noswendel

I recently parked my 1981 w123 240d with a manual transmission and when I came back several hours later and turned the key to the start position. Nothing happened. There was no sound, the starter motor didn't spin and I didn't hear the solenoid click, The battery seemed to be charged and the instrument cluster lights were on. I went to the starter and tried bridging the solenoid and starter motor connections with a wrench. Nothing happened except for a few small sparks, not like the sparks you usually get when you do this. Fortunately I was parked on a hill and started the car by rolling it and popping the clutch. I drove home and none of the idiot lights on the dash were on. So it seemed the alternator was charging. When I killed the engine I tried to restart it. It started in the usual way and started when I tried several more times. I went to the starter and bridged the starter motor and solenoid connections as I had before. This time the solenoid didn't throw but the starter motor spun. Does anyone know what's going on here? I suspect the solenoid and wonder if solenoids sometimes work intermittently. Thanks for your advice.