Whirring sound from started while starting. Car won't start anymore?

BYMA85

MEMBER
1987 VOLKSWAGEN CABRIOLET
86,000 MILES

Hi, my 1987 Volkswagen cabriolet is at it again. A few months ago, it was parked for a couple of days and just would not start, what ended up being the problema was that the solenoid was just too old and gave out while it was parked. I replaced the solenod but kept the same starter. It started fine again. Now, I do have a bad fuel filter and I suspect a very bad in-tank fuel pump which is imposible to find here so it took a couple of tries to get it to start everytime but eventually did just fine.

Last night as I was getting ready to go out I tried to start it and Heard a whirring noise from the starter (i know it was the starter as I had someone else under the Hood as I tried to start it). The whirring happeded once before so I just turned it off, took the key out (and just like last time) the whirring remained for a while. Then I tried again for a second time to start it, this time it fired right up but with a louder whirring sound over the sound of the engine, it literally sounded like I was running a blender on high. Sincé the sound was louder it startled me. I turned off the car and the whirring would not stop until I moved the power source (cord) to the battery.

BUT THE PROBLEM Is that after I did this I tried again to start it and all I got was "click". "Click". "Click".. I cleaned the terminals and the cables to the battery and tiried again. "Click". "Click". Then I tapped on the starter and again "click". "Click". "Click".. The lights work just fine and the battery is new, just bought it 2 weeks ago.

I took the solenoid out and it had a Little bit of black dust, sanded it, cleaned it and put it back in and again "click". "Click". "Click".

Any ideas? Any quick fix ideas? I have a very important event this saturday and it goes until late at night when no buses run and the one co-worker who could give me a ride will not be there. Also, I should mention that I live in a Little town and work out of town. In either town it is imposible to find parts, It took me 18 days to get a clutch CABLE.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,757 POSTS

The common cause for what you're describing is rust buildup on the starter shaft, or there's grease on it that is impacted with dirt and it got gummed up. The solenoid has to move the drive gear to mesh with the ring gear, and the drive gear slides too hard on that shaft. It can not move far enough to engage the ring gear, or it can stick engaged and take a while to release.

Normally the solenoid plunger will still release because it's spring-loaded. That should open the high-current contacts to stop the starter motor from spinning when you release the ignition switch. I've seen those solenoid coils warp on some GM cars causing the plunger to stick. If it can't release, the starter will keep on cranking until you remove a battery cable. I haven't heard of that happening on a Volkswagen but it's worth considering.