Can only start with a 'jump' plus other problems

I'm having a few issues…..

At the moment I can only start the car with a 'jump' start. The battery is showing as full when I put it on a charger so I guess this is not the problem. This has been going on for a few weeks but is gradually getting worse, usually a half hour blast around is enough to let mew switch off and restart OK, yesterday this also didn't work and I was let stranded in a petrol station (luckily the wife came out to rescue me - meant I owed her a favour though and ended up missing the FA Cup Semi on TV as I had to play taxi up and down the M4 for my eldest and her mate)
Additionally pre 'jump' there is also zero power to the car, lights, radio the lot, not just that the engine won't turn over.

Also, when I did get going yesterday I noticed the VDO oil pressure gauge was all over the place, up and down like a tarts draws - its not done that before (well not since I fitted the gauges a couple of months ago)
The oil temp and volts were both steady just not the pressue ??

Finally, the engine temp gauge is showing as hot, it gets hot quickly and then stays that way, virtually up to max, I also topped up the water and coolant as these seemd low yesterday but still the dial was way over to the right. So far I've had changed, thermostat, radiator, head gasket with NO luck - Any ideas ??    I must admit the wiring looks like it was previously worked on by David Blunkett and Stevie Wonder so this may not be helping the problems……. HELP please

MOT and TAX due in the next couple of weeks so need to have these sorted

cf_emoticons__BangHead:  cf_emoticons__BangHead:

Earth issue probably, have you checked the main earth points?

or maybe an old immobiliser tucked away under the dash. I had a hot start issue once discovered lots of old imobiliser bits and wiring stripped it all out and never had an issue since.

If you connect the battery to the starter with the ignition on it may start that way, use a good thick wire or jumper cable. That may help you to tell if its a starter problem or switch ignition related.

Good point pearcestu, I do have an old TOAD alarm/immobiliser fitted. I'll try to strip it all out over the weekend, the only potential problem being the wiring and alarm installation has previously been played with by Zippo the clown and his team of performing monkies.

I'll give it a go and see what happens.

I found that every installer had jus been lazy and tapped into old alarm wiring rather than making new and doing it properly.

have a look online there is a good how to for installing a toad ai606 alarm into a golf mk1 it should help you to identify some of the original wires back there.

Update - the alarm/immobiliser is now toast, but still with starting issues, so Mr RAC paid a visit.

Turns out the battery was deffective so luckily as I got the old battery from the RAC it was changed for FREE as it was still under warranty.

Bad news is the starter motor is knackerred - does anybody know what is the correct STARTER MOTOR for a 1989 8v GTI cab (DX)

Cheers

I have a starter from my project that I am breaking. Worked fine before I removed it. Was fitted to a DX lump

any mk1/2 kjet 8v or 16v starter will do. the mk2 starters have an extra lug that doesnt do anything, but still fits perfectly fine

And is the oil pressure still have the shakes all over the place?, also, sometimes when unhooking the fuse box from its bracket and removing and reseating the plugs and fuses may help, also you can find some bad connections in the plugs themselves or open wires all over.