Both of the starters i had. Have had a plastic bendix and both broke. Has anyone had a problem like this? Or ever tried using parts from a different starter to fix this problem? I rather not have to scrap the car.

I have owned two x19's for a total of 15 years and never had any problem with starter motors. I may have replaced one due to it sticking in that time, but that's a mechanical item that doesn't last for ever on Any car.

Could there be another problem that could be causing them to break?
Something else that is not on straight. Could a damaged flywheel cause this?

I'm guessing because I have never heard of this.

For me the starter has been the most reliable bit of the car! It's everything else that breaks!

sledgehammer said:

I have owned two x19's for a total of 15 years and never had any problem with starter motors. I may have replaced one due to it sticking in that time, but that's a mechanical item that doesn't last for ever on Any car.

Could there be another problem that could be causing them to break?
Something else that is not on straight. Could a damaged flywheel cause this?

I'm guessing because I have never heard of this.

For me the starter has been the most reliable bit of the car! It's everything else that breaks!

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Was yours the 1500? And im not sure the flywheel seems fine. The bendix just seems to like to xplode into hundreds of peices

Yes both were 1500 models, my first was a '79, my current one is an '87.
There must be a fault with another part to damage the starter.
Do the starter bolts go in easily? All three? If so we can assume the starter is not misaligned.

The flywheel could be warped, or the the ring gear may be damaged.
You could check the ring gear by looking in the timing view hatch in the gearbox just in front of the slave cylinder.

Or is there something loose inside the gearbox casing that could be damaging it.

The only other thing I can think of is starter motor misuse, ie keeping the key turned too long when the engine has started. This is Not meant as an insult.

Never had a problem on any of my cars (several), all of them just worked. Even when the engine seized up and the starter couldn't turn.

Sounds like the starter gear is getting stuck and driving the motor from the flywheel to me. The starter just doesn't have enough torque in it to rip itself apart like that.