1978 FI Bus no start

[khargis]

howdy yall, so here we go. this has happened twice in the last 3 weeks. been on the road for a couple hours and stop the bus to eat or whatever, then i go to start up and nothing. i can turn the lights on and what not, but no sounds. i figured the starter may be stuck, happens from time to time right? so i had anna pop clutch while i pushed and it started fine, that was the the first time. 2nd time (yesterday) we were driving up 101 n, and took the 12 thru aberdeen and needed to stop at 'the star wars' store for some pics in front of the very strange mural, so went to start up and nothing! I remembered to put in third and roll backward, cuz i figured the starter may be stuck again. that did nothing, so i had anna pop clutch again and boom, 'bad danger' fired right up. Is this a starter issue?

[poptop tom]

Could be a variety of things.

Did you try to jump the starter spades to make the engine turnover (in neutral, of course)? You could have a bad starter, or a dirty starter solenoid.

Or a bad ground strap? Check all of your grounds, (battery, tranny, etc). Make sure they are clean! And secure!

Or a bad ignition switch.

[dtrumbo]

What Tom said and check one more thing. At the base of the steering column are three black crescent shaped connectors. Make sure they're all pushed on gud'n'tight. A cockeyed one will allow the 'on' position of your ignition switch to work, but not your 'start' position.

[poptop tom]

What Tom said and check one more thing. At the base of the steering column are three black crescent shaped connectors. Make sure they're all pushed on gud'n'tight. A cockeyed one will allow the 'on' position of your ignition switch to work, but not your 'start' position.

What Dick said, too! Sometimes just a jiggle of the ignition switch wiring is all that is needed.....for now!

[khargis]

thanks yall for the tips. i was checkin all my grounds last night and found that my starter battery ground clamp is in need of replacement, it is stripped and i cant tighten it anymore because i pulled it right off. replacin that this morn and hope that is the one. salud'

[Amskeptic]

hope that is the one. salud'

Give us a follow through report. Starter ground? We have either a battery ground strap or a transaxle ground strap??
Colin

[khargis]

here we go, i replaced the starter battery ground strap a few days ago because i could not tighten and actually pull of the ground strap, so i figured this was it it! new ground strap and problem didnt happen until today, three times, so three clutch poppers and off we went. what else should i check? you say starter ground strap? will check in mornin'. really want to get this figured out so i dont have to park strategically for an easy roll, ya heard. thanks, kh

[khargis]

where is the transaxle ground strap?

[poptop tom]

Under the drivers side of the bus, under a nose cone 11mm bolt going to the diagonal arm bracket on the torsion tube.
(can't miss it, looks just like a ground strap - ed)

[khargis]

hey thanks yall for all your help. i checked the transaxle ground strap and that was solid as well. i ended up putting in a relay to assist the solenoid/starter, it seems i was losing some 'umphf' voltage, so i think my starter is ailing a bit. i read this in my john muir book. i guess time will tell if this works for good since i have been relaxin the bus for a few days and have not run her solid for hours at a time and this is when she seemed to not want to start, after i shut her down hot.