Turns out it was the starter motor and a judicious tap with a hammer on the motor would spring it back to life.
Now this is obviously not a permanent fix and sooner or later it would fail permanently.
New starter motors can be £200+ & then there is the garage charges making this a costly failure.
A few google searches and the most likely issue is the solenoid contacts so I purchased a kit from repairkitsuk. I paid the extra and got the kit next day.
The starter motor is a tad awkward to get at to say the least & an assistant will make life a lot easier.
To remove the motor you will need a
- 13mm socket
- 15mm socket
- 3 inch extension
- universal joint
- 3 ten inch extenders
- possibly 13 & 15mm spanners
- 1/2 inch drive
- 12 or 14mm spanner - can't remember
- 8mm socket
The starter motor is held on with two 13mm bolts & a 15mm nut, The two 13mm nuts are relatively easy to see & get at from underneath. The tricky one is the 15mm nut. This is located on the inside side of the starter at the top & there is not enough room to get a socket & ratchet in from the top.
- Disconnect the battery
- First off remove the top engine cover. Not absolutely necessary but it lets a lot more light in
- Disconnect the bottom pan & shove to the LHS.
- Disconnect the electrical connections
- Loosen the two 13mm nuts - access from underneath.
- 15mm nut
- attach the 15mm socket, 3 inch extension & universal
- get the assistant to attach this to the nut accessing the starter from above & stay there waiting...
- Connect the three 10 inch extensions to the drive
- NB access is not from fully underneath
- Insert the extension set from the front above the floor pan & differential at an angle of about 30 degrees upwards. You might see the assistants fingers.
- The assistant can then get the extension to connect in to the universal
- Undo the 15 mm nut
- Remove the two 13mm nuts
- The starter motor is now free to remove.
The instructions provided by repairkitsuk were perfect. We actually only changed the plunger & contacts. Other parts are provided but we decided everything was good.
Assembly is simply the reverse process.
