First post here, please don't roast me if there's already 10k threads on this.

Recently bought an 06 TSX with 75k. I bought it from my uncle and I know for a fact it was well maintained and driven carefully. About 30% of the time, the car will make a short grinding sound when I start it up in cold weather. It makes the sound while I'm turning the ignition and about 1-3 seconds after before stopping. From what I've read it could be a bad starter or bad VTC sensor. Any ideas how I can go about diagnosing the problem and if I should fix it?

 

I had that grind noise for 10 years, from 60,000 miles until I sold it with over 185,000 miles. Nothing ever became of it. In the summer it doesn't occur. It's just the starter's teeth that take an additional half-second to get into sync. I honestly wouldn't worry about it, as annoying as it may seem.

 

i remember seeing a post in the 8th gen civic section about a guy who reported a grind noise in similar conditions, he stated he replaced the pcv valve and it went away

the pcv valve isn't too espensive, you could try that, just a thought, not guaranteed to fix it