So I went out to start my car today and it wouldn't turn over and start. After a couple tries it would start (only after pumping the gas) and run at a low idle, about 500rpm and die a few seconds later. A couple of tries after that it would still idle at around 500rpm but not die so I took it for a quick spin in the parking lot to see if anything else was going on.

Shifting out of park into reverse and drive, my trans would creak like how a door creaks and lurch forward a little for drive (lurch back a little for reverse) and would shift up and down in gears fine after that while driving. Also heard a loud clicking noise coming from under the hood both idling and driving.

Also, whenever I brake it'll be fine until the brakes catch and make a full stop it'll catch hard and abruptly stop the car (even with the lightest touch until the car actually stops. They work fine until the car actually stops.

I know I'm in need of a coolant flush and my brakes are between 10-20% on the front drivers side and 20-30% on the others, could those be some reasons why I'm having these problems?

Not sure if this could cause things like this to happen either but we had a real bad frost last night (my antenna is white and thick with ice along with all the trees bushes etc.).

Car ran like a dream last night too around 3am, no symptoms at all before this.

 

so when u say turn over u mean the motor would not turn over like it had a dead battery or it would turn over normal but wouldnt kick over and start?

 

first things first, check all your fluids

oil
tranny (if auto)
brake
power steering
differential (may as well)
coolant

if all are good, the tranny issue sounds serious

as for the braking, does it seem like they grab hard? If so, you may have a sticky caliper. remart has reasonable loaded calipers on Ebay.

 

Right it would turn over normal but not start. It seems to be ok now, I think it might have been from the insanely cold frost we had that night, but still idles at around 500rpm.

oil = check
tranny = a little darker than usual but not enough to warrant crazy screaching when i shift
brake = check
power steering = check
dif = check but a small leak in the seal
coolant = NEED FLUSH ASAP, flushing it in the morning

brakes seem to be alright now, when they did grab real hard it was just at the very end of the process just before the car actually stopped

 

what the heck did u do last night??? lol. could have got a little oil on the rotor. was it pulling to one side? hate to say this but how old is the opti? could be simple like cleaning the iac.

 

oh good grief, you live in Chicago!!

How cold is it there? Has your car been left still and not running for a couple days? Sheesh I recall my days in zero and sub-zero temps. My cars and SUV's would groan, creak, make funny noises when it was that cold. Also, do not underestimate the power of road salt. I'll never buy a northern car again.

 

Not sure what the cause of your idle problem is, could be a number of things. But your creaking and catching brakes is most likely due to our wonderful Chicago weather. If the air was damp, or if the brakes got wet before you parked the car, the rotors can and will rust overnight. In the morning, there can be a good coat of rust on the rotors, which is enough for them to make noise and drag until you polish them down again with a couple of stops. Add road salt to the equation, and semi-metallic brake pads if you have them, and the overnight rust gets even worse. It happens to me on a fairly normal basis, it's something you learn to live with here.

 

Yah that's what I'm thinking too, my brakes seem to work fine now (it was above freezing today lol) but the idle still worries me a little, but she runs fine, no studdering or misfiring, just a low idle. Flushed the coolant and differential and replaced the seal, she seems to run a little smoother now but still that 500rpm idle...what can that possibly mean as far as consequences if not taking it in to get looked at? Any chance there could be some trouble codes that just aren't setting off my idiot light?

 

is that idling with your foot on the brake and in drive? How is it at 700 rpm?

where does it idle when in park (and please don't say where ever the car is parked)?

oh, yeh, I'm glad to see that it was above 32 there. it's finally hit 70 here again. That 50 stuff during the day was killing me (excuse me as i put on my flame suit)

 

When in park it'll idle at around 500rpm, in drive with my foot on the brake still 500. Same in reverse, only when I hit the gas it'll go up (duh). Same happens at a stop light when im stopped it'll drop back down to 500ish until I hit the gas again.

LOL yah that's gotta be so tough I wish I could have that kind of weather year round