[mykej27]

In the morning or late in the evening after the car has been sitting awhile, I turn over my car and it makes this horrible grinding sound. It turns over fine and it drives great, but once it catches fire and ignites this horrible grinding sound appears. I'm thinking it's the starter taking a crap, but it's really hard to tell, because it starts fine. If it's not the starter, please give me advise as to what it could be. I've taken it into the shop, but no one can hear what I'm hearing, because it won't do it if it's warm.

Has anyone experienced this problem, if so, what is it? And what should I do?

Thanks

 

[kermitec]

Sounds to me like the starter isn't fully disengaging. There is a spring that is supposed to pop starter drive gear back in. It's sounds like trying to start a car thats already running because the starter gears don't disegage from the flwheel. It sounds to me like time to pull the srarter inspect the teeth, llook at your flywheel to. I would say ther is a starter replacement in your future unlees there is a ignition key problem.

 

[mykej27]

That sounds perfect sense. It does sound like the starter is not disengaging. Crap! The starter is not easy to remove. Looks like I found my project for this weekend.

What I don't get is why only during cold starts? When it's warm, it doesn't happen.

 

[tmonster]

Metal Parts Expand in the cold, plus the grease gets thicker, thus mkaing things stick...easiest way i can say it

~Chris

 

[mykej27]

I pulled the diagnositic CD manual and you are right, the teeth are most likely warn down and that's what's causing that horrible sound. I'm just going to replace the whole thing. I shouldn't be that hard. I only need to hoist up the car on a vertical rack. I don't want to attempt this laying down.

 

[FullDuplex]

I don't have any intention to be a smart [email protected] but metal parts don't expand in cold. Actually they shrink little. Every metal has different expantion and shrinkage coefficient.

 

[mykej27]

It was discribe as being ring gear damage. If the oil is drained to the bottom, the gear teeth aren't lube effectively, causing the damaged ring gear to grind during a cold start.

 

[mykej27]

Update. I fixed and rebuilt my starter, but there was nothing wrong with it. It starts better than before, but the starter wasn't the problem. The grinding is still there.

Could it be the fly wheel? This is driving me nuts! HELP!

 

[mikedozier]

I am the ultimate newbie here, but I've got a A/C on it's death bed that made racket. Shot in the dark, but I saw at least one other post with identical problem.


If you pop the hood with the engine running, can you make any determination as to where the sound it coming from? Belt side, block itself, underneath engine compartment?

 

[mykej27]

The sound is only during start up. Otherwise, my car purrs like a kitten. If I start it after it's warm, it doesn't make that horrible sound.

I hope it's not my fly wheel, because that will be a royal b**** to get to. I'm not even sure I can do it. I really don't want to tear the engine apart just to replace the flywheel.

I'm curious if there is an easier way.

 

[mykej27]

Okay. The problem seems to be getting worse. It wasn't happening before, but the last couple of days, as I accelerate in first geer, it sounds like something is winding. It almost sounds like I have a supercharger, but I don't. There's no problem accelerating and there's no hesitation in shifting either, but it's pretty loud. I'm worried that it's only going to get worse and somethings about to break.

I would take it in, but frankly I can't afford to take it in and have someone rapp me of what money I've got and do it wrong. I don't get paid until the end of the month, but I can afford to buy the parts and do it myself. I just wish I knew what the problem is so I can fix it.

 

[mykej27]

Well, it's been at least a month now and no one seems to know what is wrong with my car. My mechanic thought it might be the starter, so I replaced it with a high performance starter...not fixed, but the starter is great.

I took it in again. He thought it might be the power steering, but it's the steering pump seems to be okay and there is no sign that it's going out. Then he possible thought it was an intake problem, but it's hard to tell. By the time I get to the shop, the noise is gone. So unless I leave it over night, no one can hear what I'm hearing. I can't leave it, cuz it's my daily driver.

I wish someone hear knew what I was talking about, so I could figure out what the hell is going on. I'm going crazy.

 

[saerandy]

What brand & viscosity of oil are you running?

What brand of filter is on your car right now?

How cold has it been getting at night?

Also, I assume you've checked your oil level.

 

[mykej27]

I use 5w30 Castrol Synth Blend. I just changed the oil a month a ago. Napa Gold oil filter. Been using them for a few years now. No change in oil brands either. Oil looks clean. Transfluid is clean too.

The coldest it's been here is 34 degrees. When the frost appeared, that's when all this started to happen.

 

[mykej27]

Wow! Thanks for your feedback guys...NOT!

A few minutes ago, my friend who is a weekend mechanic, listened to me start my car and he says, "...yep, it's your ignition. It's not disengaging. You need a new ignition module."

I could've saved all this trouble weeks ago. Crap! I knew I should've upgraded my ignition instead of waiting.

 

[saerandy]

Go ahead & try the module but if it doesn't work then you might want to try changing the filter out.

The Napa gold filter itself is a good one, so you might just have a defective one. If it's the ignition module, I'm not sure why it would only do it when the engine's cold versus when it's warm.

Here's what I was thinking: Since you seemed to have looked at all the obvious stuff my thought was that your filter's ADBV (anti drain back valve) might be defective. When the engine's stopped for a while the oil's draining past the valve and you're getting a dry start up & that's causing the grinding noise. It would only get worse as the oil thickens up with the lower temps. If the leak is somewhat slow, that might explain why it doesn't happen all the time.

My 0.02

 

[mykej27]

That's interesting that you say that it is the oil filter. You could be right. I've heard of it happening, but I've never seen it. I will replace it just for laughes and giggles over the weekend and see what happens. The worst that can happen is I'll be throwing away a near new filter.

I looked at specs and I don't know if I need to buy a ignition coil or an ignition module. I can get the modules for $15 and the ignition coils I can get for $55. Not too bad concidering that it's $150 for a ignition module and $200 for an ignition coil if I was to buy one at the Ford Dealership.

 

[mykej27]

Originally posted by saerandy@Jan 2 2004, 04:21 PM
Go ahead & try the module but if it doesn't work then you might want to try changing the filter out.

I changed the filter, but the noise is still there.

I told my father about the work that I've done and he seemed to think that it may be that he belt tensioner bearing is bad. He says they get a lot of orders for that part at the store. I'm not sure I even have one of those. I know I have a tensioner, but a bearing? He said to try and spray it with WD-40 and see if it does the trick. If it works, then replace the belt tensioner.

Since the noise isn't internal, so it's not damaging. If was anything interenal like a bad cylinder or the fly wheel, then the noise would be constant and there would be debris in the oil as a result of interenal damage, but there's not.

I want to rule out all the inexpensive parts before replacing them otherwise I'll be throwing away tons of money. I already bought a new starter, which didn't need to be replaced.

 

[Guest]

Any way you can record the noise? My car has a loud groan when starting up on a cold start. I've had the car inspected by a ford dealer and they concluded it is not the ps pump, so the service advisor concluded that it is the exaust shields. Maybe you can jack your car up, start it, then get underneath and listen for noises.

 

[kermitec]

Originally posted by mykej27@Jan 2 2004, 02:10 PM
Wow! Thanks for your feedback guys...NOT!

A few minutes ago, my friend who is a weekend mechanic, listened to me start my car and he says, "...yep, it's your ignition. It's not disengaging. You need a new ignition module."

I could've saved all this trouble weeks ago. Crap! I knew I should've upgraded my ignition instead of waiting.

C'mon dude give us a break. Its not like you are paying us any money or sumptin!

Seriously tho diagnosing a noise related problem over the internet is a little harder than being there wouldn't you think.