525tds woes e34

[jonny_rotten]

i need some help or direction. I have a 94 5 series 2.5 TDS which is standard apart from collins (of cossy fame) upping the boost to a bar and running a healthy 204 bhp and has been known to run very well on chip fat. I have had a problem with the starter since owning it but has got to the point of really cheesing me off as it now won't start. Basically the starter will initially turn the engine and just before it starts or now when it feels like it, the starter will disengage and continue spinning until you let off the key. it used to do this once at most then next time start the car. Sometimes it won't even try to turn the engine now and just spin the motor. I took the starter off, after removing the bloody inlet manifold first and found it was missing the brass bush that centralises the shaft and one of the two bolts that hold the motor in.
while it was out i decided to take the solenoid out and give it a clean and the contacts as well, and all the wires to it on the car and every earth under the bonnet. The battery is a new one (dad kindly err 'borrowed' it from work about 2 months ago and has worked fine, so charged that up as well to be safe. Upon finishing the motor we decidied to bench check it, so lumped it in the vice, jammed a piece of wood on the gear and cracked it over, and it worked fine, kicked the gear out and made quite a mess of the wood (i now thats a bit rough but how the hell was i supposed to test it had plenty of kick) and then thoroughly chuffed put it back on the car for it to do the same things as before. I spoke to a local starter specialist who suggested as we had checked it first was unlikely the starter but the car losing power somewhere.

Can anyone suggest where to look next as being out of work has stopped me just trying a new starter or solenoid which i'm still thinkin it could be, but i want to make sure nothing else can be at fault and as some arse has lost my haynes manual (read me) i haven't any wiring diagrams to follow and i'm not a mechanic so i'm screwed at the min. I aso checked the starter relay, and can feel it click on and doesn't click off until i release the key so i assume power is still going to the solenoid

any help gratefully received cos i miss going sideways

jon

(btw this is a european model being in england)

[whiskychaser]

The circuit just goes key-relay-solenoid-starter. So as your starter is turning the first three bits must be OK. Your problem is obviously that its not engaging the flywheel. I'm not clear about brass bush that centralises the shaft so maybe you could advise further: its possible play in the shaft could be preventing correct engagement.