Whywould it do this!?

[Guitarguy]

My mums peugeot 106 1.1 developed a problem with it's starter motor where it was turning over very slowly and then hardly at all with the starter motor leads getting hot. Long story short..... I took out the starter and noticed that a chunk of metal had broken off it and fallen into the clutch housing!!! Had to have the gearbox out just to remove this stupid little bit of metal that was threatening to destroy the clutch!

Why would it do this though? The bit of metal was from where the spindle mounts into the casing of the motor. Good job i know someone who can do that sort of thing to a car otherwise bye bye car or horrendous bill!

 

[Burnerman]

This isn't a particularly common fault, although its a bit of a pain for those that experience it.....the starter motor shaft is suspended in bushes at either end which are made from a sintered porous phosphor bronze material called 'Oilite'.
In good practice the bushes should be soaked in a heavy lubricating oil which is given enough time to penetrate into the bush - but in most instances this isn't enough.
With that, and the fairly agressive nature of clutch friction plate material, (as dust) means that these bushes don't last forever.
A similar bush is found in the centre of the flywheel, where the gearbox input shaft engages.
John