Dead Hot

Smegggg (John) wrote:

> Ok, so Oz is a lot hotter in Summer than Germany but any ideas on what
> happened to Verna the 78 Kombi the other day?
>
> She was parked in the driveway at home all day and the temp maxed out
> at 39.5 Deg C (103 Deg F) around 3 pm. At about 4.30 pm I arrived
> home jumped in and started her up as normal, she always fires 1st go,
> and then drove off. I was going about 10 minutes up the road to visit
> my Mum in the Nursing Home and was there just over an hour. When I
> came out to not much cooler temps there was a resounding silence from
> Verna when I tried to start her.
>
> Now we're talking no crank, no click of a solenoid, no clatter of a
> starter not engaging properly, just nothing. The Battery and Oil
> lights on the dash came on and dimed slightly when I pressed that
> starter indicating load.
>
> The previous owner never replaced anything that broke so when the
> ignition switch wouldn't operate past the "on" position he had a
> starter button wired in on the dash. I even pulled this out and
> shorted it in case it had gone U/S.
>
> I waited and tried a couple more times then tried clutch-starting it
> by rolling it across the carpark but still no luck so I left it there
> and got a cab home.
>
> Next morning in the cool at about 6.30 am I went back ready to have it
> towed to my mechanic, but suspecting it would start to spite me and
> sure enough she fired first go and each time since ( about 3 days
> now).
>
> So is this typical of air-cooled engines (as a friend claims or is he
> just a water cooled ******) not liking extreme heat or could it be a
> sign of something more serious?
>
> To me it has to be electrical, and having worked in electronics I
> figure it will probably turn out to be "Intermittant" the scurge of
> every service technician in every industry because it will never fail
> during business hours, close to help, of in front of witnesses.
>
> Any suggestions or forcasts of doom appreciated.
>
> John (Smegggg)
> The Bay from OZ
>
> (Verna 1978 Bay)

I had a 74 std bug in california that would do that. If I drove it too long
or too much freeway time. It would need a good couple of hours before it
would start again. Eventually I think the starter went out and I never got
around to replacing it, just push started it. I don't know maybe the heat
effected something in the starter, but I didn't drive that often to worry
about it.

jeremy