If its the starter motor not disengaging, is it something that is easy to rectify (considering Im a noob) or is this something I will need to go to a garage to sort out, and is it going to cost lost of money?

Yes it is in the dashboard and I believe it does not work properly at low voltage.

Quote from: mr_roll

Quote from: bearI have a similar noise but it seems to come from dashboard, when car cold a whirr is heard right after start
and the clock and the trip meter zeroes. I might be that my battery is getting weaker (especially when cold).

Does your clock and trip meter go to zero when it happens ?

If it comes from the dash board then like the above posts say, could be a relay. I dont know tbh, but are your relays in this old car in the dash board bear ?

nissan had a recall on the ignition switch, we had one burn out 2 or 3 starters, even after a new switch, it had to have another new switch.
Doesnt say its the same for yours, I dont know how many it involved, this was about 2 years ago on a 2 or 3 year old micra.
Yours could be a lazy or dirty starter, Id take it out and clean it first, if you cant then let your garage have a look.

how much do you use it ?

its unlikely to be the starter if youre using the car every day, starting it up a couple of times....  but if you hardly use/start it then it could be the starter sticking....

if youre not used to working on cars Id go to a garage and see what they say.... its all well and good us giving you advice on here, but its no comparison to actually being next to the car and listening for ourselvs...

its not a big job to remove the starter motor... but its probably a pita!

The car is my primary mode of transport so its used whenever I go out, which is pretty much daily. AFAIK, the last service was a major one and only a few months ago, and if they didnt replace the battery then, I think they did the year before. I guess I could drop in to the dealership/garage while Im out tomorrow and ask. Its annoying as it only does it once a day so by default if I drive the car over there it wont be replicable unless they had it overnight!

Hi mate,

I know this was an age ago now, but did you ever find out what this was? I get the feeling that I am having the same noise, and initially thought it was the windscreen water jets!

I hope that someone would still be able to help you out, man.