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>From Christine and Ken: > Okay, here's the details of our starter problems. When we turn on the >key, the oil and generator indicator lights come on, and we here the fuel >pump start up, but there is no action from the starter. This problem comes and goes; >sometimes it happens almost every time we get in the car, and other times, it >could be weeks or months without a problem. But, we have to park on a hill just in case. Actually, you are very close to the perfect solution...park on a hill. My wife has become an EXPERT at push-starting our VW...she can get the thing rollin' in ten steps or less while I sit in the car shouting words of support and encouragement! When we go to Las Vegas, we park on the upper level of the parking garages...and coast downhill until we start! When you get no action from your starter, you probably have an ignition switch or solenoid discombobolation. I would more readily suspect (or at least hope for) the solenoid. Crawl under the vehicle, locate the solenoid (the smaller roundy thing sitting on the starter), and check your connections. Clean? Tight? Tidy? (On my Square one of the connections comes off about every 4 weeks...someday I'm gonna tighten it!). Okay, now, if you know you have a good battery...place a screwdriver across the two big connections on the solenoid...the starter should whirl but not turn over the engine. If the starter doesn't whirl and twirl, then your starter is kaput (again, is your battery good????). Spend the bucks for a replacement or have it rebuilt. What if it whirls? Okay, now you suspect the solenoid. Put your car out of gear, pull up the handbrake, and make sure the key is turned off. On the starter use a screwdriver to make connection between the terminal that has the big wire from the battery and the terminal with the wire from the ignition switch. If the starter tries to turn the engine over, then you have a rotten, ungrateful solenoid. For a long term solution, install a new solenoid. For a neat short-term approach use the St. Muir patented "hit it with a hammer" solution. Tap gently on the solenoid with a hammer to loosen up whatever is stuck in there. You may actually get a lot more service out of your solenoid after you do this. Don't get mad and rush out and buy anything until you run the tests to your satisfaction. A bad ignition switch can also cause non-starting situations. If none of this works, then fall back on the "evil spirits inhabiting" theory of VW automechanics. I explain away most problems quite satisfactorily using this theory. Let us know how it turns out (or, in the case of the starter, turns over). Best.. Phil dillard@suu.edu