Went to crank the car tonight and it cranked for 2 seconds, the just died and now all I hear is a whirring sound from the starter. Figured it was just the starter going, but now I'm wondering if its beyond that - when I cranked it, the car lurched forward a tiny big with the e-brake on (96, 5 speed), even though the clutch was all the way to the floor; even with the key out of the ignition, the thing is still spinning.

Its not really cranking, just whirring really loud and won't stop until I take off the neg. battery cable. I don't know where to start - anyone else have an issue like this? What I think -

-Ignition switch (since its still spinning even with the key out)
-Flywheel issue (since the car jumped forward, even though the clutch was down).
-Need a new starter (or is that less likely since even its activated with the key out).
-Relays - which should I test out as being stuck open?

 

aighty first go out there and take the terminal off the starter and see if it is still makeing that noise

 

starter cylinoid stuck in the ingaged position perhaps?

 

our starters are known to be bad....i had this problem also on my 97 auto...needed to get new one....give maximum tuning a call in LI (Jeff) he helped me out...

 

Thanks for the tips... Took it apart and the gears were shredded(!) and the solenoid was stuck open. Got a new Bosch with lifetime replacement (even if they suck, it took me 20 minutes to take out/put in) and its fine.