Bad starter?

[snyderje]

The other day, I was at a gas station. Stopped the car, filled up with gas, came back to the car and it wouldn't start.

Eventually narrowed the problem down to either bad starter or bad clutch interlock switch.

Somebody suggested banging on the starter motor with a hammer then try to start the car. Today, I did that and, lo and behold, the car started -- It worked!!!

So I am wondering, what should I do now since I had to bang on the starter? I am hoping this doesn't happen again. Should I go ahead and replace the whole starter motor?

Or, somebody suggested I replace the starter solenoid. Does this sound right?

[moses]

Replace it. It WILL happen again. Should run you around 120-150 for a refurbished starter motor. Its not that difficult to replace yourself either, maybe 1 hour tops.If you have a manual transmission you can also push start it if it dies again and the hammer trick doesnt work.

[f8sjester]

the reason why you bang on the starter with a hammer is to dislodge the spring inside the starter solenoid. sometimes the spring will get stuck and you won't get any amperage to your starter to actually start your car.

from what i understand, u should probably just replace the starter. . . like moses said. . . it WILL happen again