it started again.
Don
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78 Westy
71 Super Beetle Convertible Autostick
"When we let our compassion go, we let go of whatever claim we have to the divine." - Bruce Springsteen
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78 Westy
71 Super Beetle Convertible Autostick
"When we let our compassion go, we let go of whatever claim we have to the divine." - Bruce Springsteen
- DjEep
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Nowhere, Fast
- Status: Offline
Try pulling the cables off of the battery, cleaning the posts and connectors, and replacing. Sounds like a possible bad connection.
"Live life, love life. Enjoy the pleasures and the sorrows. For it is the bleak valleys, the dark corners that make the peaks all the more magnificent. And once you realize that, you begin to see the beauty hidden within those valleys, and learn to love the climb." - Anonymous
Do you want to Survive? Or do you want to LIVE?
Do you want to Survive? Or do you want to LIVE?
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Re: Bus Won't Start
If the lights are dim right off the bat, discharged battery. A famous symptom in the winter months for these cars.coilette wrote:Sooo. When the key is in and on, my gas gauge doesn't move and the lights are wayyy dim. I push the starter button and the lights go off, but nothing else happens.... ?
If you have bright lights and everything drops out dead when you hit the starter, then it is usually crap at the posts/terminals of the battery.
Charge your battery on the trickle charger (2A) overnight when you have a dead battery incident. Gotta get the sulfite (or is it sulphate?) off the plates pronto.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- Randy in Maine
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Old Orchard Beach, Maine
- Status: Offline
- DjEep
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Nowhere, Fast
- Status: Offline
Could this have been caused by the winter cold causing the metal of the connections to contract, allowing corrosion to build or even plain old air to hamper the conductivity? I usually leave my connections just loose enough to wiggle free without tools, for convenience sake during maintenance, but I don't need to sit out in the cold scraping crud off the battery either.
"Live life, love life. Enjoy the pleasures and the sorrows. For it is the bleak valleys, the dark corners that make the peaks all the more magnificent. And once you realize that, you begin to see the beauty hidden within those valleys, and learn to love the climb." - Anonymous
Do you want to Survive? Or do you want to LIVE?
Do you want to Survive? Or do you want to LIVE?
- coilette
- I'm New!
- Location: betwwen san jose and inuvik
- Status: Offline
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Temperature reduces efficiency very rapidly. Even a brand-new charged battery is only 1/2 as efficient at 0* F as 68* F.DjEep wrote:Could this have been caused by the winter cold causing the metal of the connections to contract, allowing corrosion to build or even plain old air to hamper the conductivity?
Oil viscosity then works directly against starter speed with this already weakened battery. There is a rapid oxidation event with a loose terminal on a battery. Once the starter demands draw, a film of flat grey can spring up between the post and terminal and knock out the conductivity lickity split. Add possible fuel condensation and ignition degradation due to amp draw of the starter, and you can see that it is "good" to get everything optimized before winter. In a pinch, if you have a discharged battery and you just have to get outta there, take the battery out of the car and bring it inside for a couple of hours. You'd be surprised. . .
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- coilette
- I'm New!
- Location: betwwen san jose and inuvik
- Status: Offline
So I have still had problems here and there. The lights come on when the key is turned, nothing when I push the button. The lights are no longer dim though. Maybe 1 of every 5 times I try to start her this happens, so I try again, and no problem! Until today. The battery is definitely charged, and there is no corrosion left on the cables or battery, so I'm thinking the problem is in the ignition?
My head hurts from this, any more advice?
My head hurts from this, any more advice?
everything has a balance
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Failing starter solenoid if the *headlamps* are bright and you know the battery is charged and the warning lamps in the dash *respond* to your starter request with a slight dimming. If they sit there with no response, then it could be a bad connection between the "button" and the solenoid. If the warning lamps dim slightly, it means the signal did get to the solenoid, but it refuses to perform its work.coilette wrote:So I have still had problems here and there. The lights come on when the key is turned, nothing when I push the button. The lights are no longer dim though. Maybe 1 of every 5 times I try to start her this happens, so I try again, and no problem! Until today. The battery is definitely charged, and there is no corrosion left on the cables or battery, so I'm thinking the problem is in the ignition?
My head hurts from this, any more advice?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Any button available anywhere should work. The solenoid does not draw more than a few amps. You just want to specify "momentary" so you can be sure that it is spring-loaded inside.coilette wrote:I've been looking online, but eBay is the only place i can find a new button for sale. I don't like eBay much, anywhere else you could suggest looking?
How about replacing the ignition switch? Then you can start with the key.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles