I've been helping a mate with his engine swapped T25. It was a 2 litre air cooled petrol auto swapped to an XUD a couple of years ago. The old XUD has been swapped for a new XUD. The starter doesn't seem up to the job following the engine swap but we need advice on diagnosing the fault and/or identifying a replacement.
The van is a T25 petrol auto that had an XUD of unknown origin badly installed. After loads of effort by my mate, it's been on the road for a ages and has been MOT'd and taken him and his special lady friend on holidays since the work so it's a proven conversion.
The old XUD was down on compression so a new XUD was sourced and installed. We've not been able to get it started since the new engine went in, it feels like it can't turn the engine.
The starter is the stock VW starter for that auto box mated to a petrol engine (common with the Porsche 924 auto). Obviously, there wasn't a diesel auto option for either the Porsche or the T25.
On a bench, the starter doesn't engage the solenoid consistently. Sometimes it doesn't push it out, sometimes it pushes it out a bit. Sometimes it spins away like a power drill and sometimes it's more like a pneumatic drill hammering concrete, which doesn't sound right.
A new starter would be an easy option but we're not even sure if this model of petrol starter, even a brand new one, will have the guts to start an XUD with good compression.
This is the starter fitted
As above, it has worked for ages on the old engine so we're wondering which, if any, of the following are true:
The old engine was down on compression, meaning that the starter could start it but it will never work on an XUD with good compression so a new starter won't help and we need to find an alternative
The starter was strong enough to run the XUD for a while but the hard work has knackered it. A brand new starter will probably work for a while but will ultimately fail because it's working too hard, but will get the van back on the road
If we need to abandon the VW starter, does anyone have any advice on the specs of the starter so we can find a diesel capable replacement?
With the intermittent solenoid problem we can't accurately measure how far out it drives the gear to know what we need from the replacement. We can make something up to mount an alternative starter but don't really want to rely on trial and error for the sizes and solenoid travel.
Any help appreciated, I hope I've explained this well enough without rambling.
The van is a T25 petrol auto that had an XUD of unknown origin badly installed. After loads of effort by my mate, it's been on the road for a ages and has been MOT'd and taken him and his special lady friend on holidays since the work so it's a proven conversion.
The old XUD was down on compression so a new XUD was sourced and installed. We've not been able to get it started since the new engine went in, it feels like it can't turn the engine.
The starter is the stock VW starter for that auto box mated to a petrol engine (common with the Porsche 924 auto). Obviously, there wasn't a diesel auto option for either the Porsche or the T25.
On a bench, the starter doesn't engage the solenoid consistently. Sometimes it doesn't push it out, sometimes it pushes it out a bit. Sometimes it spins away like a power drill and sometimes it's more like a pneumatic drill hammering concrete, which doesn't sound right.
A new starter would be an easy option but we're not even sure if this model of petrol starter, even a brand new one, will have the guts to start an XUD with good compression.
This is the starter fitted
As above, it has worked for ages on the old engine so we're wondering which, if any, of the following are true:
The old engine was down on compression, meaning that the starter could start it but it will never work on an XUD with good compression so a new starter won't help and we need to find an alternative
The starter was strong enough to run the XUD for a while but the hard work has knackered it. A brand new starter will probably work for a while but will ultimately fail because it's working too hard, but will get the van back on the road
If we need to abandon the VW starter, does anyone have any advice on the specs of the starter so we can find a diesel capable replacement?
With the intermittent solenoid problem we can't accurately measure how far out it drives the gear to know what we need from the replacement. We can make something up to mount an alternative starter but don't really want to rely on trial and error for the sizes and solenoid travel.
Any help appreciated, I hope I've explained this well enough without rambling.
