Moved this out of the thread in 'Your A-Series', sorry if anyone who reads it here has already read it.

I've linked a recording of the grind noise the starter makes. It only does this as you can hear when the engine starts to fire. When the fuel pump wasn't working, it turned the engine no problem, with none of this noise.

I realise it's hard to diagnose from just a sound, but does it sound like anything in particular before I go diving in? The flywheel teeth look fine with no damage.

http://188.165.237.34/grind.mp3

Thanks in advance.

The starter bendix gear is a bit slow to disengage, could be because of dirt or rust through standing idle for a long time.
Probably not worth trying to dismantle it, but removing it from the gearbox and spraying WD40 or similar into the mechanism, then refitting and operating it should help free things off.

ken

Thanks ken, that's exactly the reply I was hoping for. It just sounded pretty bad so thought I should check first.