Guide to fixing hot start issue when warm on Automatic cars.

I've got a 1.6 auto cabby with a carb on it and it hates starting hot cold start first turn every time but once it's warm it doesn't want to start for love or money the starter it's trying but it just won't do it. Any help would be appreciated.

On the automatics, there is a hot-start or heat soak issue.
This is solved by 2 things.

1. Verify that your heat shield tins are installed over your starter.


2. Install the heat soak relay.
http://www.cabby-info.com/Files/InstallingHot-startRelay.pdf

original posting

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2593146

There is the 3rd option…. it is used prior to installing the heat soak relay as a get it started to get me home.

Locate the Starter solenoid wire.  It is RED colored with a yellowed connector.

There is the wire you spice in to.  Take the starter side to a big lug on the relay.  Take the switch side to one of the other smaller lugs.
Take the other big lug to the Positive battery and remove the ground. (It grounds itself via the frame mounting point… if you placed a ground on the other little lug I am thinking it wont work if I remember the first time I connected mine up.).

Find that wire in the picture, now using a piece of wire, I used an extension cord that I had in the boot.  I cut off each end stripped the wire and twisted it together.  I jammed one end in to that yellowed splice.

Place the car in Neutral or Park, fully engage the parking brake.

Key in the ignition and moved to the RUN position.

Jump back under the hood, and the free end of that wire touch it to the Positive post of the battery… If your starter is good, your starter will spin, and the engine will start….  This s the same wire that you splice into, with the the fire wall side going to the pick side of the solenoid, and the side to the engine going to one of the big lugs on the starter solenoid… The case of the solenoid is screwed in to the fender is the ground for the starter, the other big lug goes to the Positive side of the battery….

You will shorten the run of wire from the Battery to the starter, shut high current off the ignition switch.  you will reduce the wire to the starter run from 10 feet, 5 from the battery to the ignition switch, and 5 back to the starter, to about 3 feet from the battery to the starter relay to the starter….

You usually don't fuse the heat soak relay as it is rated at about 75-100 amps.

Original TSB about this issue:
http://www.cabby-info.com/Files/010StarterTSB.pdf

Then lastly there were two styles of flex plates, solid, and spoked, and there are different starters for each….
If you install a solid starter on a spoked pressure plate you will chew up the flex plate.

To clarify the issue with better drawings….




1. Locate the starter solenoid wire going to the starter, and cut it.

On automatics it runs behind the transmission bell housing locate the yellowed connector, on manual trannys find the starter solenoid wire (littler one of the two attached to the starter…. no need to crawl under the car on automatics.



2. On the Starter end run that to one of the big lugs on the Ford Starter Relay.
3. On the End of the wire going into the fire wall, connect that to one of the Ford starter relay Pick stud (little ones on the side.
4. The other Big Lug of the ford starter relay goes to the Positive Post of the battery.
5. The Ford starter relay gets ground via the mounting brackets tabs.

If you ground it by the other little stud, then you are picking the relay and the starter will spin.





This is the way to connect it.

joebrowntech said

You can get the desired assistance to fix hot start troubles when you consult the user manual of your car. Flip the pages and know exactly what leads to the issues. And if you do not contain the user manual, you can visit manuals.co- the online website that offers all kinds of car manuals, and get a copy of it for your car to help it in hot start issues.

On VW user manuals they do not address the issue of VW automatics not starting when hot as in the starter not wanting to spin. I know as I have the owners manuals and the Bentley/Haynes and have read them cover to cover…..

The advent of the heat soak relay resolves the issues of the starter getting overtly hot as it sits directly under the exhaust manifold and is then wrapped by the down pipe.

So to resolve the heat soak issues associated with the starters on an automatic GOLF/Cabriolet, you have to have the heat shields in place, as well as the heat soak relay….. once those are installed you will never have the issue of getting in to your automatic, turning the key and hearing nothing from your starter, no click, no spin…. Been there done that on my new to me 92 300 miles from home in the middle of nowheresville.

VW on the 91 and ups, used a semi-heat soak relay that was attached to the kneebar's backside, but you still had the issue of too many feet of wire and voltage/current loss to the starter solenoid when overtly hot.

They then issued a TSB on it using a 40 amp relay in the engine compartment and doing the same wiring change, as in cutting the solenoid pick wire one starterside to the relay to the battery via contacts and the other end of the solenoid wire to the Pick side of the relay.  

sounds more like a carb issue to me, OP mentions starter is working?

if its the original pierburg carb have a read of my 2e2 guide:
https://clubgti.com/forums/index.php?threads/1-6-1-8-pierburg-2e2-carb-faq.124945/

i also had this issue and ended up wrapping the exhaust manifold in exhaust wrap ...5 quid on ebay and a bit of faff and its deffo helped