Wouldn't crank yesterday morning. Lights, indicators, accessories OK. No solenoid *click*, just switchoff of everything in KPIII like it's supposed to.

"Gr! Dead battery!", I think. Slipping alternator belts lately = poor charging = shoulda got those belts. Put the charger on it. VROOM. Starts right up after charging for an hour. Charger indicator showed low charge at hookup, so... OK.

Drove off. 15 minutes, no worries. Parked for an hour. Started right up. Drove 20 minutes. Parked for 10 minutes. NO CRANK, NO CLICK. Same as this morning. Got a jump - did *nothing else* - and it started right up. VROOM.

Drove to the place I got the battery. They tested it: Capacity 675CCA on a rated capacity of 550CCA. Seems odd, but they insist the battery's good.

They blame the starter solenoid. Grrrr.

OK, so I drive off. Now it's dusk. Ten minutes into operation, panel/head lights dim waaaaaay down and the radio cuts out intermittently. Seems to idle poorly. Babied her home....

In the driveway. Radio still cutting out. Turn signal dims the lights now and even slows engine idle.

Cleaned battery ground. No more dimming issue or radio cutout. Turn signal does not affect lights or idle.

H'ray!

Until........ I turn it off and try to restart. NO CRANK, NO CLICK. Just like the morning.

Connected the charger and touched *nothing else*. VROOM.

Intermittent internal battery short? I could blame the alternator for poor charging, but not for the no click issue. I mean, not even a hint of a click.

No wiggle in the ignition switch. I know that doesn't mean it's good...
No battery indicator on panel.
Just that allegedly good battery not being able to even drive the starter solenoid, then another power source cranking the car right up.

Ideas?
--
~graymatta '93 240, '92 940, (departed) '85 740 and a world of air-cooled VWs in my past