I have a 1982 KE70 with 4K and 4-speed gearbox. Last summer I used it as my daily and it worked fine. Later during autumn it didn't always start (only made a clicking noise, but the starter didn't always turn over) when I turned the key, but usually after 5-10 tries it started. Sonetimes it started after I moved the car and tried again, but I don't know if this was just coincidence. I put it in garage for winter and after winter took it out cause I wanted to drive it again. First it just made a clicking noise when I turned the key and after some tries it didn't even make that anymore. Now that I have time I took the starter out and tested it with a battery and cables. It did click the gearwheel out but didn't turn over so I figured the starter is broken. I got a new one and put it in but the car still doesnt't start. Only makes a clicking noise, so the gearwheel comes out fine, but doesn't turn? It clicks when I turn the key to on position and clicks again when I turn it back. Could it hit something? What should I do?

Sorry if some of vocabulary etc. is wrong, English is not my first language.

Edited August 16, 20197 yr by sorsasd

The gear is moved in and out by the low-current solenoid windings. They carry a bus-bar forward with the gear that makes contact between the high-current wire and the starter motor. Probably the contacts in the solenoid are burned away, so it moves the gear along but can't take current to your new starter motor.

If you have a new solenoid on the new starter, the other clicking problem is a half flat battery, and the third one is a worn ring-gear so the starter teeth don't engage properly. Also check the heavy earth wire from the motor to the chassis, and the one onto the battery.

A final problem, but less likely,  might be in the key barrel where it doesn't send good current to the solenoid.

Of course, a 2nd-hand 'new' starter might also be faulty!

Could the starter gear hit the flywheel somehow? If the teeth aren't lined up.

Oh yes. The motor stops in roughly the same position each time, maybe with a random piston halfway up on compression, so only some teeth on the flywheel get hit. They wear away and the starter teeth won't mesh with them. It just goes 'click'.....

Was the starter motor you bought new or used?  Was it reliably working on a car if it was used?   Reconditioned and guaranteed by a shop?  They're all getting old and worn out.

Here's the inside of a solenoid, I usually just put a washer under each heavy copper bolt/terminals to move them closer to the contact bar.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=12&t=842819

Edited August 16, 20197 yr by altezzaclub