[urq] Slow cranking saga - end in sight

[Jack Walker]

Keith,

So glad to hear you have found what was causing your problem!

Sometimes we create our own problems, and it just takes a while to sort them, good luck with the rewire on your start, assume you're still going to do it?

Jack Walker

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2015 21:15:57 +0100
From: "Keith" <spotatashleys at hotmail.com>
To: "Audifans List List" <urq at audifans.com>
Subject: [urq] Slow cranking saga - end in sight
Message-ID: <DUB126-DS1502B7F62B88BC7FF5393BBFA0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="utf-8"

Well, how stupid to I feel? On and off over the last few years I have tried to overcome a slow cranking motor and poor starting (particularly when warm). I have tried lots of things, cleaned up all connections/earths, replaced the starter, replaced the battery to try and get rid of the slow crank. I replaced coil, plug leads, plugs, rotor arm and cap to improve starting. The starting did improve a little but the slow cranking did not. The car would always start- eventually but never first time and never crisply as it should.
So, this time I resolved to fix it once and for all. I had read much on the net about the “splice” where the main power feed splits in two in the driver foot well (RHD) and the leg to the starter getting corroded and then not conducting well. So I bought the necessary cable to run power direct from the battery to the starter and to do away with the leg downstream of the splice. However the night before I planned to do it was was reading a page on the www all about battery wiring for different battery locations (under bonnet, in the boot, under the rear seat and the various earthing requirements of each location). It was reading this that reminded me of something I did many years ago....... When I finished restoring my quattro in 2002 I could not afford an alarm/immobiliser but wanted to be able to immobilise the car when I left it. I have since installed a good alarm but what I did was, with hindsight, a bit daft. I did away with the factory battery earth strap and instead ran a huge earth lead from the battery up to the back of the glove box to a battery cut out and from there to the earth point below the passenger side a-pillar. At the time this worked well. It meant I had a discrete way to totally disable the car. 
However good this might have been at disabling the car, it seems that I unwittingly introduced a poorer route to earth for the battery and I started thinking that this might be the cause of my problems. I had done this so long ago, and since had an alarm fitted and no need to use the cut-out and so forgot all about it and never considered it could be the cause of my problems.
Anyway, before I started work on running a new power lead to the starter I decided to remove this “mod”, revert to the correct earth strap that is no more than 8 inches (and bolts to the earth point in the battery well) and try to start the car. Amazing difference. It turned over much quicker and started sooner than normal but still not perfectly.  So it seems my “mod” had not been so clever after all and all the slow cranking problems have been self inflicted and somewhat costly.
However now it’s all back to standard and starting is a little improved but remains far from perfect.
So like I said, how stupid do I feel? But at least the last day’s work has been worthwhile and all’s well that ends well.
Thanks to all those on the list who have over the years offered advice and support in my efforts to resolve the slow cranking. But the quest continues to get it to start “on the button”

Regards

Keith

‘87 WR in warm and sunny Worcestershire, which incidentally is apparently the word that Americans find hardest to pronounce – see: -icid=maing-grid7%7Cuk-ws-bb%7Cdl17%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D342111    All I know is that folk round here say: wuss-ta-sha   What’s difficult about that eh?




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