Terrible start-up noise with extreme cold
- Thread starter rocketman
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Because they have good engineers but most of the top guys are accountants.
I would say pop the hood and have someone else start the truck it will give you a better idea of where the noise is comming from. My Caprice and Roadmaster(same car really) both make a noise like the starter staying engaged but that is not what it is, it is accessory related tensioner, PS were my guesses but the alternator is a good idea too. The Roadmaster will do it for just a second at 15F and for more like 10 seconds maybe a little more if it is -10F luckily during the worst of our recent cold snap I did not have too go out while it was colder than -10. I also say it is not oil related because one car does it with Amsoil and a pureone and the other is in the midst of a AutoRX cleaning with Walmart oil and filter, if it was engine lube related I am guessing the Amsoil would have cured it. Both vehicles are high milage too 160K and 175K.
I would say pop the hood and have someone else start the truck it will give you a better idea of where the noise is comming from. My Caprice and Roadmaster(same car really) both make a noise like the starter staying engaged but that is not what it is, it is accessory related tensioner, PS were my guesses but the alternator is a good idea too. The Roadmaster will do it for just a second at 15F and for more like 10 seconds maybe a little more if it is -10F luckily during the worst of our recent cold snap I did not have too go out while it was colder than -10. I also say it is not oil related because one car does it with Amsoil and a pureone and the other is in the midst of a AutoRX cleaning with Walmart oil and filter, if it was engine lube related I am guessing the Amsoil would have cured it. Both vehicles are high milage too 160K and 175K.
Hey WWillson, are you saying that I could run a 0W30 in the summer? Don't know if I would, but, as you said 30=30 when hot, right?
Patman
Staff member
You can definitely run 0w30 in the summer. I run 0w30 all year round in my Corvette, even in the heat of summer. All of my family's cars are running 0w30 year round actually.
My 2001 F150 did the same thing. Used to drive me nuts! Never did figure out exactly what the noise(s) were. I tried a few different motor oil brands and viscosities along with a few different filters and never could eliminate the 10 second slap and dying cat squeal.
FWIW...had nothing to do with restrictive filters. Happened with K&N, Motorcraft, Hastings and Amsoil filter.
FWIW...had nothing to do with restrictive filters. Happened with K&N, Motorcraft, Hastings and Amsoil filter.
If the noise does not occur all the time but only in cold weather it could be the power steering unit. My power steering unit used to squeal in the cold. I put some Lubegard power steering supplement in the power steering unit and the noise stopped forever. I have heard that cleaning the power steering unit with Auto-RX really works good also.
This is not an adjustable part. It squeels because of poor lubrication of the sleeve (or roller) bearing...but it predominantly shows up when it's cold. You can try dissasembling the belt tensioner (be careful, it's spring loaded) and re-lubricating the bearing. I hear it's not too difficult a job. I had mine replaced and the noise went away.
Once when I was in college I parked my truck for the night after backroading in a blizard. The next day I went to start it up and nothing. So I poped the hood and it is frozen solid! It looked like that stupid Motorup or prolong comercial where the engine is frozen in a block of ice. The wind must have shifted and blown snow into the compartment then it melted adn refroze. My battery was frozen as well. The battery was the shape of a Nascar speedway"oval"!
I took it up stairs and thawed it out in the tub. Put it back in the truck and fired it up. It barley turned over and the fluids were so thick that it idled at around 350RPMS. Talk about loud!!! I thought the engine was going to pull a "Dennis Leary" QS commerical and jump out of the vechile!I had to hold the clutch in our it would stall becaue of my 140Wt. gear oil in the transmission and t/case!
It sounded and felt like I had a paintmixer in the engine compartment! The batery voltage with no load was between 8-9 volts. Shifting the truck was like arm wrestleing a giant until the fluid warmed up!
I took it up stairs and thawed it out in the tub. Put it back in the truck and fired it up. It barley turned over and the fluids were so thick that it idled at around 350RPMS. Talk about loud!!! I thought the engine was going to pull a "Dennis Leary" QS commerical and jump out of the vechile!I had to hold the clutch in our it would stall becaue of my 140Wt. gear oil in the transmission and t/case!
It sounded and felt like I had a paintmixer in the engine compartment! The batery voltage with no load was between 8-9 volts. Shifting the truck was like arm wrestleing a giant until the fluid warmed up!
While my 2002 F-150 doesn't have any piston slap noise it does have that wonderful wounded cat sound when it gets into the midteens. By zero it sounds like a cat fight going on under the hood. It's the power steering pump. I added some LC to the factory fluid but it really didn't make a noticeable difference. Next step is to go with a synthetic Mercon ATF. But it's too darn cold to change it now
Whimsey
*** does this have to do with the orginal post?
Thanks Drew99GT. Never knew that. I will check it out in the summer.
Jim
99 GMC 4.3
Jim
99 GMC 4.3
You don't have the 4.0 "trademark" piston slap? Lucky you.quote:
Originally posted by michaelc80:
Actually, my Jeeps are not noisy at all after switching to Amsoil and Baldwin filters-even when we had the cold snap a couple weeks ago and my 1996 sat at the Des Moines airport for 4 days while I was in Seattle. When I came back it was -8 and it fired up like normal-no unusual startup noise.quote:
Originally posted by 99:
If you think your engine is loud, listen to a older 4.0 Jeep engine start on a 20 below 0 morning-after it has sat all night and everything is frozen. Talk about loud. The first 3-5 seconds is a nail biter.
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