Hey guys I have a 1995 Accord LX. For about the last couple of months ago 20% of the time it starts up there would be a screech for half a second. Now I'm not a noob when it comes to cars, I've worked on many but I never really heard anything like this before. On a scale of 1-10 10 being the noise of lets say the engine exploding, this noise is about a 3. Loud but not too loud, but definately annoying. It doesn't sound like the belt is on wrong, or needs some WD-40 to help it stop squeking. I've checked the tension of the alternator belt and it seemed fine. Can it be the flywheel grinding when the engine tries to turn on? That I'm not sure but I don't think so because the sound is very thin and sreeching, it doesn't sound as if there is a heavy mass involved.

But it's gets a little weirder, I found out yesterday that if I stuck the key FULLY into the ignition to feel it jump it then pop out a little (hard to explain) then starting it it would only do it about 1/10 times, leading me to believe it may be something with the ignition switch.

PS - Forgot to mention that before I found out about the key thing that when it would make that screech noise, the engine would also sound like it wants to die when it starts up, as if it was choking. But once it does fire up, idle and everything is fine and the car runs great.

This was the best I could describe the problem, thanks in advance.

 

If the alternator belt is nice and tight you may have a starter that is staying engaged to the flywheel after the car starts.

 

Thanks for the reply. How would I go about checking this? Should I just take out the starter and put it back on?

 

Besides the starter hanging up, it could be one of the belt tensioners making noise. Try spraying some WD40 on the back and front of the tensioner and see if it goes away. There is a bearing in the tensioner that you may need to replace if the noise goes away. By what you are descibing, I think that the starter is hanging up though. It is always good to check the cheapest thing first though.

"How would I go about checking this" Well, if you have a friend to listen with there ears in the motor compartment while you turn it over or vice versa you might be able to figure out exactly where the noise is coming from. I have had a replacement starter I installed in the past be a little too long and it rubbed on the flywheel when it first cranked, You may to replace the starter if that is the case.

 

Thanks for the advice. Well, I just tightened up the pulleys again thinking that maybe one of them wern't tight enough and after started up the car about 10 times the noise wasn't there, so hopefully that fixed it. I did notice a ton of gunk and oil on the alternator belt though, since I havn't replaced it since I owned the car which was bought 2 years ago. However the power steering belt isn't as dirty because I've replaced that soon after I got the car. If the problem comes back, Ill try the starter thanks.