Bad start & Grinding noise in plenum

[sinlessgunner]

Hi all

Starting last Sunday, my car was starting strangely. Instead of turning over for a second and kicking in as normal, it made a strange sound like it's lacking power and the voltmeter drops to 10 instead of turning to 15 or 16. It always started though first time and drove fine. Yesterday same thing starting, I drove for about 20 minutes then went into a shop. When I tried to restart the car it would make an effort to turn over and then just stop but it wasn't that the battery was dead was much different to that. Tried it 3 or 4 times no joy. Checked the battery and there was a kind of white fuzz around the negative connection. Disconnected the battery and cleaned the connection and started perfectly first time. It turned over properly problem solved. But then I noticed a strange kind of grinding (might not be the right word maybe a rubbing sound or something) coming from the plenum. I was very worried so drove very slowly back and left it parked up.

This morning I started the car, again it turned over perfectly and started first time and the grinding/rubbing noise wasn't there. I'm afraid to drive it now in case that the timing belt could be on the way out or something even though there should be a good bit left in it. Anyone have any ideas as to what it might be?? Could it be something that would only happen when the engine is warm? Really need help on this!

[escu_calin]

Not sure , but the only way to answer your question is to visually check for physical wear ... the belts can be easily checked..

If in need to check the timing belt u must take out 6-7 screws that keep in place the plastic covers .. is tight on space but WORTH the while!
Check for cracks, or any kind of wear !

Grinding noise must be related to the low voltage of the battery.. but only at start.. not after the alternator kicks in , then the voltage reported by voltmeter must go in 14V

Worth checking if alternator is acting up ...

[witcher]

I noticed FTO have tendency to make funny grinding noise when battery is flat, nothing to worry about, but once started it shall run without the grinding noise. You usually change timing belt every 60 k miles, but it is worth changing sooner than later anyway. As Earmop said check timing belt for wear and tear, does it make swishing noise when you start the car? if that is the case the timing belt is on its way out (although it may as well be loose alternator belt, but then you will have swishing noise every time you turn steering wheel to the max right or left, and usually in wet weather). There aren't any moving parts in the plenum itself so the origin of the noise is rather not connected with a plenum. Try to clean battery connectors, reconnect battery and cover the connectors with some water repellent stuff (any oily stuff). the white stuff on the battery connectors is metal oxidization from contact with acid, check battery connections for cracks, check cell covers and level of fluid in cells (it shall be covering the plates inside battery, if you can see the plates there is not enough fluid), if low fill in with demineralized water (you can get it in any chemist). If none of this work report back so we can keep on showing off our excellent knowledge of FTO mechanics.
Good luck

[Kace]

Check the alternator as follows :

- Start the car
- Disconnect battery ground cable
- If car dies, the you need a new alternator

[sinlessgunner]

Thanks for the replies lads. Not the alternator for sure. For a start, I fitted a new alternator in April and the battery is holding a charge. I think it was to do with the white fuzz on the battery connections. There was a lot of it and I cleaned it all off with a wire brush. I reckon it was inhibiting the connection of the battery.

Regarding the grinding noise.... checked the oil levels. Very low. Full oil and filter change later.... noise is gone

What appeared to be a major problem was in fact just a regular maintenance issue. Thanks for the help lads. Much appreciated.