My Sportline has died after flood water

Right ok, just had a little go…assume you disconnect the negative battery terminal first?????Just sparked quite a bit :-) But anyway, tried the starter motor test first, connected it to the white spade and + battery terminal…..nothing…….tried it on the red/black wire spade and it made a sound at least, but it wasnt cranking, it was just making a kind or whirring noise, almost like a vaccum sucking???? Will get to the other test in a few days, just wanted to check whether or not I should disconnect the - battery terminal first……….??

no you dont disconnect the battery else nothing will have power

ok the red/black wire is the one to test, if nothing then you can skip all the ignition switch tests as we have ruled it out.  the starter solenoid should clunk when you jump it then the starter should crank over, if not its 1 of 3 things:
1. low battery
2. battery cables
3. duff starter

well there is a 4th option which is a seized/hydro locked engine. if the car started up initially after it was dried out that would be unlikely though.

1st step now is undo the battery cabling and use sandpaper or a wire brush to clean the terminals and points they attach to on starter/alternator/gearbox to ensure they're good.  retry the test above and see if that helps!

the other problem with the mk1s is the battery earth to the gearbox was a poor design choice by vw, later on this was moved to a stud on the rear engine -> gearbox mounting bolt.  to check if you have corrosion underneath the gearbox brackey run a jump lead from the -ve terminal to one of the starter bolts, if it cranks over then bingo!

what i do is rob the bolt above from a mk3 in the scrap yard, along with all of its battery cables as they're much nicer than mk1.  the only thing is you'll have to make a short earth from the mk3 -ve to the earth point on the chassis. what i did on my mk1 cabrio was get 2 mk3 -ve cables, then cut one down so i was left with a run of cable with a ring terminal either end. i then ran this one from the chassis leg, and joined it to the 1st mk3 -ve cable middle ring terminal with a nut and bolt.

Hope that makes sense?

Right ok, thanks again for all that info John!!! Ok, I have plugged my battery into my battery conditioner to rule out a low battery....doesnt seem that low but it hasnt been charged in a while.......so will give it 48 hours and then try the starter motor test again......if still nothing will check the battery terminals etc and go from there...personally I would rather it was an expired starter as I know how to replace them!!!! Will keep you posted mate, and thanks again, there arent many people that would take this much time to help someone else out and it is very much appreciated, really hope to get to the bottom of this :-) Cheers.

Hi John, ok fully charged the battery, and nothing, starter just makes a weird lo hum and nothing else....so guessing its that...will check the battery cables but as they were replaced last year I cant see it being that.......so for now that leaves me with tracking down a new starter motor at some stage.......car is sorned currently anyway and I need to order replacement carpets etc.....so thats about all for now....again thanks so much for everything...I seriously owe you one...or two, or three :-) Cheers.Daniel

fingers crossed its just the starter

P.S Also did what you said and connected starter leads from - battery to bolt on starter motor….just the same noise, low hum, hardly anything……so basically it makes the same noise whether you turn the key, bypass and jump from starter connector to battery or connect from - battery terminal to bolt on starter motor……so diagnosis death of starter motor, which to be fair was very old and only cost me £5 from funkstar and was fully submerged in a flood!!!!

Just a quick up-date...have ordered a new starter motor, so as soon as it arrives I will fit and let you know the results......everything crossed!!!!!

Good luck with it mate. Hope it solves the issues for you

Cheers Smudger, so do I!!!!

OK Have a new problem!!!!!Got a new starter motor, but the black battery cable that conenct to  my + battery terminal is now to short     When I had issues last year I had to replace the battery terminal and as a result of damage to the lead I had to shorten it by about 2 inches……….I now need those 2 inches back as the new starters connections are slightly set back from my old starter         And there is no more give in the battery cable…………HELP!!!!!!So I now need to order a length of the correct black battery cable that goes from the starter to the + battery terminal…..and then somehow fit the end of the old cable that connects to the starter onto my new cable, again….     Can anyone advise on where to buy this from?????? Would be very helful if the end already had the connector that attaches to the starter motor!!!!!! Any of you guys no what to do???Dont really have a local garage that I know to go to and have made up………..just goes on and on and on!!!!!!!!

gety down the local scrappy and nick a live cable from a mk3 golf 1.8-2.0. id also get the alternator and battery cables off it as well, plus the engine -> gearbox bolt the battery -ve cable earths to. you'll see what I mean anyway!

you'll have to splice the old blue wire ends over to the mk3 alternatyor cable (or remove the whole thign from the old alternator cable) plus make up a short length from the chassis leg to the mk3 -ve. on my mk1 I did this by getting 2 mk3 -ve cables, cutting the 2nd one down so i had a length with 2 ring terminals then joined it to the middle ring on the other cable with a nut and bolt

Sorry havent updated this for a while, but after my last post I had ordered a new battery cable and was messed about by the first company so ended up waiting 2 weeks for nothing…then ordered through battery megastore (brilliant company!!!!) and arrived in 2 days!!! Anyway long story short, installed the new cable, fiited new starter motor and the car burst into life :-) Everything is working 100% so I am a very happy chappy…for a change :-) Thanks Rubjonny for all your help, if it hadnt been for you I think I would have just given up on her to be honest…and thanks to the rest of you guys for your comments and help……you are all stars!!!!!

Yomp said

At a guess I would say your starter motor got full of water and was probably OK for a day or so but as the water stuck inside is now attacking the internal components etc that it is now either stuck and/or internal corrosion is occuring.

 

 

You ought to check your gearbox oil for water. There's a hidden breather down the side of the 27mm gear selector nut. This could have let water into the box.

Also check your wheel bearings and cv joints as flood damaged cars tend to chew these up after a short while if water and silt ingresses into these items.