2004 Mercury Sable starter or flywheeL

DMLW

MEMBER
2004 MERCURY SABLE
34,000 MILES

My car intermittenly gives you a shrill shriek when attempting to start it. Like if you already have the engine running and try to start it. My son says there is a bad or flat spot on the flywheel and this happens when the starter tries to start it and hits that spot. My neighbor who does lots of repair work on autos thinks it is just the starter that is not engaging all the way. I have had this car since new and has done this pretty much since than. I have had it to two different dealer at least 4/5 times while still under warranty and they all claimed they could not get it to react as I described so could do nothing. I don't have any faith in the dealers as I feel they did not in good faith try to find the problem. It is happening more frequently now and sometimes shrieks for up to three times before starting. Your expertise please.

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,867 POSTS

Either your son or neighbor could be right. If the solenoid on the starter isn't working properly, it will grind against the flywheel. However, if there is a flat spot on the flywheel, it will make the same kind of noise. Regardless, since it does start after making the noise, my guess is the starter is the issue. If the flywheel had a flat spot, the starter wouldn't be able to turn it to a good spot. Plus, every time you would start it, you would hear a noise from the flywheel when it hit that spot.