I was wondering if you could give me some things to check on my van won't start and we tried jumping it. The lights all come on with full charge . So I was wanting to know if there is a reset button somewhere? Or what you could recommend it might be. Its says something about RkE button.Thanks any info will be helpfull. It;s an 2009 Routan VW van

Start with the basics, here. Check that battery cables are not loose and are CLEAN, on the battery AND the starter. Beyond that, check the battery charge with a volt meter. Fully charged should be 12.5 volts or higher, you will lose starter spin at 10 volts. If the battery is low, hook it up to a charger and charge it up completely. If you don\'t have a voltmeter, go to the store and buy one. If you\'re going to try and fix things like this, you have to have one. If you can\'t do that, remove the battery and take it to someplace like AutoZone. They will charge and test the battery for free. If you can\'t take the battery out, or don\'t have a friend that can, have the car towed to your mechanic.



Here\'s the thing- I can\'t tell you exactly why, but some cars you just can\'t jump start. Happens more on side mount post type batteries. Because you can\'t jump your car doesn\'t mean it won\'t start with a fully charged battery. Now there are other things that could be wrong with you car, that it won\'t crank over and start for you.....but we begin the diagnosis with the battery.

Check your switch that runs to your aternator.make sure is grounded .if not get a sand paper and sand it down.also check the switch that plugs in to the alternator.

The ground should connect to the motor and the motor should connect to the body or chassis. Pour some water on the connection to the engine and the battery terminals. If it is a bad connection things should improve. If you jump start, the donor vehicle needs to be running at a fast idle.

take starter off and check directly with battery, but sounds like battery from symptoms

Well I was going to ask if you have checked the alternator output, but the part about the ignition switch makes me wonder if the switch is failing. It could be damaged internally and not up to the task of carrying voltage when everything is turned on.
I would still check alternator output at the alternator and at the battery.
You should have 14 volts at idle with all accessories off.

You need to charge your battery up more. Either get a battery charger or leave the jumper cables hooked up for a longer period of time.
Your battery was probably completely dead. You might even need a new battery...they really don't like to be completely drained.

please give more details..

The instrument cluster in this van is really a computer display and it has malfunctioned. This is a common complaint on this van and you must remove the cluster and have it rebuilt to cure the problems. Check the WEB for repair sources. They can also provide complete instructions on removal free of charge.

Sounds like your battery is just too dead, has enough juice to light up the system for a minute but cranking drains it and if it wont charge then deff fried, you could try removing the battery and starting the car with cables to confirm the starter still works. If a bettery is too dead then when you are jumping it, it takes to much of the power just trying to get through the battery.

When the van refuses to start, have you tried to jump start it? If not, I would suggest you do, because it would allow you to rule out the battery and alternator (or at least be relatively confident that they are good) if the van DOES NOT start when you try to jump start it, then it would be either the starter/solenoid or in the engine.