starter motor help - opinions wanted!

[chapp1123]

First of all, Hello to all of VWKD!

I have been a long time lurker on here ever since I bought my van back in 2008! Some impressive skills seen on here which has been great for motivation and inspiration to convert my own van to a 1.9TD AAZ beasty.

Looking forward to putting in some input back to the forum after I have learned so much from here. Although my first post is about problem

I converted my van using a KEP kit which is great quality even tho it takes ages to arrive and customs are a pain in the bum! I bought the high torque/faster RPM starter which was turned the engine over great...when it worked! Anyone else having problems like this?

They sent new keeper rings for it and i changed it but it made no difference to the problem. The problem was sometimes the starter would fail to engage with the flywheel but instead make a loud grinding noise which was frustrating and gets funny looks when your in a carpark somewhere and it take 2-3 trys to fire up.

So that got returned for a refund and i ordered there end plate to convert a diesel Caddy starter. Much time was spent messing around with drills etc to make the throw out arm for the solenoid fit and align properly. Its been in and out of the van fine tuning things and its still not worked properly! until tonight where it turned the engine over a bit then diengaged and stuck on whirring away inside the gearbox... Lots of swearing and a disconnected battery later... and im now stuck with what todo now!!

Not keen on another high torque starter, they are great but expensive and im a second year apprentice so money is tight! I did try the original 1.6 petrol starter for a laugh and it turns the engine over sluggishly but without sticking on or anything... Anybody know if there a bigger starter I could use off the shelf that would turn the engine over?

All suggestions about what todo next are welcomed, just properly fed up with it and want to use my van again! Its a 1972 baywindow btw.

[chapp1123]

Managed to get the Caddy starter to work and the engine now turns over nicely!

Turned out to be something todo with the throw out bearing arm in the end.

If anyone is ever stuck with rebuilding a starter motor...dont ask me!!

I will post some pictures up of me van if anyones interested.

Got the engine running again after a full head rebuild and oil seal change, now one of the main collant hoses has burst! RESULT

[72panelvan]

just keep telling yourself you're iorning out the poblems and that you'll evetually reach that zenith state of 100% reliability!

i got one of those end caps with my kit, but had alot of trouble finding the right starter. In the end i took the starter from the golf my aaz came out of, and redrilled the mounting holes. it works a treat, i guess vag standardise as much of their mechaics as possible, so the throw is exactly how it should be in the bay.

[13 window deluxe]

so the high torque kep starter wasnt that good then? i suppose using the 130 tooth ring gear doesnt decrease starter gearing as much as the correct 132 tooth diesel flywheel should do? this would cause more stress on the starter?i suppose they do it so you dont have to grind bell housing?. I make up my own kit but these use a stock tdi starter motor so there uber reliable and £20 for as many as i want from local scrappy
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1964 rat 13 window deluxe 1Z tdi,
1975 rhd twin slider tintop (TBA)
1991 golf 2 gti with tweaked AHU tdi,

previous tdi swaps: gone but not forgotten
1979 rhd twin slider tintop bay ahu 1.9tdi
1990 T25 1Z 1.9tdi
1993 suzuki samurai with 1Z 1.9tdi

[chapp1123]

From my experience I thought they were good and do turn the engine over quicker than a standard non-gear reduction starter but buying them from the US means if there is a prob its expensive/time consuming get a new one! Think mines just had a fault with it but knowing what i know now about which starters fit i wouldent have bothered with it!

Not sure about how many teeth the KEP kit comes, think it is just the same as the standard VW flywheel for the air cooled engines but for a bigger clutch? Dont think the teeth would make much difference to the motor, you just need a beefy enough motor to suite the engine. Thats what i understand from it

As 72panelvan pointed out i think most of the starters ring gear/alignment body are similar to standardise parts. The holes just need adjusted to bolt it to the box with no modification to the bellhousing. So using these starters shouldent see much problems because they were designed for diesel engines?

In the end though you cant beat a starter from the scrappy thats locally available/cheaply replaced! Good work making up your own kit tho, tried that myself but failed

[ElusiveStranger]

13WD...

Would you like to share your findings please?

Would like^H^H^H^H love to see pictures, or dimensioned drawings on here..

It's what this site's all about
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The advice you receive on here is worth the paper it's written on.
Your experiences are worth shed loads to others, including the f'ups - live and learn.
Wouldn't YOU rather learn by someone else's mistakes? So would they.

'78 Bay, 2 litre 091 box, EJ20 NA & the ashtray's on the 'right' side.
I don't lean forward for hills any more
Bugger, missed out on "Live fast, die young"

[GratefulGerman]