Ej22 Beetle Starter Issues

[Randomk]

Hi, I am doing a subaru swap for my 66 beetle and I am having starter problems with it turning the engine over. The 12v beetle starter I tried would Barley turn it over, really slow ! Then I got a Duralast 17305 from autozone. And it's having the same problem ! Barley turns it over... I have no wiring hooked up to the engine, I was I just jumping the starter to see if it turns over good. Could there be a decompression system or something in the wiring? I wouldn't think so.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

With my conversion in a dune buggy to a bus trans many years ago I was having starter problems, a bit different than you are having but I was told to get a more powerful battery from a bus in my glass buggy. A big difference.

Could it be a battery thing or cables are too light weight to carry the draw. Check the ground cable too especially if you are using the flat woven style as they have a bad rep for going bad quickly.

Just a thought!

Lee

[Randomk]

Thanks for the reply
To rule out my battery problem I had a jumper pack hooked up as well, so I think I ruled that out. As far as my jumper cables not sure. I also tried multiple grounds and connections.

[vw1970]

just a thought, how is the starter grounded back to the battery? old trans ground straps usually have a pretty big impact on starter speed as all that current runs out of the starter through the trans body and to the frame via ground strap(metal braided looking thing)

[Ol'fogasaurus]

On the VW braided cable: on the pre-mid-fifties American cars a lot of them continued to use the flat braided ground straps not the wound straps for part of the grounding system and a lot of us substituted the positive style of cables for the grounding cable battery to block.

I had been told by several different sources to change them on a regular basis as if there was any flexing of the strap some of the wires would metal fatigue and either brake or harden to where the grounding wasn't capable of sending a good ground. The Positive cable had thicker material and they were twisted together for additional strength. Also, for what it is worth, there is supposed to be a length limit to cables also.

Cars from outside of the US have/had continued to use flat woven straps for quite-a-while and I wouldn't be surprised if some cars still use them.

The length and thickness of the "Pos" cable to ensure full loading of the two cables. If you are tying the jumper and battery to test then, if you haven't done it this way tie the jumper to the battery so they work more together not individually.

https://itstillruns.com/signs-symptoms- ... 29200.html

Lee

[Bruce2]

.... current runs out of the starter through the trans body and to the frame ....

This is one thing most people don't think of. Especially when they buy a freshly rebuilt transmission that was spray-bombed. Then they bolt the starter's flange right onto that electrically insulating paint. Next they attach their ground strap onto the painted part of the gear carrier.
Regardless of whether your trans was painted, you should sand the mounting face of the trans where the starter attaches to bright metal.

My local speedster builder installs a lot of Subaru engines. They all get the aftermarket high-torque gear reduction starter motor. He never has any complaints.