Old Volks that doesn't start

Hi yall. I just recently got this old Volkswagen Rabbit. It used to be a race car and I don't fully know the entire history on it. Its still race ready from the looks of it (roll cage, suspension is extremely stiff, aftermarket wheels and tires with a good amount of neg camber in them). From what I was told, it’s an 87 with a 90 motor in it (2.0L 16valve). The problem is that it doesn't start (won't even turn over). The guy said that it ran prior, but now it won't start at all. All the lights turn on and signals, etc, but it won't even crank over. So far ive been having a few headaches.

I checked all the fuses and their fine, and the battery is fully charged. I checked the starter and its receiving voltage, but its still a no go. I checked the spark at the starter and its looking pretty weak, and I would still think it should be enough to at least click or try to turn over, but its not. I haven't had the time to work on it for the last few days (I'm currently messing with my bike). I'm thinking about checking out the ignition switch since it doesn't do anything when I turn the key. I’m pretty much narrowing it down to a starting issue, but if any of you have any suggestions that you think I should check into or possibly do I would appreciate it. Thanks, Kurt

You're on the right track. Test the switch to make sure the right pins are getting the right voltage when you turn the key. Other than that, test the starter and solenoid. Sometimes when they're bad they don't even click.

Maby it has a differnt switch for starting it insted of the ignition switch, wouldnt be uncommon on a race car.

Maby it has a differnt switch for starting it insted of the ignition switch, wouldnt be uncommon on a race car.

Well the only thing I found was a kill switch (which they had done a really poor job in wiring up) and surprisingly, it actually works so I ruled that out as a possiblity. I'll check around for anything else though, thanks.

Oh and thanks Curtis for the reassurance. At this point I was really begining to need it.

Whenever I hear old VW that won't start i immediately think starter relay. They're notoriously bad.

Well Ive got some good news and some bad news. Ill go ahead with the good news first. The guy gave me the service manual for this car! So I go through the troubleshooting processes to start narrowing off possible problems.

Good News:
Tested for voltage at the ignition switch and it was good to go (pulling a tad under 13volts).

Bad News:
This is where things start to get weird (if anybody has any input as to why this is so, please let me know)

Next step was to test the solenoid switch which requires a voltage test at the field-winding connecting strap with ignition at START. If less than 8volts are present, its defective. So I test it and its cranking over 12volts. So thats good news.

Now this is the weird part:
Next step is check for a faulty starter motor. The manual says do test for voltage at the field-winding connecting strap with ignition at START. If at least 8 volts, repair or replace starter motor.

Whats bothering me is that its the exact same test that they described in testing the solenoid switch. So as guessed, I get the same voltage reading? Over 8volts = a bad starter from what the manual says. Is this a typo or am I doing something wrong? This is a bit weird. Of coarse I am going to get the same result for the same test right? I think I'm going to have to drink a beer after this one :lol: . Anyways, if anybody has any ideas or reasons why this is so, PLEASE let me know (the beer only helps for so long). Thanks

Well a few beers later I decide to just take the starter and solenoid off. Hopefully I'll get around to getting them checked out tomorrow.