Susan,
My guess is that the starter is full of crud and a garage should have
taken it off, cleaned it and put it back on again. It is also possible
that they were using the wrong kind of lubricant so that whenever they took
it apart they repeated the same mistake and it got gooey again.
Starters get dirty often and more in cars that use a clutch and not an
automatic transmission.
The spring should be strong enough to pull it back once the starter isn't
turning the flywheel.
This looks different if the power to the starter isn't interrupted
correctly, i.e. is the key-switch doesn't disengage and sticks in the
starting position.
If this is a typical problem of the kind that appears only when no
mechanic looks my bet is that it might have been not detected by your
garage.
Cheers,
Gus
On Wed, 3 May 1995, Susan E. Umbley wrote:
> About 3 or 4 times every summer when I start my 79 Midget, the car
> starts, but the starter does not disengage. What I've been doing is
> shutting the car off and trying again until it starts normally. I don't
> work on the car myself, but I take it to a garage that specializes in
> MGs, and they have never been able to find anything wrong with it, or at
> least cannot recreate the problem. Since I only drive the car for 3
> months each year, and this only happens a few times each summer and it's
> never left me stranded anywhere, I haven't bothered to look into the
> problem any further. Does anyone know what is causing this to happen?
> Is it something in the ignition, or a problem with the starter, or
> something else entirely?
>
> -Sue Umbley
>
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