Car won't start Please help!
 

Okay so on friday night the car wouldn't start and would make the grinding noise (as if the car was already on and I turned the key). Saturday I put a new starter in and it makes the same noise. Sunday I have the battery tested and charged and it then made a whining sound. Also worth noting is that the teeth on the the flexplate/flywheel on my automatic car is fine. But on both the original starter and new one the earmark where the one bolt goes through is broken off. The teeth on the old starter gear are still good as well. What do I do next? Do I possibly need to shimm the starter. Let me know what could be possibly wrong? The motor still cranks fine too. Thanks.

how do u know the flexplate teeth are not broken tho? it could be that the starter is slipping off the teeth because of what u said that the bolt is broken!

starter

Do you have an A4 or M6?

auto

I had the starter off at the time so I could look in and had the motor crank over to examine it. It wasn't me that determined this either it was a mechanic that lives next door to my friends where the car broke down.

could this be a wiring issue possibly

From what you described so far, it sounds like to me that your alternator went. It would explain your empty battery. With a drained battery, your starter would still turn, but the latter portion would fail to engage due to lack of power, and the friction point would be where the start gears are, causing a clicking/grinding sound. If it were just the starter abnormality you're experiencing, it would be safe to suspect the starter motor. But with an empty battery also in the picture, it implicates the alternator.

If you had an M6, I was going to say push-start the car and see if the engine stays on. If the engine dies out in a few seconds, then it would definitely be the alternator. If you can get your car to a shop like Meineke, they can test the alternator and give you a definitive answer rather quick.