Symptoms drivers describe
- High-pitched whirring with no cranking
- Grinding or crunching when starting
- Occasionally starts, then whirrs the next time
Possible causes
- A worn starter pinion or one-way clutch
- Damaged flywheel or flexplate teeth
- A sticking starter solenoid
- Loose starter mounting bolts
What you can do
- Avoid repeated attempts — they can damage more flywheel teeth
- Note whether it engages if you try again later
How we check it in the workshop
We test the starter circuit, remove the starter where needed and inspect the pinion and flywheel teeth before quoting.
Is it safe to keep driving?
The car may not start reliably. If it is stranded we can recover it to the workshop.