Went to start my i30 today, cranked as normal then just died without fully starting. I said thats odd...then I hear a whirring noise that stayed on even after I shut the key off which I figured was the starter. Jumped out and grabbed a wrench and disconnected the battery - low and behold the noise stopped. Thinking its a sticking starter because when I go to reattach the cable after letting it sit for a little it does the same thing until I disconnect it. Not too familiar with this car so thats why Im seeking help. Any assistance is greatly appreciated - hell Ill even buy you a beer lol

 

When its making the noise does the noise sound like its coming from the starter area ( on top of the transmission by towards the radiator side) or do you here it around the throttle body area?

Also when its making the noise open up the throttle by hand and see if the noise stops.

It sounds like you might be having issues with the Idle air control valve(IACV) they will also make a buzzing noise.

Also your Electric motor mounts can make this noise also and are very easy to unplug to see if there causing the problem. When they go bad they will make a bad buzzing noise when the engine is off,

Here are the pics for the motor mount plugs.





On a side note these motor mounts can short out internally and fry the ECM causing a no start. They can be replaced or just unplugged without any harm i have mine unplugged.

 

Appreciate the help bud. Thank you.

From what I noticed Im pretty sure it was coming from the intake/tb area, but I didnt really try to pinpoint it because I was afraid of doing (more) damage.

I will try opening the tb and see if the noise changes at all. I have the - terminal disc right now because as soon as the car gets power the noise comes back.

Will the IACV or engine mounts cause an absolute no start condition? If I turn the key the car does nothing...only the noise is present

Im led to believe it was starter related because 1) the car has had the starter replace before and 2) the car would start strong sometimes and then act funny other times. Also noticed some long cranks in the mix FWIW.

Hopefully can do more diagnosing when I get home later. Thanks again.

 

It does sound like your start, but the other poster had good points about your motor mounts and the IAC valve. You may want to disconnect the mounts if you are worried about them shorting your ECM/IAC valve, then try restarting the car to see what happens.

 

Indeed. Going to pull those connectors off tomorrow for sure, if that doesnt solve it at least it done just for precautionary reasons.

 

Car has a tick under 140k as of now FWIW.

 

Update: Opening throttle body by hand keeps the noise present. I shot a video of it for those to hear. Will attatch it when its done uploading.


EDIT: Here is the vid as promised.

http://s1108.photobucket.com/user/01...0da28.mp4.html

 

Have you unplugged the IACV to see if that noise stops? I don't think it will.

The motor mounts won't prevent the engine from starting.

I don't think that the IACV would prevent the car from starting, either.

I think the starter is the thing making that noise. It is too loud to be the tiny motor that is in either the IACV or the motor mounts. Somehow the starter motor is getting power all the time. And the rasping, sort of rattling noise sounds like my starter did when the lubrication in the planetary gear set dried up.

 

Havent unplugged the IACV yet. Unhooking motor mounts tomorrow (didnt have pics handy). Maybe will try IACV but from previous experience on other cars I dont think it has a factor in the car not turning over at all.

Pretty sure its the starter as well. Any ideas how to test it? Is there a fuse/relay I can pull or something to see if it stops? Been down for 2 days and I really miss it

 

Just unplug the front/rear engine mounts. It's a very common problem for the 3.0 VQ.

 

I did...it didnt change anything.

 

There isn't a specific fuse you could pull. The only fuse that is involved powers many other things in the car.

To start with, there are 2 possible ways for the starter motor to spin:
1 - the starter solenoid is stuck in the engaged/energized position.
2 - the circuit to energize the solenoid has constant power.

Since the motor stops when the ignition key is off, this would rule out option #1.

For option #2, there are 2 things to try. The easier one to do is to remove a relay. There is a box in front of the battery that contains relays. Remove the cover and remove the relay that is in the row closest to the battery, 2nd from the radiator. This is called the Park/Neutral relay (auto trans) or the Clutch interlock relay (manual trans). There is a locking clip you will have to press with a screwdriver to be able to pull the relay out. If I have guessed correctly, the noise should not occur when the ignition is turned on.

If the noise stops, then you will have to figure out which of 2 possibilities are happening.

1 - the relay is stuck in the energized position. Sometimes you can un-stick relays by tapping on them, which you could try before removing it. But this does not always work. If it does work, it would be a temporary fix as there is something wrong inside the relay and it will happen again. The other thing to try is to swap it with another relay of the same type. You can "borrow" another relay from some other position as long as it is the same color.

2 - the ignition switch has an internal short between the start position and the power that comes into it. If you turn the key to the on position and the starter relay energizes, the switch is bad, no other testing needed.

Of these 2 options, the ignition switch has a much higher failure rate than a relay, but without checking, you are just guessing.

However, if the starter motor is spinning without cranking the engine, the starter needs to be replaced. But you still need to determine exactly why the starter motor is spinning because a replacement starter will also spin.

Edit:

I was reading your other post in the Infiniti forum and then re-read this one. It seems I may have gotten the "when does it spin" thing wrong. Now I'm thinking it spins whenever you connect the battery cable. It really doesn't change the diagnostics very much. I would still check all the things I mentioned.