1983 Chevy Van Grinding noises at starting

GALYNA1

MEMBER
1983 CHEVROLET VAN

Noises problem
1983 Chevy Van 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic 50k miles

I've only owned the van for a month or so, and everything was fine. A few days ago it started sounding rough at starting, but nothing too bad. Last night it started making a pretty awful grinding sound when I started it, but then it was fine and drove like normal. Today it's MUCH worse - I was expecting the engine to explode or something. It sounds like the engine is eating another engine - very loud metal grinding. I can't get to a mechanic until the end of the week - what is this?

2 Replies

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,871 POSTS

Hi galyna1. Welcome to the forum. If the noise only occurs during cranking, the starter probably just needs a shim or two. I don't know why the noise doesn't occur right away but sometimes it shows up long after the starter has been replaced. It is due to the drive gear being too close to the teeth on the flywheel / flex plate. Replacement GM starters used to come with a pair of shims in case they were needed. Almost every mechanic had a bunch of unused ones in their tool boxes.

If the noise occurs after the engine has started, can you listen under the hood to see if you can determine its location? Any other things you can include to describe it will help too.

Caradiodoc