hi there im new to this site, ive had my car for 1 and half months now and was driving without fault its a ford mondeo 2.0 tddi 2002 plate with 166.000 miles on it couple weeks ago the starter moror started hanging abit but today i went out to pick my kids up from school and i started it up but it sounded like the stater motor was engaged and making a load noise and i drove it all the way to the school about 4 miles like this and then turned it off, come back out started it again and same thing happened then it stopped and was running fine again i drove to my mother in laws about 5 miles away and everything was ok turned it off and came back 1 and half hour later and tryed starting it and nothing just 1 little click and thats dosnt turn it over, i a tryed rocking the car in gear to try and disengage it and nothing so i tryed bumping it down the road nothing didnt even turn over. it dosent smoke at all water at normal level and oil it fine. could my starter motor be broken and seized my engine or is my engine gone?? and everytime i started it it sounded like it was hanging in and didnt sound right but the engine runs fine.

Yes it sounds like either the solenoid or the spindle on starter is kaput.

if that broke could that lock my engine up?

and what should i do next take the starter motor off ?

Yes,I would replace the starter. How long ago was the DMF replaced? Sometimes a failing starter is a sign of flywheel deteriorating ,(or clutch as bof said)

if the starter end is full of swarf its a good indicator

Probably starter pinion; I'm not sure how you will make progress unless you take it off and have a look (or get someone else to do it).

Quite often, then problem is that there is crud (particles from the clutch, for example) that is interfering with the pinion's attempt to return and it might just be a case of cleaning it...don't give in to the temptation to just grease it generously, new crud will just stick to the grease, and you'll just have to do it again shortly.

hi thanks for all replays, the clutch and flywheel were replaced 3 months ago with a solid flywheel. i took the starter motor off today and this is what i saw you will have to copy and paste it into the address bar as clicking on it dosent do anything https://lh4.ggpht.com/RdO0ZzhL3AYLhuY9GTbvRgwgSS5DZLOz10rGKS54S3czPwKh6UGbAJIpFqr9MY_xTE6nSA=s151

there i bit of metal in there, the engine now turns over fine and there dosnt look like theres any sign of money on the flywheel. what could the bit of meter be?

Well, it looks like the problem. I can only guess that the old DMF was disintegrating and shed that bit of metal before it finally died, and it has been hanging around, waiting to get you, ever since. Really, though, that's just speculation.

yeah maybe i will get a starter moter today and let you all no if its sorted

yeah maybe i will get a starter moter today and let you all no if its sorted

why do you need another starter though? i thought you said its turning over fine now. couldnt see from pic if any damage to starter though

i mean i put it in gear and jacked up one side and turned the wheel by hand to see if the engine was free and it was. and if you look at the pic the starter is stuck solid and you can see a bit of metal wedged in there

...but if you remove the bit of metal, does everything start working again?

i dont no i havent taken it out. it was well in there

You can pick up a new pattern starter motor fairly cheaply online these days, might be the best way to go

how do you not just take the bit metal out?

hi i got a new starter motor for £45 and fitted everything works great. i did take the bit of metal out but didnt do anything but looking at the new one the bit of metal was part of the starter that had broken off

i actually thought it was part of it mtae. looks like the collar had split eh?