E30 Zone

hi my parters starter motor started making a noise when i changed the engine a few months ago i thought it was on the way out and today it died so i changed it for a new one and its making the same noise only when on!! originally the car was a 2.0 1988 model, and the person before changed it to a 2.5 1988 engine which died on the way back from buying it!! so i kindy took mine out of my 1991 2.5 and gave it to her, but kept the old gearbox as mine was on its way out. i bought the starter motor for the 1991 engine. (sorry if its too confusing i confuse myself sometimes!!)

any help would be much appreciated just want the noise to stop now then it will be perfect!!

cheers

jon

Wrong starter for the flywheel.????

No it's the starter and flywheel from the newer engine I made sure that they were the same, the metal plate that's between the engine and gearbox is that the same thinkness between the years?

any help I'm stuck on what it could be?

Have you connected the wires correctly on the solenoid? Thick wire from battery and thick wire from alternator both go to the outer solenoid terminal.

yeh all wired up correctly starts and stops when it should just when it starts it makes a horrible noise :/

When you changed the engine, did you take the flywheel off for any reason?

what sort of noise is it a rapid clicking, or a chugging ?

nope o didn't even take the clutch off because i had a new clutch in it a few months before, thats what i can't understand it shouldn't make that noise! really frustrating

Ah ok, thats my idea out the window. Ive heard an M20 starter making odd noises due to someone thinking the metal plate that goes under the flywheel bolts was a spacer and so they put it between the crank and flywheel.

no shouldn't of thought i would have done that!! i don't want to take it out again but i might have too

If it didnt make any noises to begin with, Im not sure that will be it. The M20 I dealt with made the noise from the first turn of the starter.

What sort of noise?

Mine makes a noise, too, but so has every starter I've ever listened to.

Ben

Unless it's a loud grinding noise right after the start-up, I doubt there's anything to worry about.

thing is the engine when it was in mine didn't make this noise when i changed the clutch in that car it made that noise once or twice and then stopped but as soon as i changed the engines over the noise was the same it was like it for like 6months till the starter motor packed up all of a sudden, then the new one does the same. its kind of a grinding noise but only when you turn the key as soon as the cars started then it stops and is fine?? really weird!! i don't think its doing any major harm seen as it was like that for ages just really annoying when starting up sounds horrendous!!

Is your car hard to start?

Record the noise and post it here.

Ben

and1_e30 wrote:thing is the engine when it was in mine didn't make this noise when i changed the clutch in that car it made that noise once or twice and then stopped but as soon as i changed the engines over the noise was the same it was like it for like 6months till the starter motor packed up all of a sudden, then the new one does the same. its kind of a grinding noise but only when you turn the key as soon as the cars started then it stops and is fine?? really weird!! i don't think its doing any major harm seen as it was like that for ages just really annoying when starting up sounds horrendous!!

That definitely sounds like a dodgy starter. Did you replace it with a new one or second hand?

Try getting a used one for cheap, fit it and test - plenty on ebay for 30 quid or check the classifieds here.