John,
An old, worn starter motor can act just like you have a flat battery - very
slow, laboured turning of the engine, giving up after 2 or 3 turns, even
though the battery is totally full. Happened to me last year - 30 quid ($45)
on a re-conditioned starter motor, and the problem was immediately solved. At
that sort of price (I assume it is similar in the US), there is not a lot of
point trying to dismantle the starter and fix the problem yourself, unless you
fancy doing so for your own education/experience/amusement.
If there is no movement at all when you turn the key, listen for a single
click. If you've got one the solonoid is working, so it is probably the
starter or the wiring to it (although it may be possible the solonoid is
moving, but not closing the circuit - I don't know if that can happen), if you
don't have a click the soloniod, or the wiring to is, is at fault.
If the pinion teeth were ground off (also if the pinion was not engaging with
the flywheel ring gear) you would get a different symptom - engine not turning
over at all, but you can clearly hear the starter motor whizzing round.
What I cannot understand is why this should only happen with the engine hot.
Maybe heat affects an already dodgy starter and makes it worse? No idea. If
you can bump start the car, I doubt there the engine itself is jamming - that
would sieze it too solid to be able to push the car successfully, or if not,
you would still feel a hell of a jerk as you let the clutch out to start the
engine turning, and broke it free. Metal chips in the engine are not too
serious a problem, depending where they went they will quickly work their way
down to the sump, where they will sit harmlessly, and will probably come out
at the next oil change. Unless they are VERY small, they will not be able to
make it through to the bearings - even if they do get picked up out of the
sump with the oil they will make it no further than the filter. They might do
some damage to the pump on the way past, but you will soon know about that as
you will have low oil pressure. Anything that makes it through the filter (if
it is working properly) will be too small to damage the bearings.
Fault no. 2 - I have twin SU carbs (and don't totally understand them), so I
can't help you there!
Richard & Daffy
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