VW Test
The VW started by the key, but until it has warmed up it has a tendency to stall. Today it stalled and refused to start again. I changed out three batteries eventually borrowing the fresher battery from the Fairlane. Still it refused to start. It waggled the gear leaver in the hope it was just a poor contact in the start position switch which was recently the cause of a similar problem. I had replaced the switch and carefully positioned the contacts up only a few months ago. Again it failed to turn over the engine. Prior to replacing the switch I had replaced the starter motor and thought I had eliminated it as the cause of the problem. However it did start when I gave the starter motor a tap with hammer while my wife turned the ignition key. Before getting off the drive the van stalled again but this time started on the key.
I had not performed some of the basic checks but simply had to hope all the lights were working as we were now late for the MOT test. At the test centre the ignition was turned off and again it refused to start. Even with the aid of a gentle tap on the starter. Eventually with a lager tap the van started. All rather annoying, but it did not fail on that.
Unfortunately an area of rot that will need welding work and play in the steering did cause the van to fail. Now the race is on to how quickly the problem can be rectified and at what cost. I really needed the van to pass as we have to move it form the drive and cannot have a SORN vehicle on the estate we are moving too. I also needed it to be working as we need to move all our stuff and do not have the money to rent a van.
It is starting to look like the van may very reluctantly have to go to the scrap yard.