Helo... last week i developed an intermitant fault starting my 1999 1.9 jtd...the starter moter would whine making me think its on the way out confirmed by my local diagnostic garage who are very good and from what i know they dont try to drag things out to get more money off you. I have to wait a day or so for them to have time to change the starter £150 + aprox £50 labour which i could do without spending but i dont need the hassle of breaking down if it fails. But today it has been starting fine and connections on starter are tight. I was wondering if its likely to be a relay ? I had a crank sensor go on an earlier punto but that just failed so i presume its not that but we are talking Fiat here so if anyone has any ideas i would appreciate any advice. As usual no fault on dashboard...thanks for any replies

if the whine is associated with the engine not turning over that means the solenoid is sticking so the pinion gear of the starter motor is not moving out to meet the ring gear. (bascially the whine is the starter motor turning freely because it can not engage the flywheel)
when that starts to happen a light tap is usually enough to stop it for a while, but it usually gets worse and worse over time until you get to the ponit where you need to carry a hammer and give it a whack every time you want to start the engine.


a scrapyard replacement starter motor would be less than £50. fitting isnt that difficult, all you need is a spanner and the car raised.