What does it mean when my car wont turn over and makes a loud deep grinding noise?

Asked by Alexis Feb 01, 2011 at 10:51 AM about the 1990 Honda Accord LX

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I drove my car fine to the store. When i went to crank it back up the battery lights, dash lights and radio came on but when it was turned all the way to crank up it made a horrible loud deep grinding noise and will not turn over to start.

2 Answers

695

The problem is you have enough power in your battery to get those accessories to come on, but not enough for the starter to crank the engine over. It will be one of these problems: - The battery cables are corroded, either at the terminals or underneath the cables' insulation - electricity travels along the surface of the metal in the wires and corrosion collects on the surface of the wires under the insulation in cars and develops enough resistance to impede the flow just enough to keep it under what the starter needs, but not too low for the accessories to not run. - If the cables are OK, it may be that the alternator isn't charging well enough and the car is pulling from the battery to keep itself going. First, clean your battery terminals and see if that fixes it. If not, have the battery and alternator tested - if they are both good, it'll be the cables. Hope this helps!

2 people found this helpful.

Sounds like a bad starter bendix the parts that makes the engine turn over its spinning bit hitting the edge of the flywheel teeth

1 people found this helpful.

Your Answer:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    JP1956
    Reputation
    6,870
  • #2
    Fredbrillo
    Reputation
    5,320
  • #3
    Jonathan Ford
    Reputation
    3,850
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Toyota Camry
44 Great Deals out of 1,134 listings starting at $4,795
Used Honda Civic
192 Great Deals out of 4,047 listings starting at $440
Used Toyota Corolla
138 Great Deals out of 2,314 listings starting at $103
Used Honda Accord Coupe
10 Great Deals out of 50 listings starting at $4,500
Used BMW 3 Series
67 Great Deals out of 1,211 listings starting at $2,500
Used Nissan Maxima
12 Great Deals out of 186 listings starting at $4,995
Used Ford Mustang
41 Great Deals out of 1,643 listings starting at $7,999
Used Lexus ES
15 Great Deals out of 215 listings starting at $5,900

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.