1999 TD5 starting issue

Took the car for a battery replacement today and they put it on the tester beforehand to be sure. It showed 599 CCA compared to the original 900 CCA. After a full charge last week it had dropped to 12.2v no load. Charging circuit was tested and is working just fine.

So I replaced the battery with another Delkor but went up to the Delkor 31-1000 and left the old one with them. Let’s hope I get 13.5 years out of this one.

I’ve checked all the positive and earth connections and they are fine. The solenoid issue is getting worse now and can take 5-10 clicks of the key before it kicks over. Crappy timing as I was planning to head out for a few day trips with the kids over the holidays.

Thanks for all the helpful advice!

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Originally Posted by fatsam

.... The solenoid issue is getting worse now and can take 5-10 clicks of the key before it kicks over. Crappy timing as I was planning to head out for a few day trips with the kids over the holidays.

Thanks for all the helpful advice!

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Have you checked the tightness of the spade connector on it?
Brother had the same multi key turns to click issue, and he bought the solenoid repair kit.
I got under and the removed the wire, tightened the grip on the spade terminal a little to make it hard to push the wire back on the blade terminal ... nearly a year later we still haven't needed to repair the solenoid.
(not looking forward to either having read up on the difficulty on getting one of the starter bolts out).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AK83

Have you checked the tightness of the spade connector on it?

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Thanks for the suggestion. I did check that today as I’ve had the issue before. I think I’m staring at a solenoid rebuild.

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Originally Posted by sierrafery

You have to repair the solenoid with the dedicated kit, see this thread https://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery...ml#post1523629 ... provided the battery clamps are well tightened

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Thanks again for this suggestion. I just finished the solenoid repair and it works a treat. That was clearly the problem and for $29.95 and a few hours work it was a cheap fix.