Sorry to hear that Mark. The government should make these arseholes spend 12hr days filling in all the bastard potholes that are everywhere...

I discovered this morning that some bastard had slashed all four tyres on my car overnight! I will now have to jack up my car and put it on axle-stands whilst a neighbour takes me, and all four wheels, to a tyre centre!

"Happy F****** Easter"

Thanks, this is a great help. I will check for burring on the flywheel teeth when the weathers a bit warmer and then get back to you. It might be cheaper and easier to replace the entire starter motor instead of changing the pinion (depending on what I find). If my flywheel is munched and beyond rep...

This is all too overwhelming for me Im afraid! Both my original starter motor and current secondhand one do/did the same thing. I ran my original one until it packed up completely which Im planning to do with the current one. I will check the flywheel like you said next week and the wheel inside the...

If slight burr damage is seen on the flywheel teeth they may be dressed with a file - if the pinion teeth are damaged then change the pinion. Im guessing the pinion teeth are on the circular wheel inside the actual starter-motor and if so then why couldnt these be dressed with a file aswell? Also, ...

By flywheel teeth do you mean the large circular wheel inside the bell-housing (the part of the car that the starter-motor connects to?)

Diagrams or photos are always far more helpful than words, well to an idiot like me anyway...

2ND UPDATE: I spoke to soon, my starters sticking again, gonna try some oil this time...

UPDATE: I removed my starter motor this morning to discover that the metal locating dowel was still in place in the bell-housing. A comparison between the dowel in place and my new one from Renault revealed that the Renault one is slightly bigger! It would be wise if anyone needs one in the future t...

UPDATE: I removed my starter-motor this morning to discover that the metal locating dowel was still in place. I sprayed a load of WD40 inside the big opening on my starter-motor and low and behold, no more awful choking noise when I turn my engine over...

This is a great post and should be locked down?

Well I've finally got round to removing my bumper and what a frickin awkward job it was! Much easier if you've got a car-pit and a "really bright" halogen lamp. I only have car ramps so I had to lie under it wearing safety goggles due to all the crap that was falling on me as I located/undid the bol...

Even more well pleased, my local Renault dealer can get me a new dowel for just 35p

The part number should anyone else need it is: 7705010087

you need both, you should have: solenoid>thin washer>washer with recess> O-ring and that screws into the carb. the recessed ring is to make sure the O-ring stays in the correct place to seal the port in the carb Thanks, this is very valuable information indeed. My current solenoid has just the thin...

Both my original solenoid and the secondhand replacement one came off a 340...

Thanks, I checked it earlier and it is indeed a B14.4E

I wonder what the E stands for?

By the way your diagram is brilliant...