Lazy starter motor?

[Blackie_No1]

Hey guys, just noticed sometiomes my starter winds over very very slowly, to the point where you would think the battery is fubar'd, is it more than likely to be a lazy starter or cud it be the battery? 

[Conker]

Is it still starting?  First off, try cleaning all the starter motor and battery contacts plus earth points.

[cняis]

Is it still starting?  First off, try cleaning all the starter motor and battery contacts plus earth points.

sounds about right, i replaced some rotten earth/power leads which made a great deal of difference. if your leads arent rotten, try cleaning up the contacts.

its either that or you may have low battery electrolite level (top up with distilled water). another probable cause is OLD engine oil which becomes very sludgey!

[kerrly]

Just to clarify, is the starter motor turning the engine over consistantly slow or does it vary. Does it always turn over?

I ask because i once had starting problems and it turned out to be the teeth on the end of the starter were badly worn and not able to lock into the grooves when engaged so the starter was turning fine but just not turning.

Also as previously suggested the cables from the battery are crucial, in halfords you can buy battery cables with terminals for fiver or so each, also whilst there they can test you battery to see how it holds its charge during cranking. I once had a battery that held its charge fine until you cranked the engine and it lost over 50% of its power!!!!
 
i suggest getting the following cheap items before considering anything else.

1) earth from battery to chassis leg to gearbox.
2) live from battery to starter
3) live from starter to alternator

aside from odd starting is the car running well?? i have delt with a car before which had a slightly blown head gasket and water was leaking into one of the cylinders making it almost impossible to turn the engine over but this didnt occur everytime the engine was run.

[Blackie_No1]

Hey thanks for all your replies,

Engine running fine, no white smoke, not using water, have kept an eye on the water levle as I used to have an old 1.3 mk2 golf years ago that was fond of water!  Doin a tank average of 29.3mpg and thats with a heavy foot!!

turn over speed varies, sometimes she turns over as normal, other times it almost stops and then vroom into life she goes.

things have got slightly more serious tonight though as the gearbox just went thump as I was droppin from 3rd to 2nd on a roundabout at approx 30-40mph.... 

[Conker]

things have got slightly more serious tonight though as the gearbox just went thump as I was droppin from 3rd to 2nd on a roundabout at approx 30-40mph.... 

Might have been an engine mount if your lucky.