Dreaded whirring starter motor

[OP123]

Hi all

Following my resolved wheel issue, another problem has cropped up.

I get the lovely metallic whirring of the starter motor when cold-starting my mk3 TDCi, which I'm sure I don't need to tell you any of you is likely to be indicative of a failing DMF.

Here's the odd part though - it only seems to happen when the weather gets cold.

The same thing happened last year, from about October to January it would do it. Not all the time, but enough for me to look it up and discover it could be a huge issue. However, from January onwards, it never happened again, not a peep, despite being used every day for about 9 months. Now the weather has gotten colder, it seems to have started again.

I realize I may be clutching at straws, but is there any chance at all it may have something to do with the cold weather/dodgy starter and not the DMF?

Thanks in advance for any help/comfort anyone can provide!

[iantt]

take the starter out and have a look for fine metal particles.

if you have them, dmf. no metal particles, dodgey starter maybe.

 

 

[Niall Houghton]

A sign of DMF failure is when you switch the engine off you hear a rattling noise for a few seconds.

Another sign is a slight rattle when engine is idling, which goes away when you press the clutch.

[pragmatix]

Sounds like a good old fashioned sticky bendix, DMF break up usually means no starter, not a whirling 

[OP123]

Just in case anyone likes to see closure on these sorts of things, this hasn't happened since mid-November. I'm now convinced it's seasonal affective disorder. If cars can get that.