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hi people...i recently finished rebuilding my 1600sp beetle.it ran fine the first time but i noticed that even after turning off the ignition the starter kept running..i had to disconect the battery terminals for it to go off otherwise i would have broken the armature!!i suspect faulty wiring..advice...what could be the problem?

monkslayer wrote:...i suspect faulty wiring...

Any particular reason? Were there recent changes to the wiring at either the ignition switch or starter solenoid? Has a "booster" relay been installed between them? Car's a `73?

Term 50 on the solenoid should only have power to it when the key is turned to the crank position. There should be an inline connection in the red Term 50 wire under the LR seat - if you unplug that and the starter keeps turning, the solenoid is sticking (rare) or the wiring problem is at the solenoid. If there's still power at the wire going to the front from here with the ignition switch off, there's a wiring problem up front.

yes some wiring was done recently,actually the day before the revival of the engine.I had someone who is good with beetles do it.I was just guessing when i said a wiring problem since before the wiring was done it used to work pretty ok...

Check also to make sure there isn't anything shorting across the two terminals at the starter. When I replaced my + cable this spring, the terminal sheath is longer than my OEM one and one of the times under there I shifted it enough to intermittently contact the other terminal.

question...could a low battery cause the dragging like symptoms of the starter...or the lagging delay of still running after the ignition has been switched..i ask since i noticed that with a fully charged battery it behaves just fine but when it goes low it behaves as it does.