Starter motor & Fuel pump

Hi all

I hope I've posted this in the right place, still getting to grips with the forum !

Anyways after having a few problems with the golf over the weekend, it gave up on me and wouldn't start, a terrble noise sounded like it was coming from the starter motor, sounds to me like it's days are numbered, so my question is this, does anyone know of the best place to get hold of a new starter motor?
When trying to start it, I could hear a clicking noise coming from maybe the fuse box area? or this could have been my imagination going wild….


I'm also after a new fuel pump too .

its for an 1800 carb, 5 speed manual, H Reg. I think the starter falls under the MK2 Cat, but not sure !

So if any one could point me in the best direction of where to obtain these, i'd be most grateful.

( may post in the wanted section too- just to cover all basis )

Cheers JP

When you try to turn over by key again do you get the noise from the starter motor or only the fuse box area?

If it's just the fuse box area then i'd next check to see the condition of the battery, making sure it had enough juice in there to power the starter motor. If you find the battery is fine next i'd check the earths and wired connections to the starter motor, i've had mine work loose before.

If after all that the battery and wires are fine then it could well be the starter motor is on the way out. It's pretty straightforward to get the starter out which would be worth doing and then adding some lubrication to it and then putting back on, this may help if it's seized a bit.

In terms of buying a starter motor then if you have one close to hand i'd suggest either GSF or Eurocarparts. You can order online for click and collect and save 20% or so for the trouble of doing so.

hey, thanks for reply.

yeah the noise first is a click from the fuse box  i think. then when the key is turned, the starter makes a terrble grinding noise, hard to describe to be fair, but sounds like a grind, and then starts on the 3rd or so attempt.

Checked the battery for juice levels and it seems good. Holding good voltage- it's one of those AA batteries looks heavy duty ish ! so should give the starter enough grunt.  I think the starter looks pretty damn old to be honest. some of the elctrical connections don't look to hot !

I looked at both euro car parts- which returned as a no, and GSF had one in stock at an exchange price only, however did not reconise the brand/ manufacture, so thought a better make would be best ! buy cheap, buy twice got me thinking .

VW Heritage seem to them, but are currently out of stock.

This car sat in storeage for many years, and now it's getting used….things seem to be breaking and gving up the ghost !

Ok, well i'd start with something easy you can do straight away for free and that's take the motor off and lube the sucker.

Fingers crossed that will at least help things particularly if the car's been stood up for a fair while. I've had to do similar to a mk4 Golf starter motor so know the fix can be as simple as this.

If no luck with ECP and GSF then eBay never fails to get something, I also have a feeling that some mk2 Golf starter motors will fit and work too.

yeah thanks for the help. I do think that listning to the noise it keeps making on attempted start its beyon lubrication. If I was going to keep this one, I think it would have to be stripped back and re built, and perhaps kepyt as a spare for the future. Chances are this one has been on the car for many many many years looking at the outer case, which has started to corode badly !

Yeah the one I need is a mk2 jobbie to suit an 1800 model, as luck would have it, on this car, half the engine parts are mk1 and the other half are mk2, ha ha oh deep joy !

I changed my starter motor last year I believe the part code is : 055911023MX

I've an 89 8v GTI on a DX engine code (check what engine code you have) if its the same then this is the bad boy for you, not being a motors man I don't know if this will be compatible with a carb 1.8, I'm sure someone on here will let you know though.

Apologies but I can't remember what make I finally picked up. I trawled the usual web sites, VWHeritage, EuroCarParts, Ebay etc until I found what I was after at a reasonable price on a recognised brand.

As for a fuel pump, sorry I've not had to change one of those yet !

Good luck, hope this helps.

Fathammer said

I changed my starter motor last year I believe the part code is : 055911023MX

I've an 89 8v GTI on a DX engine code (check what engine code you have) if its the same then this is the bad boy for you, not being a motors man I don't know if this will be compatible with a carb 1.8, I'm sure someone on here will let you know though.

Apologies but I can't remember what make I finally picked up. I trawled the usual web sites, VWHeritage, EuroCarParts, Ebay etc until I found what I was after at a reasonable price on a recognised brand.

As for a fuel pump, sorry I've not had to change one of those yet !

Good luck, hope this helps.

Cheers for your help. I've amanaged to source a replacement Starter for a good price. The one I sourced matached the part code of the existing one so that's a bonus. I've also managed to get hold of a new fuel pump too, which should do the trick. If I get time to fit during xmas and the new year then i might give it a go, if not it might have to wait to the end of jan !

MK1 and MK2 starters arnt quite the same, but are the same where it counts. all it is on the mk2 starter there is an extra lug for the front engien bracket, which is unused if you fit one to a mk1. apart from that they are the same, its just a case of get one which matches the engine as the 1.6 ones are weedier than the 1.8, and the 16v and diesels are beefier again.

mk3 golf 1.8-2.0 8v ones (not TDI) also fit, only difference there is again they have the mk2 bracket plus the plug on the back is different so you either need to splice/crimp the mk3 plug on or pop the mk1 spade out of its plastic housing and push it onto the terminal inside the mk3 socket.

the mk3 jobbers are an upgrade over the mk1/2 items as they have reduction gearing inside for more cranking power

cheers for the info rubjonny !

Hopefully the one i've got matches up ok. I checked the part number against the one I purchased and hopefully it should be ok. I might try and get it fitted once the weather warms up a little- far too cold to be out there with tools at the moment.

If I get stuck I will give you a shout !I have no doubt I will be back for some more help and advice though.