Occasional Starter Noise

John Walters

John Walters

Member
Occasionally I press the starter and just get a "whrrring" noise. I take my foot off and press again and starts fine. This does not always happen ....maybe 1 in 10 starts, Any thoughts?
 
The bendix slides on the shaft. As the motor spins the bendix is drawn into the ring gear. Maybe something is worn, or some grit is present preventing the bendix from moving.
 
In addition to the excellent advice that Mike offered, a poor electrical contact on the starter switch will also cause the motor to spin slowly (whiring noise you hear) but not fast enough to engage the starter drive.
 
I'd clean the helix the drive spins on, and I give it a light coat of oil, such as ATF (automatic transmission fluid).
 
I have had similar problems and I changed over to a modern starter drive. The other day it jammed on the flywheel. It had done it a few times before the change... Put in 3rd and push car backwards... no go it would not disengage as in the past. We pulled the starter and the shaft was worn too much and too much play the drive wobbled on the shaft and then it would bind. It had rough spots on the shaft. New bushings and replaced the armature with a better one and put graphite on the shaft. So far so good.
 
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