Vauxhall Astra starter motor.

Sputnik II · 3 May 2006 at 20:07

About a year ago my mother managed to drive her 2001 Astra home with the starter motor still engaged with the flywheel ring gear, Needless to say that the starter was a molten mess of scrap.
I changed the starter for them and used the car for a while and found nothing wrong with it.
Tonight she has managed to do exactly the same thing again!
So is this a common problem with astra's of this age, I'm at a loss as to why this is happening.

Oracle · 3 May 2006 at 22:31

Never EVER heard of this on a MK4 Astra..........its something your mother is doing..!

Is it a diesel!?

Sputnik II · 3 May 2006 at 22:40

Oracle said:
Never EVER heard of this on a MK4 Astra..........its something your mother is doing..!

I'm 99.9% sure that she is the main cause, problems never arise when my father drives the car. She has been driving for almost 30 years and if you were a passenger with her you'd say she was at least 10 lessons from taking a driving test!

Oracle said:
Is it a diesel!?

No its a petrol 1.4 LS i think.

Oracle · 3 May 2006 at 22:42

Could she be holding the key round in the ignition for a prolonged period of time after the engine has started!?

Sputnik II · 3 May 2006 at 22:57

Oracle said:
Could she be holding the key round in the ignition for a prolonged period of time after the engine has started!?

I honestly dont know how she has managed it, my sister bought the car new and did mostly short trips in the car and never had a problem. One thing that I thought was maybe the ignition switch wasn't springing back when she let go but, When I used the car for a while after replacing the last starter motor it never failed.

ZG002 · 3 May 2006 at 23:06

seems very strange.. with engine running and starter going you would hear a nasty noise. like when you try to start a running car. so starter aint actually turning over.. its just not disengaing from the engine..

Sputnik II · 3 May 2006 at 23:27

ZG002 said:
seems very strange.. with engine running and starter going you would hear a nasty noise. like when you try to start a running car. so starter aint actually turning over.. its just not disengaing from the engine..

It gets back driven by the engine probably at stupidly high speeds bearing in mind the starter gear/ring gear ratio. The last one I took off the car was a lovely shade of blue from where it was burning up with heat.
Yes, it does make a noise but, she is not exactly a car friendly driver if you know what i mean :rolleyes:

Sputnik II · 10 May 2006 at 23:39

Well, Got the car fixed today by a local garage because I'm too busy at the moment.
Have got them to inspect the ring gear, replace the starter and fit a new ignition switch just incase that was the cause of the problem. It cost £240 for that, I hope this time it lasts longer than a year!