Starter and electric gremlins am I winning or????

Rather long winded:

Finally got round to installing the new starter from Moss yesterday. By now I am getting a bit of an “expert” at this with an extra pair of hands from a friend of mine. It came out quickly and the new one went in just as easy. Thought I was winning until I turned the ignition key and my heart dropped when all I got was the usual clonk from the solenoid. Was ready to hit Wigan with a big hammer out of thrustration. We fiddled around with battery connectors and finally it fired up…. But……

When Wigan started there was this horrible noise and loud humming sound coming from the starter, it was particularly loud as the top was down, bonnet up and in the garage. So I turned the ignition off. Then turned it back on again and “clonk”. Waited a little and then fired Wigan up again, same noise again. I was about to turn the ignition off again and I just touched the key as to turn the ignition off. The loud humming noise stopped, the engine didn’t sound as though it was racing etc, rpm’s went up etc. Wigan sounded perfect. All I can think of is that the ignition switch itself is faulty and not disengaging as it should. So now Wigan is “back” on the roads. Its fine as long as I turn the key back ever so slightly after cranking. I will be placing an order for one today, but in the meantime it stays where it is for the time being as I do not want to fry this one!.

I think the one I got from Stowe was perfectly good and that there are other issues going on, which I hope I am on the right track for. When I got under the car to take the starter out I noticed something odd about the solenoid. When I got it out I noticed that there was a lot of corrosion and burnt stuff around the solenoid ground, at least that is what I think it is called. Something must have fried it and if I can get to the bottom of this, it may help me to get a better idea of why I have had to put three starters in since early summer. This what has happened:

The original starter. Driving home top down car started to sound very odd, even my wife pointed it out. Got home, stopped the car, started, drove down the road, parked, went back… clonk clonk… push start and home

Replaced this with a starter out of my parts car.. Sounded ok at first but soon afterwards started to sound very weak. Had to crank quite a few times to get it to fire up. Eventually clonk clonk

Replaced this one with the starter from Stowe. Immediately after install the starter gave this loud whizzing squeaking noise when fired up but would stop immediately after the starter “supposedly” disengaged. Started up in the back one day with the usual sound which stopped when the starter disengaged, but then the car started to make this loud squeaking noise, wife came out again and asked what that noise was couldn’t tell if it was the loud humming noise which I heard yesterday, as I was not in an enclosed place etc like I was yesterday. Stopped the car and decided start it up and put in the garage but .. clonk clonk

The new starter issues as reported and the Stowe one fried.

Sometimes when key switches go bad, they do try to restart the car (that has only happened on r/b cars for me)or keep starting the car. So maybe what you are hearing is the starter continueing to engage. It's not a pleasant sound. Good luck!

Gerry,
So the key doesn't come back to the "on" position after releasing it? If so, it's probably suspect as you say. Although I've never had to do it, maybe a disassemble and cleaning of the switch would help, too. What about the starter relay (Moss 131-510)? Could be it's not working properly and keeping starter engaged too long.

Also, these replacement starters are notorious for being suspect. To see previous posts relating to same issue plug in "starter" or "bad starter" into "Search" window at top right of this page.

And finally, make sure the mounting surface for the starter is clean and free of debris - if starter is not mated up to the engine perfectly perpendicular it could cause problems, too.

Could be a bad ground. An easy way to check is to run a jumper cable from the battery negative to one of the starter mounting bolts.