Starter motor- Random starting wows

[Blakefruid]

Morning all,
So I'm having an ongoing battle with the starter motor on my 1.6TD and would really appreciate any advice.
I had a rebuilt 1.6TD fitted in January this year (starter was a pain before this). I've got through 3 starters since then x2 Lucas (eurocarparts) & x1 Hella (Brickwerks), I've cleaned the earth's/connections, added an earth from the starter mounting bolt, replaced the cable from the battery & battery earth, replaced the ignition switch and added a hard start relay.

So the problem is sometimes the starter won't disengage the pinion- switch it off and re-start a few times often works, but not all the time. Occasionally the starter just spins. Each time I've checked the starter is square and the bolts & connections are all tight. There doesn't seem to be any jiggle when the starter is in place but loose, so I can see it can be misaligned.
Can someone please suggest how can I get the starter to work every time?
Thanks ever so much,
Blake

[Mocki]

I dont “do” diesels but sounds like the flywheel is the fault

[RogerT]

Looks like you have been trying to fix an electrical problem by cleaning connections etc and adding an earth. Have you had electric problems or just the one you described re the pinion,

Also, how do you resolve the problem when the starter just spins (I’m presuming it doesn’t turn the engine on those occasions).

[Blakefruid]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply's.
Mocki- the flywheel was checked for damage, missing teeth etc when the engine was out and nothing was found. Do you think this could be misaligned or fitted incorrectly? 

RodgerT- no other electrical issues at all. When the starter just spins I turn the ignition off and try again.
thanks so much,
Blake

[Mocki]

Like i said i dont “do” diesels , but you said engine refurb , was the flywheel removed and refitted ? Is it possible its spaced out or in from where the starter would like it ? Is the bellhousing aligned correctly? I’m just throwing up ideas ……..

[Blakefruid]

Hi Mocki,
Thanks for your advice. Yep flywheel was swaped, but I did have starter moter woes before, but they did last at least 1 1/2 years and not 1 1/2 miles!
But, yeah my thinking is along the lines if yours, just sounds like something might be squffy as I think I've tried everything electrical! No idea if the bell housing could be misaligned.
Thanks fir your time,
Blake

[Aidan]

could it be the bellhousing to engine mating is problematic ? Sometimes there is a lot of corrosion of the gearbox case in this area, so it might not be bolting up entirely square/parallel.
brakefluid from the slave cylinder and coolant weeps from the head plus the dissimilar metals especially the iron block/magnesium gearbox case/steel dodo plate can mean a quite poor, soft case at the bottom especially but also on the left side. Also are all the dowels present on the engine as this ensures alignment with the gearbox, occasionally I get a gearbox in with one of the dowels from the engine stuck in the gearbox case

[Blakefruid]

Hi Aiden,
Thanks ever so much for your reply.
So It's very much sounding like the engine and gearbox needs splitting & checking over- so nice clean flat surfaces and dowels present and correct. Is there anything I need to look for when we check the flywheel?

We're off to Ireland on Friday, Is there anything you can suggest to check or (temporary) fixes just so it's good for our two week road trip- I'm taking a spare starter!

cheers,
Blake

[silverbullet]

Good call on the possible missing dowels, but that could also manifest itself as a dragging clutch in addition to the starter hard engagement and wear issues.
You could slacken off the engine/bellhousing bolts and see if the engine or gearbox move (rotate) relative to each other or about one of the bolts that should have a dowel.
If they do, then it should be possible to jack up one or the other to effectively swing the starter slightly out of engagement with the flywheel and give it an easier time.
They cant move far, because the bolts only have so much slack in their holes, but it might make the difference.

[Blakefruid]

Morning Silverbullet,
Thanks ever so much, sounds like a plan.

[Ian P.]

Could this be down to a worn / split / randomly spinning oilight bushing? We had to get ours replaced when the starter gave the ghost.....

[Oldiebut goodie]

No - bush is part of the starter motor.

[Ian P.]

Ah, I see - thank you!

[Mocki]

Only the petrols have the olite bushing in the bellhousing AFAIK

[colinthefox]

Before you split the engine and box, might be worth checking the one way clutch in the pinion assembly. You should be able to rotate the pinion smoothly in one direction but shouldn't rotate the other way at all. If it feels gritty when rotated that may be your problem. Or may not but if it is, might save you a load of work.
I've had a gritty one way clutch, with similar symptoms, and it took me ages to diagnose.