Ouch thats ho!!

[tberk@mindspring.com (T Berk)]

Elijah Risch wrote:
> 
> Last night I noticed that when I start the car, the wire from the (+)battery
> post gets hot to the touch(the longer it carnks the hotter it gets). Now
> when I bought the car the starter was out of it, so with the use of two
> books I figured where the wires went, I also the wiring to a 92 Jetta and an
> 86 GTI. NOw the wire coming from the battery goes to the top post as well as
> the red wire from the alt. The terminal on the tranny side has the black\red
> wire and the terminal on the radiator side has the other starter plug.
> The starter seems to be slowing down the more I crank to car. I first
> thought i had a grounding problem but can not find one.
> My question is: could my solenoid be going bad? is there something specific
> to a scirocco that my books do not cover that i have hooked up wrong or
> missing?
> Thanks for any advice you can give.
> 

I think you can expect the starter (which runs a LOT of current) to draw
enough power to heat the cable. Hot cable increases resistance.

I would recommend replacing the stock starter cable with some larger
gauge cable. Ground side too; the ground cable attaches at one end to
the battery, the other end goes under the battery so you'll have to move
it to get to the bolts. 

You'll also find that other end of the ground cable has two connections,
one goes to the chassis, the other goes to the transaxle.

Even if you don't yet replace the cables (yet) then take the clamps off
the battery and clean them until shiny. Coat the battery posts and
cables ends with something to keep the oxygen out- petroleum jelly or
dielectric grease or something. Doing the same at the other ends makes
for real slippery metal to metal contacts, as far as the electrons are
concerned.

You'll also want to verify the battery fluid is up to level, if you need
to top it off don't over fill and only use distilled water, not tap.

hth,
TBerk
TBerk
Free the Electrons!