Starting trouble

[tim96]

A couple if times in the past 2 months i have turned my ignition key and the car has given like half a turn of the engine then stops for two seconds (with the key still held down) then it would start to turn over again and fire normaly. when i tried to start it today it turned over and sounded really awfull there was an awfull clunking noise and it didnt fire i dont know what an engine with a broken timing belt or no oil sounds like but these were the first things a checked as it really did not sound good! i tried a few more times with similar results. I then waited a couple of minutes while wiggling various wires around in the engine bay and after this it started normally however maybe it was just luck it started (nothing to do with wiggling the wires around. After it started i drove around for a bit a shut off and restarted the engine a few more times however it ran and started fine. Any ideas a to what is going on ?

[marti5]

Sounds like your starter motor is on its way out, the terrible noise was probably the starter still engaged on the flywheel.

[darkhorse737]

^ +1 starter assembly going bad, methinks.

[tim96]

it just made that horrible clunking noise and didnt fire, could it still be the starter ?

[tim96]

the motor itself seemed to turn over fine which makes me think it wasnt the starter??? but there was a horrible clunking noise like the cylinders were hitting the top of the head or something and it did not fire