dodgy starter motor

Hi Nigel

Its probably just the inertia bit on the end in need of a good clean, use a solvent type cleaner then lube it with wd40 or similar. Hope this helps Icky

It will just be the inertia setup gummed or rusted up. Remove the starter and you will find the pinion moves on a spiral spline. It needs to be very free to move on this, against the light spring. Thoroughly clean the spiral spline both on the shaft and inside the pinion, using wire brush or a suitable solvent depending on whether it is gummed or rusted up. You can probably do an adequate job without taking it apart, although it is better to take it apart to do it. DO NOT put any grease or oil of any kind on it, or you will be repeating the job in the near future. Instead, rub the surfaces with powdered graphite. The problem will be made worse by a sluggish starter, whether caused by the starter itself or poor connections or battery. There is a slight chance that the problem is damaged teeth on the flywheel or pinion, but this should be obvious when you have the starter off, and in any case usually make themselves kown by horrible noises rather than just spinning. JD

Thanks JD and Icky, thats what I'm hoping it will be was just checking to make sure it wasn't something else.

Nigel