Had to Jump My Starter This Morning

dieselsnowmobile · Post by **dieselsnowmobile** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:34 am

Went to go to work but the car would not crank at all. I ended up taking a wire with alligator clamps on both ends (that I keep from emergencies like this) and jumped the small wire that feeds the solenoid at the starter to the POS on the battery to get it started. So, the Key is not feeding the starter the juice but the battery is. Any ideas? I have never had issue with this before nor did I have enough time this morning to look at (needed to get to work), so not sure if there is a fuse/relay that I should check.

Thanks.

(this is on my 91 Diesel Jetta)

coke · Post by **coke** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:34 pm

One thing comes to mind right away..

The seat belt not being attached to the door. If it is, then take the two wires leading into the door attaching piece and cross them together.

I will bet that this is your problem.

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:16 pm

Mine didn't crank over this morning either. It was 0F out and I had to "coax" the starter to want to turn over. It sometimes does this when it's really cold out.

dieselsnowmobile · Post by **dieselsnowmobile** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:16 pm

That is a good point, this Jetta has the double separate seat belt, a lap belt and a shoulder belt on the door. Those wires in the door could have shorted out. I will take a look at that. Thanks.

dieselsnowmobile · Post by **dieselsnowmobile** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:00 am

Finally got around to looking at it. Come to find out, someone had already cut and twisted the seat wires at the seat belt. So, I cut, twisted, and soldered them together at the door to keep them coming apart, then shoved the wire into the frame of the car to protect them from any movement. I did not see any shorts in the wire where the door opening and closing all the time could have caused.

I could then start it from the key. I checked other connections out, I replaced the female spade at the starter and soldered that too. It could have been flaky too, not sure.

Thanks Coke.