When i have a cold start over night of if the engine completely cools down i go to start it and it makes a weird grinding noise. But once the car is warmed up it doesnt make the noise any longer. Another problem i have been noticing that when the car is just started and i being to drive the car shakes. Once it warms up its stops shaking. Does anyone have any idea whats wrong?

 

moved to correct forum.

 

the grinding at cold startup could be the beginning of a failing starter. the actuator might not be working properly on the starter causing it to not let go of the flywheel after releasing the key. mine did that for about 3 months before my starter finally gave out. you can replace the starter very easily and they're not all that expensive.

when you say shaking, is it just a vibration or is the whole car shaking?

 

Don't quote me on this, but it might be the alternator.

 

Depending on how you intrepret "gringing noise", it could be low power steering oil.

 

Just throw a sweater on the car, you'll be fine.

 

i was thinking it was the starter its just a weird little grinding noise. It only does it when its cold out. I did a test on the battery and the alternator and they both checked out fine so i think that narrows it down to the starter ha....but when its a cold start and i start driving i feel the car shake like it stutters the first few times then its fine...do you think that could be the egr?

 

and the grinding noise only occurs when im starting it up not while its running.

 

My car grinds by the belts for like 2 min. Mine and my cuzin 03 maxima do the same thing but my makes a worse nosie but its because of a bad precat car sounds bad and doesn't drive as smooth but I think its because my precat or muffler sytem . You u guys kno if by having a bad precat it can cause the car to shake and vibrate or even make the idle jump sometimes I really need to kno or can it be a bad tranny causing this vibration

 

If you researched this issue a little you would find that many many 5th gen owners have this problem on a cold startups, including myself. From what I have found, it has to either do with the PCV valve, or the timing chain tensioner. I have also been researching a problem where my engine is making a buzzing/rattling/grinding noise when driving at normal speeds (at around 1500-2500 RPMs). Does not make the sound when revving the engine in park or neutral, only when in gear. From what I understand, a lot of people have had this, and many say that getting the timing chain tensioner replaced fixes the problem. As far as your car shaking though, that could be a lot of things...

 

how hard is it to replace one of those tensioners?