Just wondering how succesful the clean up job is, or do I just buy a new starter??

It's that time of year again... mine did it this morning for the first time since April.

Mines been doing it all summer lol.

Just booked in for a service so I thought I would get it looked at while it's there.

i cleaned mine but it only stopped the noise for a week so i replaced the starter & its been fine for the last 18 months! some people have cleaned the starter & had no more problems! if you were doing it yourself id say clean it & try it but if your paying a garage to do it & it starts to do it again your going to be paying them twice!

I think mine has started to stick, on startup it sounds like grinding the gears for a split second!?

I have ignored it so far, but if theres a fix would good to hear.

How much are they? For some reason I had £80-90 in mind?

you can take them apart and clean and regrease, i have did this once on my vrs, however it started making noise 6 months later so i changed it in the end.

Vag starters always play up, my mk1 and mk2 golf ones did, and i remember getting under my beetle having to wack the starter to get it going with a block of wood!

you think they would get it right:rolleyes:

Spooky!!!!!!!,

Mine started doing it again this morning :thumbdwn: (stopped during summer), damn oh well another job.

There have been suggestions about greasing everything, personally I dont think thats the best route (eg dust bulild up caused it in the first place so all you will do is create a dust impregnated paste eventually).

I remember this happening with my very first car, at that time the preferred fix was to strip the s/motor down, clean up the gear end and using a very soft lead pencil rub the graphite end over as much of the bendix gear and grooves as possible (ie: a dry lubricant). I will try this method first if no joy then sparing use of copper-ease.

Peter

Just wondering how succesful the clean up job is, or do I just buy a new starter??

I removed, cleaned and greased mine a good 18months ago, and I've never had a problem since. So I'd say try that mate.

It's the dry dust that causes the shaft to jam, so smearing it with something like Castrol LM grease keeps it sliding and acts as a barrier between the dust and the shaft.

Used to do this as a yearly event on my old Austin Maxi - so it's a bit old event .

Took starter to bits , cleaned com rings ,and all electrical fittings. Then stripped down solenoid and sanded contacts . Made sure all electrical contacts /fittings were all of good contact . Then come winter - I could be assured that the loss across solenoid was less than 0.5 volt .At ten year old I had problems with the starter - gave it to my mate to take to test - turned out to be mechanical - bits of garbage in bendix - once cleaned ,starter behaved as new .

Might be worth replacing the phosphor bronze bush in the gearbox end first. These dry out and wear causing noises from the starter. This is the only problem I've ever had with a starter on a VAG car and is ofter overlooked.

i paid £75+vat for mine.

Mine was cleaned about two months ago, the mechanic just sprayed some kind of special grease all over it, fine ever since.

mine has been doing this a couple of months now, might have to strip it down and give it a grease

Mine has been making a noise for years with no other issues. I just ignore it now.

Runs off to touch wood

mine totally packed up a couple of months ago, a mechanic stripped it down and greased it and some other stuff to it. It's been fine ever since, got a second hand one off someone here as a backup if need be.