sticking starter?

So every now and then, when I start the car the starter seems to stay engaged a fraction of a second too long and makes that awful sound you hear when someone tries to start a car that's already running. From what I have read here, it appears that the bendix is likely sticking on the shaft. So my plan is to pull it apart, clean the shaft, then maybe pull the starter apart to get to the shift fork and clean/grease that.

 

I was curious if anyone had seen sticking of the solenoid - I'll pull it off when I get into the starter and actually see it, but I wonder if that could be getting gummed up and sticking, too...

I have had mine pulled apart for the exact same thing. Took it to a local shop near me that rebuilds starters. Pulled it apart. Cleaned and greased everything h. And it was as good as new.

Ok - had some time, so I pulled the starter, took it apart, and cleaned things up. The solenoid seemed just fine - nothing really sticking (though to be fair, it's pretty warm out and the car was in the garage before I tore into it). The bendix actually seemed to move really freely on the shaft, but there was a fair amount of dust/debris around there, so I pulled the starter apart, and cleaned the bendix and the shaft it rides on really well. I didn't want to hose it down with brake cleaner as there is a part that appears to have a bearing or 1-way clutch in it, and I didn't want to take the lubricant out of that. There were a few places that there was some gummy deposits (end of the shaft, and internally at the part the shift fork moves back and forth) - cleaned everything up, and regreased the ends of the shift fork. Looking at the planetary gears, they seemed just fine. I added a touch more grease, but they were reasonably clean and well lubricated. Buttoned everything up and the car still starts (so that's a positive sign) - it's warm here now (highs around 60) so it will probably not be until next week until I see if it actually solved the issue. (I park in my garage, so morning starts are never an issue - only at the end of the day when I leave work that it was doing it)

Good job, this is a common issue on 3rd, 4th and 5th gens. Many threads about it including good rebuild threads woth many pics.

 

As these 5th gens age into 8-10 year old car territory its not surprising more and more of you are seeing this.