You have a bad "bendix" on the starter drive or the starter is not releasing
as fast as it should. That is the one way clutch that drives the gear
itself. As the engine starts it allows the gear to be driven by the flywheel
without spinning the starter motor with it. They can go like this for a long
long time. When it dose fail you may get to replace the flywheel ring gear.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Don Hanson
Sent: Wednesday, January 8, 2014 2:22 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Ongoing "Honk" as diesel style starter engages

   I have an ABA VW gas inline motor in my 84 van,  turning a 5sp
tranny...with a diesel bellhousing and starter.   Been running this
motor and starter now for a few years as my daily driver, work van and
camper.   Every since I have owned it, when the engine catches and the
starter motor is cut off, there is about a half second of this strange
honking noise...I  don't really know the right way to describe it, but it
seems similar maybe to when you take a ping pong ball and squish it down
with the paddle onto the table...really kind of a brief 'squelching' noise,
sort of.  Not loud, not alarming, just puzzling.
Anybody  want to try to guess what might be causing this sound?

   I figured, when I  first installed the motor and tranny and I heard that
noise, whatever was making the noise would soon cause me some real problems,
and then I could fix whatever it is....but it's now coming on 3yrs of
driving it like this, without even any indication that anything is not
right, other than that weird noise...The starter works perfectly every time,
but it makes that noise perhaps on 90% of starts, always has...without any
perceptible change in the sound or
the operation of the starter.   I have had the motor out and also the
tranny, to do a pilot bearing and a clutch... put it all back in and there's
that 'honk' again from the starter area.....

   Strange....
  Guesses? or better still, someone who actually might know what this is?