Starter whirs but doesn't engage?

[carl_w]

Went to start the Cerb and there was a whirr and a slight grinding of teeth, sounded like the starter wasn't engaging. Tried again (as all good software testers do) and it was fine. And the next time. And the next time.

Just a one-off bit of stiction or a sign of impending doom? Would the initial whirring have damaged the teeth (starter motor's, not mine)?

[whatever]

This happened to me, once, but never again.

I also used to (reliably) get a screeching on starting, which was a surer sign that the starter was on the way out, so I had it replaced.

[jensena]

Drink a lot of beer tonight and convince yourself it was a dream - it never happened

[methodwares]

no damage, just the selenoid not throwing the gear out to engage the flywheel. maybe needs a bit o grease

[David Smith]

just remember ... were all dooomed!!!

Ive always found parking downhills the best option!!

Sure its fine .. mine always has the hump for 2 weeks when
the battery has been disconnected or gone flat! (optimates in the post!)

Funny how these TVRs like to show whos boss!

Good luck fellow h-hebredesian .. DAS

[Scrooloose]

Mines does that when it's cold. Every single time!

It never used to, so i'm guessing that it's wearing out......

[budaholic]

Carl.......... YHM

[brummiewedge]

i got one you can buy as a spare!

[c3ber]

Its on its way out but the problem is, when. My first starter did that for 3 weeks and the day I had it booked in for it changing it totally went.

[carl_w]

Bud, YHM back.

As it's not a daily driver I guess I'll wait until it gets worse

[dilbert]

carl_w said:

Bud, YHM back.

As it's not a daily driver I guess I'll wait until it gets worse

FWIW - I'd bet that you're not using the ol' beast enough!

[carl_w]

And you'd be right...

[SI-PEN]

I fitted an up-rated starter to mine a few months ago, as soon as I put it back together and started her up I had the same problem!

Solenoid got stuck I guess and doesn't engage with fly wheel, not had problem since.

[Ratten]

me too. same problem, but always starts in the end. just sounds horrible!

Paul at Austec said it should be ok when it was in so i'll live with it for now. just have to see if i can get it replaced under the warranty as a 'failed' part.

here's hoping!

[David Smith]

The AA replaced mine as a failed part (never started hot)... still hit and miss on the new one hot or not!!

[brooksie]

do you guys just resort to the long start method (im new .. apologies if you aint got a clue what im going on about) ... by that i mean keeping the button pressed in ??

[david beer]

Most(99.9999%) of Griff and Chim solenoids not engaging have been cured with a relay supplying voltage direct to the solenoid, no good 15ft away on "TVR" wire. On these cars TVR decided not to put the relay in the socket and chose to bypass it.

[Scrooloose]

Any idea where to locate the aforementioned solenoid?

I'm guessing it's close to the starter motor?

[whatever]

brooksie said:

do you guys just resort to the long start method (im new .. apologies if you aint got a clue what im going on about) ... by that i mean keeping the button pressed in ??

ime, this is a different problem to the "long press" fix:

This problem:
Starter whirs away, making a terrible screeching sound but not actually turning over the engine.
Re-trying it (usually) results in success.
This problem may also be related to constant screeching every time the starter is used.

Long press fix:
The problem here is that when pressing the button to start, nothing happens except for some clicking in the boot.
It seems to be related to a voltage not getting high enough, which the long press seems to give time for. The mechanism for this is not well understood ( ) . It might also point towards some bizarre capacitcance effects, and oxidation or partial failure of the big fuse is also suspected.
The press might be for as long as a few minutes.