VR6 starter motor woes

[tom240]

my car is a 94 mk3 vr6 with about 190 000 on the clock

so this all started a couple of days ago..
i went to start the car and it it made this weird banging/crunching noise but the car still still started so i drove off, it did this a couple of times but it didn't seem to effect it that much

the other day i was at a mates house and we had the stereo on for a while and when i went to start it it made the same noise as before and then stopped..
we thought the battery was flat so i roll started it and drove home, a good 20 min drive, when i got home i tried to start it and it wouldn't start.

so anyway, this afternoon i took the starter motor off, put it in a vice and connected the battery to it. the pinion gear popped out to engage but it wasn't turning...

I opened it up and what i found wasn't ver nice..






and of course, me being me, took the rest of the thing apart. I took the back off and could see that one of the brushes wasn't seated properly (bottom left) , this is probably why the thing wasn't turning



i took the rest of it apart to see any other visible signs of damage but everything seemed ok.

My question is.. can i just replace the part that broke or will i have to get a hold new starter motor, it doesn't seem like i will able to get it off very easily, has anyone else had these issues before?

heres some more pics if your interested (sorry for the bad quality my camera had no battery so i used a potato instead..)

[anthony--t]

Can't help you much with the starter info but I notice your on the central coast and you have a vr6!? I have never seen another around here (girlfriend says she saw a white one at uni one day but could've just been a 4cyl) so good to know there's one kicking around the area. Where abouts are you?

[tom240]

haha mines black so it wasn't me at the uni. i live at Terrigal. do you have a vr too? where abouts do you live?

[anthony--t]

Sweet! Had a black vr but sold it about 2 weeks ago. Now have a silver vento. I live in Ourimbah but will probably be out at Terrigal, Wamberal etc a lot come summer time! Hopefully see you around or some photos soon.

[tom240]

yeah sweet. sadly im thinking about selling mine. i kinda want something japanese, its a bit annoying having to get parts from europe or america.
The price you have to to pay for nice things..

[tom240]

also, how come you sold the vr?

[anthony--t]

NO! Build up my hopes about the central coast gaining some nice vw's and then saying your considering going jap
Picked up my vento ridiculously cheap and wanted something different, really miss it though. Let me know if you put it up for sale I'd like to check it out.