I recently repaired a clicking starter that progressively got worse until it wouldn't start at all. It was making a loud clicking sound but not turning over (louder than a relay click, like the gear was slamming against the flywheel but not spinning).

The first thing I did (per everyone else's suggestions) was clean every contact on the positive battery side - starting with all of the ones in the trunk, the ones connecting the two fuse boxes under the hood, the ones at the false bulkhead connector and the ones at the starter. I also did the engine-to-body ground strap as well as re-attached the battery ground strap to the frame, since some idiot (me) overtightened and broke the stud that it attaches to.

After all of that, the problem still persisted, although I'm still glad I got all of the contacts cleaned since that will rule out any weird electrical issues later on. Now it was time to remove the starter.

Removing the starter wasn't that bad, the upper mounting bolt that everyone complained about was fairly easy to get to with a 1/2" box-end wrench that was bent slightly (similar to a Chevy distributor wrench). Physically getting the starter out was a little tricky, what helped me a lot was gently prying the one power steering line to move it out of the way as I worked the starter out.

Once out, I removed the back plate covering the solenoid contacts. I was thinking and hoping that they just needed cleaning. Turns out that one of the contacts was almost completely eroded! I was able to clean up the contacts with a file, as well as use some washers to strategically shim the one contact out a little so that the plunger made contact with the thicker part.

I tested the assembles started before putting it back in the car and everything worked great. Once I got it installed again it worked flawlessly and it even seems to turn over faster than before. I sent an email to repairkitsuk.com and am currently awaiting a price for new contacts and plunger.

 

Very good work!