Hey guys, I have a 2001 V6 3.8L with 149,XXX on it. It has been running adequate and normal I would say. Just came back from a road trip to Vegas and back home. But for the last for days, I have been getting this harsh startup when I turn it on for the first time in a day. It makes this loud slapping/ticking noise from the back of the motor. Yet, as the motor starts to warm up for a few minutes, the noise starts to quiet down and then go away to a normal running car. STUMP! Does anyone know what it could be?

Then yesterday, after a good days worth of driving around town doing errands, I came home and parked the car with no problems. Then after about sitting for a hour and a half, I tried to start up the car and it did not even turn over. I tried to start the car half a dozen times and nothing. I was baffled. So I left the car sitting for about 3 hours and came back to see what was wrong with it and it started up normal! WTH!

Does anyone know what could be wrong or notice something that could be going bad so that I could catch it before it does any severe damage to the car....


Side note: What are the symptoms of a oil pump going bad? I was told that it is very rare for an oil pump to go south.

Thanks guys!

 

What is the oil pressure when you start it? I sounds like it could be the lifters making a tapping noise or if it is louder than a tapping noise, could be something worse, like a piston hitting the head because of worn bearing but that is a very loud knock sound. As far as the car not starting....are you saying when you turned the key, nothing happened, no lights on dash, no tones from computer? Did the security light energize? Could be loose battery cable or could be the key or security system. Just some suggestions.

 

With the car not starting at the time, all lights came on, but it just didnt turn over.

The thing is, everything seemed to go away now since it started and I have yet to here the slapping/tapping noise from the back of the engine. It runs and drives like normal for the mean time.

 

The car is still having rough starts and then warms up and feels normal.

Does anyone have any idea if the car is having premature symptoms of something? Hopefully someone has a clue what it could be.