So one day you try to light the fire using the good ol' ignition key
and the starter makes strange cranking sounds...  Very strange, so you
turn off the key and the starter, formerly engaged to the ring gear
and making strange cranking sounds, stops the crankiness but continues
to run...spinning merrily away on it's own.  Hmmm, so while its'
whirring away you disconnect the battery negative and of course it
stops whirring and whining.  Great, wonder what gremlin that was?  Put
negative back to the battery post and yep, whirring and whining.

This translates into no start for those who may have missed the previews.

Starters have a magnetic switch often called a solenoid but really
just a big relay with an iron core activator that works like a
mechanical solenoid to make the contact between the megajoule
hugemongous starter cable and the starter motor itself.  So if one
disconnects the activating current that makes the solenoid move to
engage the relay contacts then all will be well and the starter will
give up on the incessant whining and whirring and just sit there
pouting, right?  Not this puppy, with the "solenoid" activating
signal, the one from the ignition key removed and waving in the air,
the critter continues along the whining and whirring path.

Might be that the starter (Genuwhine Bosch SR0408X gear reduction TDI
1999-2003) has gone nips up and jammed the solenoid lever (the part
that moves the shaft into contact with the ring gear via the 'bendix'
one way drive) , might be a haint.

6000 miles and 24 months on this "bosch reman" doorstop.

What to do, what to do?  Order another SR0408x?  Incantations,
Chanting, feathers, bones, goat guts on the barbie, pay big bux for an
exorcistst, blame the sunspots?

Pensionerd.  ,