89magic98

Iceshark, I have a nearly identical VW starter that does turn in the opposite direction! The gear on it is also cut a little differently, it will not engage our flywheel properly even when it is turning in the right direction.

josephsc, while you are in there, there are 3 rubber pieces that dampen the engaging/disengaging of the motor. They tend to dry-rot and fall apart. I posted some pictures of them. Doug was also able to get these for me as well.

I am in the process of rebuilding a starter to have as a spare. I got it on ebay for $9.99. It was not in good condition, and will need a new bendix assembly. I will take some pictures along the way.

Friendan

I see...so Kevin, if it is the flywheel that is the problem, what needs fixing, the flywheel or the starter? TIA

89magic98

Some VW starters look very similar to ours, but turn in the opposite direction. Also, the gear oh the starter is cut a little differently.

I swapped this bendix/gear assembly from the VW starter I had into another starter of mine, and it was turning the way it needs to for our cars. But the cut of the VW gear on the starter prevented it from properly engaging the flywheel.

So, it's an issue of using incompatible VW starter parts.

Kevin