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Remote start scrape sound ???

108K views 352 replies 48 participants last post by  Bedbug 
#1 ·
Guys

Are any of you getting a scraping sound (like metal on metal) when you remote start the car. This only happens when I remote start the car first thing on a cold morning.

If I restart the car with my key -- it does not happen. Its been going on for a week now and it seems to be getting worse. I made an appointment to bring it in on Monday to get it checked out . But as we have to do with the dealers in brooklyn we have to be well prepared or they say "can't replicate the problem" and do nothing.

Thanks !
 
#336 ·
Cool Magazine. Lots of good Information. But I still have the issue. Unfortunatly the dealers in brooklyn NY really dont want to be bothered, and what ever you show them has to be specific. Basically I have to find something ThaT states the problem with a 2010 malibu LTZ with a v6 engine. Other than that they find every loop hole. I honestly can't keep losing days of work for this. I gusee if something breaks because of this they will have to cover it under my extended warranty. I will keep trying.

Thanks Guys!
 
#337 ·
Hey I started this thread a long time ago . Believe it or not I still have this scraping sound on cold mornings. In NY we have had some cold nights in the last month and it got so bad I thought something was going to fail.

Did anyone ever get a resolution to this?
 
#339 ·
CP Nerd -- that's a good way to look at it. But I rather them fix it now under extended warranty then get hit over the head later with a big bill. Plus do you really think if everything is working right it would make that sound ? I also noticed as the car gets older the sound is longer in time. Next time I go to the dealer I will take it up with them-- again and see if they now anything.
 
#340 ·
You should use a smart phone or digital camera to take a video of your car doing the cold-start scrape noise so the dealer doesn't have to go through the process of trying to replicate it or diagnose based on your description of the sound.

Also, to put your mind further at ease, if anything was off in the drivetrain, the car's computer would throw codes, and I have yet to get any on my OBDII reader.
 
#341 ·
I've had that same sound on all 3 of my cars - '09, '11, and '11. Seems the best explanation I've come across is the trans fluid draining down, and when it pumps up on the first start it rattles some valves or something in the trans.

I stopped worrying about it on my '09.
 
#342 ·
Mine started to make the scraping sound after it was out of warranty. So far i can't see any negative impact from the noise and it now lasts about 4 or 5 seconds on cold days.

But the car makes so many other noises that I'd have a nervous breakdown if I worried about them all. This Chevy has totally turned me off GM. I tried a few different dealers before the warranty ran out and they truly don't care about noises. And now the underside of the car is starting to rust.

I can tell you one thing I'll be doing next time I buy a new car. I'll be visiting the service area FIRST to watch some interactions with customers. I wish i had done this before i bought a Chevy.
 
#345 ·


I'm driving the LTZ RJT on the left of this picture. I've moved and it has become winter so I don't have a "glamour" shot to post as my sig pic, but since it is mostly the same car I figured I'd leave up the old pic 'til I got a decent one of the "new" car.

The only 2 differences I've come across thus far: the old one had alloy wheels and leather shift knob, this one has chrome wheels and plastic shift knob.
 
#344 ·
Mikeurl-- I do that before I buy a car -- I go to the service area to see if the car im buying is the one mostly in the shop for repair. When I went shopping for the Malibu all I saw was the car in the shop for oil changes. Then I found out that's all they do on the weekends. Believe it or not when I go now I still don't see a lot of Malibu's.

Who knows???
 
#347 ·
Guys

would you believe that when I started this post January 2011 that my car still makes this sound on start up. Today 1/8/2015 it was 8 degrees in Brooklyn NY at 7am. I went to start my car -- it started slow then that screeching sound -- yep its still their 4 years later and still no fix every time I mentioned it to the dealer. I would love to figure what the hell is causing that sound to come back every winter.
 
#348 ·
I've been told that it's related to the small oil reservoir in the transmission that slowly drains back into the pan. When it has completely drained off there's nothing to keep that sound from happening until it gets pressurized, and that can't happen until the pump fills that reservoir. Not sure how long it takes to drain off but it has done so by the next morning's cold start, so that is when you hear the sound.

I hear it on warm/hot summer days after work, but only briefly. Probably since the oil flows more quickly than when it's freakin' cold out.

(Or something like that.)
 
#350 ·
Guys

Finally found out what that sound was. My starter burnt out, when they replaced it -- good by scrape sound on remote starts in the winter.

Starter !

Couple of years late but I got the answer

Bedbug
LOL...great follow up...better late than never! :)
 
#351 ·
Incredible post... I read every message and went though the torment with you guys - over 5 years of frustration!

Of course, I have this problem, and I just want to be sure I'm prepared when I take my car in for servicing;

For the record, it is NOT the Camshaft Actuators? I will not ask them to replace the intake and exhaust actuator or the camshaft solenoid.

Based on the honourable Bedbug, it's a burnt out starter that's causing this... Correct?

Can anyone confirm before I take this in... This all-too-familiar sound is driving me nuts.

Also, will GM cover the cost if it's past both warranties since this is a known issue with pretty much all V6 7th Gen Malibus? Let me know!

Special thanks to Bedbug! :)
 
#352 ·
This thread contains multiple root cause issues. I had the vehicle that gave the ripping sound right after starting when the engine was at around 10 F or lower temperature (does not matter if remote start or not). I still think my problem is the crappy fluid they used coupled with the remote mounted power steering reservoir that is causing cavitation in the pump. I never bothered sucking out some of the old fluid and replacing because it very rarely happens and I don't know what to do with the old power steering fluid.
 
#353 ·
Bradmistry

In my case I think it was the starter. My starter went dead before my power steering and rack had to be changed. When i use to start up my car on cold days it sounded like a metal scraping sound. The dealer heard it also but never did anything about it . 4 or 5 years later in the fall the starter died, as the days got colder I did not hear it any more. Then about 3 months later the rack / steering failed they changed my rack and power steering pump.

Unfortunately I got a lemon, smart thing was I have an extended warranty till November 2018. They have changed so many parts on my car under warranty that I have a folder of receipts the size of Webster's unabridged dictionary. You know its bad when the warranty people tell you they spent more in parts than the car is worth, and tell the dealer to approach you for a trade in.

Good luck keep us all posted on your progress so it helps others.
 
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