I have searched through the posts, and just wanted to see if there was a direction to go here.

My 850 Turbo, 200,000 miles, for the past few days seems as though the starter motor was "hanging". Meaning after the car had started, it would stay engaged for a few seconds, followed by a strange whirring sound, much like a slipping belt. That sound would go away in a few moments as well, and the car would drive fine.

This morning it tried to start on the first try, but then seems unable to engage. Spinning sound but no "thumping" of the motor turning over, so no start.

I am in Chicago, some nasty, slushy weather here this past week and that is when all of this started, in case that helps at all. Also, I am not the only driver of this car, and it began when somebody else was driving it, so there may be information I don't know? :-)

I am unsure if this is a solenoid, or starter, or combination of the two?

Or something else all together?

Until this past week there has never been any issue with starting, always a very strong and quick response when the key was turned.

Thanks for any help!

Steve

There's a solenoid that pushes the starter gear into the flywheel, and it sounds like it has gone bad on your car and isn't engaging/disengaging as it should. In my case on one of my old cars, the spring that helped push it up had broken, and it was making intermittent contact with the flywheel and chewed both gears all to hell. Because I was poor at the time, I took out the flywheel and "fixed" the few chewed up teeth with a Dremel tool. If you're getting strange noises from it (the whirring sound), STOP USING IT or the same will happen to yours, and you need to look into replacing the starter.

Thanks for the quick response...

I guess, since I have not looked deep into it yet, that the solenoid and the starter are part of the same "part"?

Not two seperate pieces?

If yes, then I guess no matter what I need to replace the starter.

Thanks again for any help you can offer!

Steve

Yes, the whole thing is essentially one piece. It's possible to get one off a salvage car or something and attach it, but if you're going to go through all the work of removing it and reinstalling the whole starter anyway, you may as well just get a new or rebuilt starter, and you'll probably never have to replace it again. I don't believe they sell just the "bendix" part alone is I think what it's referred to as.

For now, you may be able to bang on it with a wrench and get it to engage again. I'm not quite sure how accessible it is on these cars, as I've never had to replace mine. Follow the battery cables!

Thanks for the help, I will get a rebuilt and hopefully end the saga!

Have a great hoiday!

Steve

Thanks, you too!