Every long once in a while my car will groan when I start it for the first time. Has anybody experienced this? know what it might be? I'm wondering if I need to pull my starter and grease it. Car has 50k miles and is a 98.

 

Can you explain the problem a little better? Like does it sound like a gear grind? Does it happen only once in while? Does it seem to depend on outside temperature?

 

I actually think I have the same problem. When I start my car in the morning togo to school it seems to happen. But once its warmed up and I goto start it say a couple hours later it sounds fine. I just got a new starter put in over the summer, so I have no clue why it sounds like that.

 

try, turning the key to ACC wait about 5 seconds then start her up.. What this does is, let the Fuel pump gain pressure.

 

It does sound like a grind, but it also sounds like a groan. It also takes possibly 1/2 a second longer for it to turn over. It's only happened when it's cold.

 

If the line pressure isn't high enough, that could explain the extra 1/2 second it takes to turn over, but I'm not sure I see how it could cause the noise.

 

I might have to try this, too. Sounds like my exact problem.
SamMan23, did u try and see if that tip from gtr_rider worked?

 

And you have a couple hours to spend...Take out the starter and examine the teeth. Also , take a look at the teeth on the flywheel for wear. If they are starting to round out, then this could the problem. You can take the starter apart and re-grease everything. After a while a) the grease hardens and b) Clutch dust after a while will start to bind it up. Give it a good cleaning, replace and your problems may disappear. A starter/alternator shop can clean it too for a small charge...

I had a similar problem. I would try and start the car, and sometimes everything would go ok, but sometimes it would seem impossible to start the car, and id hear a grinding sound just before the engine would turn over. Turns out the grease and clutch dust built up around the gear mechanism that the gear would not smoothly come out, engage the flywheel, and then smoothly disengage. After cleaning the starter all my problems disappeared.

 

Thanks Hexen. That was a real helpful post. It did it today and it did it for a 1 or 1.5 second after the car started(not while it was starting today). I was thinking that the starter was having problems engaging and disengaging. I was wondering if it had a solonoid that might be going bad. But I'll check out what you said. How many miles did it have when it started doing this to you?

Does anyone know if there is a solenoid on there? or any other ideas?

 

Funny this thread should come up. I went looking for a solution to this a few days ago and found basically the same advice on the motorvate website. There's a couple extra handy hints there and some pictures. I'll attempt to regrease mine in the New Year.

Looks like this problem is more common than I thought.

 

Yeah. I read that write up a while ago, but didn't think it could happen to me. Hexen explained well why it makes the noise though. I'll have to check when I get a chance.

 

Was the noise you guys experienced high pitch or low pitched? I think I'm going to regrease with spray grease(thicker than wd40, but thinner than goopy stuff). a mechanic from my parent's church told me to use that stuff. what did you guys use?

 

Hey SamMan23,

I first noticed the squeel/grind at around 80k miles. However it seldom happened, maybe once every 2 weeks so it was just an annoyance. About a month ago, it was occuring every other time i tried to start the car. This was around 120k miles.

I figure this is a problem you'd want to catch early. It's better to have to replace/fix a starter, then to replace a stripped flywheel gear.

The solenoid: Once you remove the airbox/airfilter, and air intake you'll notice a large cylinder attached to the tranny(about 3 inch diameter)this is the starter motor. Directly to the left and attached to the starter motor is a smaller cylinder (maybe an inch and half in diameter, which is the solenoid. You'll need a 14mm and 17mm socket to get the starter motor/solenoid out (these numbers are from memory though, heheh). Once you remove the starter/solenoid you can look right into the opening and see the flywheel (might need a flashlight) and check it its worn. Also the gear that engages the flywheel might have some wear on the outer edges due to it not engaging/dis-engaging properly.

You're best bet it to take it out, take it apart and clean it and grease it, and then probably take it to a rebuild shop and have it tested. If its toast they can probably rebuild it for a fraction of the price of a new one. After all I got a dealer quote of $396 for new starter and labor, so this is a definately a job you can do yourself if you have a socket wrench, and a few screw drivers. and a couple hours....

Lemme know if you have any problems.

 

I was about to type a new thread when I saw this ine in the search. I got this problem. Almost every time I start my Max, I get the grinding sound right after the engine turns over. I had the feeling that it was the starter gear wasn't disengaging from the flywheel (torque converter in my case) right away.

I really don't want to have to take the starter apart though. Is there anything that will solve this peoblem?

 

There really is nothing to do but take the thing apart. Follow my directions as explained in an earlier post, and you shoudltn have that many problems.... good luck