What to do if your Vanagons starter does not crank?
If you jumper the big fat post on the solenoid to the small terminal on the solenoid—with a fully charged battery and known clean connections—and the engine does not crank, the starter is for sure dead.
How to diagnose the issue in Vanagons?
If the engine cranks or starts to crank, the problem is in the neutral safety switch. Try and take the shifter apart and clean the contacts. For testing purposes, these contacts can be bypassed. And if doing so still does not fix the no-crank issue, the problem is clearly NOT with these contacts. If this does not work, continue as follows:
How do you check circuit 50 on a Vanagon?
To check circuit 50: 2) If your Vanagon has an automatic transmission, the red wire with the black stripe has to pass through the neutral safety switch contacts that are located on the shifter itself. With your LEFT hand, turn the ignition switch to the START position and hold it in that position.
Where is the solenoid on a Vanagons starter?
This wire eventually ends up at the solenoid on the starter assembly. When you turn the ignition switch to “START,” the ignition switch connects these two wires and sends power to the solenoid on the starter, which sends power to the starter motor (internally) and cranks the engine over.
Where does the crank wire go on a Vanagons?
The wire running from the starter’s large post back to the alternator has nothing to do with the starter circuit; this post is just used as a junction for the CHARGING circuit. So, that is how all the current required to crank the engine over gets to the starter, through that BIG FAT wire.
How to jump start a car with a bad alternator?
You will need another car with a good battery. Connect the positive (red) cable of the jumper cables to the positive terminal of your car. The other red cable on the opposite end of the jumper cables should go to the positive terminal of the other car with the good battery.