you sure the tranny did'nt seize up?

 

Thanks for the reply. It's an automatic. I drove it into a service station to put air in a leaking rear tire and all of a sudden it sounded like two rotating rims being meshed together. I checked all the accessories to see if it was the alternator or A/C compressor, but they seem fine.

 

Not much to go on here for info,
To rule out the tranny, Drop the bell housing cover and remove the torque converter to fly wheel/flexplate bolts. push the TC to the rear,and you should be able to spin the torque converter easely by hand,without any noises.If that pans out OK, then try starting the engine to see if the slow start and/or grinding persists.
Also check for play at the waterpump and/or take the belt of to rule out all accesories before start.Maybe should do that first.

 

Also check for play at the waterpump and/or take the belt of to rule out all accesories before start.Maybe should do that first.

I did that before I tried to restart the engine. I'm leaning toward this being a spun bearing. The engine ran fine, then this awful grinding noise, and now when I try to start it, something is stopping the engine from turning over smothly. It's acts like a very low battery when trying to crank it over. I will probably pull the engine and pan and have a look.
Anyone agree with the spun bearing therory?

 

don't run the engine for longer than 1-2 minutes with out a water pump....

 

I would assume he is a little smarter than that

 

did you unhook the torque converter yet? kinda sounds like your explaining what happened when my fly wheel cracked

 

personally i think its a tranny issue .... and when i had a Crack in my Fly wheel all it did was make a loud thunking noise like a pushrod being dropped on a Valve cover over and over ..... thats the cracked flywheel noise, now the grinding, when exactly did it do it, and how loud and exactly Where from?

 

i agree with you that it sounds like a bearing. before you got to trouble of dropping the pan. do the torque convertor as suggested. i've had backed out convertor bolts, broken convertors and broken flex plates, doing the same sort of thing

 

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll unbolt the torque converter to isolate the problem. I have a busy week but should be able to get at it some evening. I will report my findings as soon as I find the problem.

 

A cracked flex plate will allow the converter bolts to hit the cover on the bottom and will make a horrible grinding noise. The flex plate could also be hitting the starter.

 

^ true,but that would not cause the slow cranking.

 

I would remove the drive belts from the front of the engine first. Might be something easy.

I have seen alternators freeze up and cause problems.