Car Talk

December 2003

Around 1962, I had a girlfriend who had a new VW Karmann Ghia roadster. We were students at UC Berkeley. This is hilly country, and when she parked the car on a relatively level area, it would start. If she parked on a slope, it was completely dead. If it was pushed from the slope to a level area, it would fire right up. Yes, she tried the dealer, but to no avail. I was a hot-rod owner and knew a little, and I tried everything I could think of. I never solved the problem, and she left me. What was the solution? -- Gordon

Ray: Well, we can't be sure, Gordon, but I'm guessing you lost the love of your life over a 99-cent part.

Tom: Lots of these old Volkswagens suffered from bad starter bushings. There was a bushing -- about the size of the tip of your little finger -- that supported the end of the starter-motor shaft. The bushing was housed inside the engine block. If that bushing was bad and allowed the starter shaft to get even a little bit out of alignment, the car would refuse to crank.

Ray: We used to find these bad bushings when people would complain that their Karmann Ghias would intermittently fail to start ... AND after we unsuccessfully put three or four new starters in their cars. I never connected it specifically to hills, but itcertainly possible that the angle of the car could have caused the geometry of the starter to shift, and caused this problem.

Tom: And to fix it, you needed to extract the bad bushing and replace it. If it's any comfort to you, Gordon, it probably wasn't a job you would have been able to do yourself. It was a pain in the butt and required a couple of special tools. So don't feel bad.

Ray: By the way, we also heard from your old girlfriend recently. She was having her '62 Karmann Ghia restored ... with the money she won in the megabucks lottery. She wanted to give her husband something to drive when he didn't feel like driving the Ferrari or cabin cruiser she bought him. Beat up old car

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