Is the AAZ an indirect injection turbodiesel or an early TDI? I was surprised at how much cranking (like 30+ seconds!) it takes when NO glow plugs work on an IDI engine...doing that every day has got to be killing the starter, and I've read something to the effect that all that unburned fuel could dilute the oil and wash down the cylinders, making compression worse but I am not sure if that is true. At the least you sure get one huge cloud of smoke when it finally starts.

And this is a Syncro Golf? I'm not too knowledgeable about VW's newer than the air-cooled generation but I thought the Syncro was a 4WD Vanagon. And I've only seen two diesel Vanagons in my life but I thought they were cool (except very slow). I read about people putting TDIs in them....

__________________
1976 240D "Katja"