The starter motor on my 2000 1.9TDI made some nasty grinding noises last week and now it just spins without engaging the flywheel. I'm hoping the damage is confined to the starter and not the ring gear ! Anyone else had this problem ? the car has only done 80K . Where is the best place to get a replacement starter at a reasonable price ? I was thinking of GSF.

I suggest you do a 'push start test' first to check the flywheel ring gear.

Push start and then switch off. Try the starter and see if it works. Repeat several times. If it turns the engine most of the time, it is likely you have stripped some of the teeth off the flywheel ring gear. When the pinion is aligned with gear where the teeth are missing, it won't start.

I suggest you do a 'push start test' first to check the flywheel ring gear.

Push start and then switch off. Try the starter and see if it works. Repeat several times. If it turns the engine most of the time, it is likely you have stripped some of the teeth off the flywheel ring gear. When the pinion is aligned with gear where the teeth are missing, it won't start.

Good thinking ! I'll try that .

This issue usually arises with cars that do a lot of very short trips, and physically wear out the ring gear IME. The reason for this is that the engine typically stops with the same piston on TDC compression most of the time (ISTR there is a reason for this, but exactly what escapes me. Logic suggests that any piston at TDC should be equally likely and hence there should be 2 equally heavy wear points on a 4).

Accordingly, the other test would be to push the car a short distance, literally only a couple of feet, in gear, and see if it will start then.

Why don't you just pull the timing rubber plug & inspect the ring gear all the way round?

I'd rather do that than guess, pushing won't fully tell as the starter solonoid can be goofed.

a low miles 2nd hand one will be cheapest, new cheapest probably euro/gsf yes. It's a common fault.

Greg.

. The reason for this is that the engine typically stops with the same piston on TDC compression most of the time (ISTR there is a reason for this, but exactly what escapes me. Logic suggests that any piston at TDC should be equally likely and hence there should be 2 equally heavy wear points on a 4).

It's because one cylinder will always have slightly higher compression. It tends to stop on the compression stroke for that cylinder.

The other possibility is that the starter solenoid isn't pushing the pinoin down the starter shaft fully, so it isn't engaging.

Ok, thanks for the replies ! I think the problem is a sticky solenoid mechanism. Got someone to turn the key while I clouted the solenoid with a hammer. Starter engaged ok and fired up the engine.

Next question for those that have removed a starter from the AGR engine : do the mounting bolts have a standard hex head or are they star/torx drive ? If star/torx, what size ? I've not had a chanse to check myself as keep getting home late.

After removing the battery, battery tray and plastic undershield, the starter motor is accessible. Pulled off solenoid wire and battery cable. 2 bolts secure the starter to the bell housing, both standard 13mm . Top bolt also secures the cable guide which is annoying because it obscures the bolt head. As I pushed the solenoid wire out of the way it came off in my hand !. The wire had corroded about an inch and a half from the connector and it was only the insulation holding it together.

The grinding noise I was getting when operating the starter was due to the solenoid not fully operating causing the pinion gear to just touch the ring gear but not engage.

Wire now re-attached, starter motor go go !

You are so lucky - hope you did the lottery too:)

I have not been so lucky, (first time caller so bear with me, hello everyone).

My starter motor was not engaging and was just spinning. This coincided with the cold weather so I was hoping for the sticky solenoid diagnosis. However, when I removed and tested the starter motor it was working fine.

And so with that feeling of dread I inspected the ring gear and it is absolutely shot to pieces, only a quarter of it remains intact.

I bought this car from a friend last month; it's a 2001 Octavia Estate Tdi, high mileage (181k). The engine is running very smoothly and it's a nice car, except for a few teething problems, (pun intended).

My questions are;

What could have caused such damage?

Would you replace the starter as well, just in case it's a bit naughty?

How much should I expect to be paying out in labour? (I don't want to/can't fit this myself)

I may have got lucky with the hunt for the part. My friend who sold me the car, has the same ASV engine sitting on his drive (he likes Octavia’s), and has said that I can strip the part from there for free. It's on the wrong side of the country but will save me sizeable whack.

In the mean time I will park on hills only facing downwards

I have not been so lucky, (first time caller so bear with me, hello everyone)...My questions are;

What could have caused such damage?

Does your mate do a lot of stop-starting, like taxi work for example, where the starter gets a lot of use.

Would you replace the starter as well, just in case it's a bit naughty?

Try it with the new ring gear and see. Changing the starter motor is way easier than changing the ring gear, which is a gearbox and clutch out job.

How much should I expect to be paying out in labour? (I don't want to/can't fit this myself)

It's several hours work, but you don't say where you are and I've seen labour rates from about £25 to £100 an hour!

Hint - on that mileage, and when the box is out anyway, unless it's pretty new, I'd change the clutch assembly too.

My mate used the car mostly for commuting to work, and it hasn't been stop/starting more than any other car would have been.

I spoke to a mechanic friend of mine and he said he'd do the job and charge me about £30 and hour. I thought this was very reasonable and am hoping to get away with about £100-£150 in labour costs.

I think that this flywheel was damage a long time ago and the starter motor progressively attacked the weak spot. When it had managed to grind a few teeth away it would have been easy for it to just tear into the next one along.

When I do get flywheel/ring gear out I'll try to post a photo of it on here so you can see how bad it is :eek:.

This sort of damage is usually lots of very short trips, unless the ring gear just happens to have some bad metallurgy.

Thanks Ken

I'll update this thread when I get the problem sorted.

Just get a new clutch & flywheel (solid, not dual mass) kit. They are under £250 now. If any doubt about the starter, replace it. It is a starter in the past that damaged the flywheel, as it's supposed to engage before it spins and faulty ones would do this damage, not a correctly working one.

Greg.

I have had the flywheel replaced. I got the fly wheel from the old engine on my friends drive and had it fitted for £100 labour, pretty lucky I thought. I didn't replace the whole clutch and flywheel as I simply haven't got the funds.

I've attached a photo of the old ring gear and it looks like Shane McGowan, (noy many teeth). Look at it from 3 o'clock round to 9 o'clock. It's pretty bad.

My mechanic mate, always good to have one, noticed that the anti-bar link is missing on one side, so I'm having to get this fixed as well now.

After I got the car back I had no turbo, I found that one of the small vac tubes had disconnected. Re-fitted it and all was good. That was until today when I had to get the AA out because the engine would turn over but didn't fire up. He found air in the fuel lines. I wondering if the air got into the fuel line when the vac tube was disconnected. I can't see how though. I put a bottle of cleaner in the tank yesterday when I was filling up and it might have been that. Either way this car is getting on my nerves. One thing after another at the moment. When i get it all sorted I will have a decent car....I hope.