Starter motor refuses to disengage.

Starter motor refuses to disengage.

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Discussion

IamWedgend

Original Poster:

163 posts

57 months

Monday 18th November 2019
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Hi all,

With your help, I just got the car through her MOT, brilliant.

I park for petrol on the way home and when I restart the car the starter motor refuses to disengage. The revs jump, then drop massively and the motor screams and it repeats this process. If I try and kill the engine, it just keeps running. When I shift into gear (it's an auto) and it either slides into gear fine or stalls.

This happens about 50% of the times i try and start it.

As far as I understand there could be two sources of the issue, the solenoid staying electrocuted and keeping the pinion pushed forward, or a dodgy spring on the pinion refusing to return it.

As I can't turn the ignition off, it seems likely that current is still driving the solenoid and engine, rather than the spring. Is that correct?

For some context, the guys in the garage rewired my ignition to go around my immobiliser as it was playing up. Is it possible that they shorted something?

Cheers!
J

IamWedgend

Original Poster:

163 posts

57 months

Monday 18th November 2019
quotequote all
All good questions.

Never had any issues with it before at all. Have had starting issues before so maybe knackered it with all the cranking.

Was rewired on the day of Mot so it does seem like it could be linked.

One more thing, when it gets stuck, after I stall it it has so far reliably worked the next time (2 attempts). If it was electrical, wouldn't it be a problem every time?

Cheers,
J

EDIT: Sorry @adam, misread your Q. The immobiliser has turned itself on at least once before and the alarm system has behaved very strangely recently, so I believe them

Edited by IamWedgend on Monday 18th November 23:03

IamWedgend

Original Poster:

163 posts

57 months

Wednesday 27th November 2019
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Hi guys thanks for the help. Does appear to have been the starter itself. I've replaced it and the issue has gone. Cheers!

IamWedgend

Original Poster:

163 posts

57 months

Thursday 28th November 2019
quotequote all
Interesting, I'll take my old one apart and see whether I can get it working.

While on the topic of electrics, I've noticed that the plug on the back of my alternator is missing its back and is disconnecting occasionally when driving. Anyone know where I can get another plug? I'm going to wrap it up with insulator tape for the moment.

IamWedgend

Original Poster:

163 posts

57 months

Monday 9th December 2019
quotequote all
Cheers, that was exactly what I needed!

On the subject of the starter motor. The issue is still occurring even with a new starter motor, albeit much less frequently. Where is the next place to look?
- Double check the electrics?
- Check the flywheel?