Ok, so Oz is a lot hotter in Summer than Germany but any ideas on what happened to Verna the 78 Kombi the other day?
She was parked in the driveway at home all day and the temp maxed out at 39.5 Deg C (103 Deg F) around 3 pm. At about 4.30 pm I arrived home jumped in and started her up as normal, she always fires 1st go, and then drove off. I was going about 10 minutes up the road to visit my Mum in the Nursing Home and was there just over an hour. When I came out to not much cooler temps there was a resounding silence from Verna when I tried to start her.
Now we're talking no crank, no click of a solenoid, no clatter of a starter not engaging properly, just nothing. The Battery and Oil lights on the dash came on and dimed slightly when I pressed that starter indicating load.
The previous owner never replaced anything that broke so when the ignition switch wouldn't operate past the "on" position he had a starter button wired in on the dash. I even pulled this out and shorted it in case it had gone U/S.
I waited and tried a couple more times then tried clutch-starting it by rolling it across the carpark but still no luck so I left it there and got a cab home.
Next morning in the cool at about 6.30 am I went back ready to have it towed to my mechanic, but suspecting it would start to spite me and sure enough she fired first go and each time since ( about 3 days now).
So is this typical of air-cooled engines (as a friend claims or is he just a water cooled wanker) not liking extreme heat or could it be a sign of something more serious?
To me it has to be electrical, and having worked in electronics I figure it will probably turn out to be "Intermittant" the scurge of every service technician in every industry because it will never fail during business hours, close to help, of in front of witnesses.
Any suggestions or forcasts of doom appreciated.
John (Smegggg) The Bay from OZ
(Verna 1978 Bay)