Disconnected battery cable and reconnected, now starter wont engage Options

[ericoneal]

I disconected the positive (and neg) cables. Reconnected, and now the car wont start. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) The dash lights and fuel pump come on, headlights are bright, battery is fully charged, but no click or anything. I checked all of the fuses under the steering wheel and 3 of them on the firewall by the battery and all are good.
Are there other fuses that I am missing? SHe has always fired up, really frustrated....

[Tom]

ericoneal,
Glad you found the reason why your car was not starting.
The reason why your car had the relay there is because some previous owner most likely had the dreaded hot-no-start problem many bugs and 914 develop as they age. The starting circuit is a long one with many connections and has a high demand on the battery voltage to initially close the solenoid. It takes close to 8.5 to 9 volts for the starter solenoid to close. Given that these cars are getting older, it is no surprise that more and more have starting issues. Electrical components, wires included, increase resistance over time and especially when heat is applied. Since a large part of the electrical system is in the engine bay, it gets a lot of heat. Resistance in the connections and wire causes voltage drop in the circuit. When it reaches 3-4 volts drop, the solenoid won't operate and you have the dreaded hot-no-start issues.
I would normally agree with leaving the relay out as simple circuits will usually outperform complex circuits, except this circuit was designed about 50-60 years ago and even the factory recognized the problems and VW at least issued a fix with a starter relay kit.
Bottom line, if yours works OK without the relay, leave it out. Your car had the problem in the past so just be aware that when it gets hot out it could reappear.
Tom