[Vwdiesel] starter question

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

  My first thought was that the bushing in the trans was shot, damaged, 
something in the hole or such.  Then you said the tranny isn't bolted to 
the engine tightly!  Can you say no, no??  If the starter's like a Dasher 
then IIRC the snout bushing is part of the starter and shouldn't be 
causing this problem since the flywheel and starter are both mounted 
to the engine.
  Then I thought even further.  Even though the starter is mounted 
ALONGSIDE the engine, it's bolted to the transmission and engaging 
a flywheel on the engine.  If the two aren't mated properly (which yours 
aren't) then the starter won't mesh properly with the flywheel.  
  You need to find why and fix your alignment problem.  Often it's just 
the input shaft not meshing properly with the clutch disk or pilot bearing.  
In which case you may get a surprise when you try to use the clutch!  
In any case, fix the main problem and your starter problem will likely 
be gone as well as some not so nice future problems/surprises!
     Loren