[jpsimon]

Every now and then when I press the start button there's a weird belt/screechy noise before the car actually starts. When it finally starts it starts perfectly fine/smooth/quick. Sometimes it's as short as 1/10 of a second, just a blip of the sound before it starts. But this morning it took a solid 3 seconds or so of this noise before the car started.

I want to say it's worse on colder mornings, but sometimes it doesn't happen at all.

has anyone else had anything like this?

[Beemw335]

That squeaky sound is while the starter is working or before?

[E3r2E9r]

Those symptoms are quite common but not necessarily the starter.

Sometimes the belt hits the sub frame and or the belt just needs replacement on the car.

Does the vehicle actually take longer to crank? Its probably not the starter if it doesnt in which case the belt may just need replacement and check the clearance.

[jpsimon]

yeah this happens before the car cranks - the car doesn't crank until this sound stops.

when it does crank it's 100% fine. No hiccups, starts up fast and smooth.

[tscdennab]

Am I wrong or do you use a non-stock flywheel ? If yes, I would look into that as being the problem, the flywheel starter crown may not align correctly with the starter's pinion.

[jpsimon]

Originally Posted by tscdennab

Am I wrong or do you use a non-stock flywheel ? If yes, I would look into that as being the problem, the flywheel starter crown may not align correctly with the starter's pinion.

I've had the non-stock flywheel for probably 20k miles without an issue, is that something that would just pop up now?

[jpsimon]

just a small update - when i had the carbon-buildup cleaned I had him check the starter and everything was perfectly fine. No misaligned flywheel or anything, everything looked fine. So not sure what this was, but it also hasn't really happened in a while... very strange.

[Turkeybaster115]

Our starters have to start going on us at some time. We've seen what the water pump, and LPFP can do at our mileages. It's just a matter of time. I say replace it cuz, it doesn't cost that much.