severe noise when I start my 1995 town car

[kingoftoys]

Hello, I started my town car after sitting for a week or so. Immediately I get a loud noise that makes me think it is a rod. I ran the engine for maybe 10 seconds and shut it down. I did this several times. Would a rod fail just sitting there? I've had power steering noises in the past and I flushed out some of the fluid and that took car of it. 1995 town car with around 175,000 miles. What is my next move? Should I take off the serpentine belt to see if any bearings have frozen? This really bothers me. Thanks for any help.

 

[kingoftoys]

I went out and started the car. The noise seems to be coming from the front of the engine. Does the harmonic balancer ever fail on these engines? What should I look for after I take the belt off? Getting too dark to do much more tonight. Thanks for any input.

 

[mark95man]

When my 1996 Town Car was new--several months old, it had a painful sound during start up. Since I left for work at 3AM, it had to be fixed. The sound was from the front of the engine, lasting for a minute or so. The dealer changed the belt several times before i got them to check all pulleys/guides and the tensioner. They used the shot gun approach to fix it. All pulleys, tensioner and another new belt fixed the issue.

I would suggest checking your pulleys and tensioner as they wear out over the years/miles.

Removing the belt would reveal if those items are your problem. Just remember, running the engine with no belt = no cooling. For a minute or so it shouldn't be an issue starting with a cold engine.