"grinding" noise from the engine during "cold start"

Took my starter out today, cleaned and lubed it, teeth were unmarked,
Although it moved easily along the shaft and sprung back quite fiercely, it still does it now and again. One hour in the freezing cold wasted :headbang:
Guess I will just be careful when its cold...
 
Mines done this for nearly two years now, on and off... easy fix but as per CJ's post, I'll leave mine till it's always doing it then simply remove, clean and grease then refit.

Dave
 
a11y said:
Adam D said:
Mine does the same occassionally, only since the temperatures have fallen though. Is there any chance of spraying lube on ite without removing it :) ?
+1, if there's a lazy option I'd like to hear it too :thumbsup:

Drive through a deep vat of oil?

:D

Dave
 
sorry to jump in late :)

some days ago in the morning when started my z4 2.5i 03 and i found a the engine little shaky and little ruogh,
after min or two the engine service alert shown on the dashboard

when it happened before and i changed the ignition coils ( when i checked the coils that time I’ve found 5 damaged so i replaced them)
also 6 months ago i replaced the spark plugs.

when i turn off the car and start it again sometimes the shake disappears not always form the 1st time ... sometimes i have to do it 2 or 3 times.

and it happens only when the car is cold. and the engine service alert disappears after few days also. ( in case it didn’t shake in the next day).

i thought could be something with ignition coils or the fuel mix ... someone told me it might be the injection and not being clean!! but i'm not really sure.
any suggestions?
cheers
 
amr said:
sorry to jump in late :)

some days ago in the morning when started my z4 2.5i 03 and i found a the engine little shaky and little ruogh,
after min or two the engine service alert shown on the dashboard

when it happened before and i changed the ignition coils ( when i checked the coils that time I’ve found 5 damaged so i replaced them)
also 6 months ago i replaced the spark plugs.

when i turn off the car and start it again sometimes the shake disappears not always form the 1st time ... sometimes i have to do it 2 or 3 times.

and it happens only when the car is cold. and the engine service alert disappears after few days also. ( in case it didn’t shake in the next day).

i thought could be something with ignition coils or the fuel mix ... someone told me it might be the injection and not being clean!! but i'm not really sure.
any suggestions?
cheers

You may want to make a new thread AMR, as its unrelated to this one.

I think you should start off by trying to get the codes read off the car mate, on initial impression it could be a LOT of things :(

Welcome to the forum! :thumbsup:
 
EdButler said:
amr said:
sorry to jump in late :)

some days ago in the morning when started my z4 2.5i 03 and i found a the engine little shaky and little ruogh,
after min or two the engine service alert shown on the dashboard

when it happened before and i changed the ignition coils ( when i checked the coils that time I’ve found 5 damaged so i replaced them)
also 6 months ago i replaced the spark plugs.

when i turn off the car and start it again sometimes the shake disappears not always form the 1st time ... sometimes i have to do it 2 or 3 times.

and it happens only when the car is cold. and the engine service alert disappears after few days also. ( in case it didn’t shake in the next day).

i thought could be something with ignition coils or the fuel mix ... someone told me it might be the injection and not being clean!! but i'm not really sure.
any suggestions?
cheers

You may want to make a new thread AMR, as its unrelated to this one.

I think you should start off by trying to get the codes read off the car mate, on initial impression it could be a LOT of things :(

Welcome to the forum! :thumbsup:

Thanks Ed :)
well i did open a new thried but i got no answer yet ... hope will get one soon :roll:
 
+1 04 Z4 2.5i also doing the grinding noise. And yes if I'm very careful to let go of the key JUST RIGHT, it doesn't happen. If anyone has taken it apart and lubricated the starter, and that fixes it, please post. If so this'll be a weekend project for me.
 
Thanks for this post and feedback :thumbsup:

Mine's been doing this on and off in the cold for some time now, had suspected it was the starter not disengaging, but not sure what to do about it. Anyway, the car was in for the MOT the other day, and to get a couple other bits done, so armed with this info I asked them to pop out the start and re-grease. Job done. Seems fine now. From the bill I don't think it took them too long either and saved me the hassle - am a bit lazy you see :oops:
 
Had my local indy remove my starter motor, give everything a good clean / grease and put it back together again this morning. No grinding when I started her this evening. Will report back :)
 
Made the grinding noise again this morning :x
No idea what's causing it then. I've had two garages look at this now and neither can see anything wrong.
Only does it when cold though. It's when the car has just fired and the starter is disengaging. Strange.
 
I did mine as posted earlier, nothing wrong with the teeth on flywheel or starter, lubed it all, spins freely, kicks back strongly, but it still makes the noise on occasions. This 'fix', isn't always a fix. I'm just glad I didn't waste money on mine, just my time in the cold. I will live with it and when its warm it will be OK.
I think it is either a cold weather tolerance issue, or this car being more unforgiving in holding the key ever so slightly too long, neither of which will be cured by lubrication,
All I would advise is 'save your pennies'. :thumbsdown:
 
I must be a bit thick, I cannot see the starter motor on my 3.0 M54 :( I'm looking on rear right hand side of the engine bay towards the gearbox.... real oem doesn't seem to have a picture. Is it easy to remove to service it?
 
This is the same for me. I find it doesn't happen if I turn the key just right. If I don't pay attention and engage for too long, it makes the noise.
I just turn and release the key as soon as I hear its about to tick over
 
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