Weird noise

[Moodyb4]

I'm learning stick with my new car, and yeah, I killed it a lot today, like only 30/90 times I actually got it to go from stop to go, but I understand how to work the clutch now, and I had no problem going from 2nd>3rd and so on, just had trouble getting going, anyways..
I dunno if it's somthing wrong with the car, or if I did somthing that messed it up but whenever I turn on the car it makes a noise that comes from the front left side of the car, it's like 1/2 of a second long and it's like, say weow out loud, try to make it sound like a cat but not light as high pitched and not you just saying meow with a w, and that's what it sounds like... and when I turn off my car, it makes the same noise, blah I'm probably just paranoid, because it's my first car and i've only had it for 3 days.... and didn't get a chance to go to my mechanic so, I'm stuck worrying about it.. but yeah, I just don't want things to go down the shitter because I'm not good at stick.. well I can drive it now, but today I killed it a lot... so yeah, any ideas?


another question, are you supposed to park it in neutral or in gear?
I thought it was neutral and my mom thinks you're supposed to park it in gear...
yeah, I dunno.. just wondering

[4-G-rim]

The noise sounds like it could be one of your drive belts. Usually if your belts are old and worn or don't have enough tension or too tight..they will make a "squeel" noise. Another thing that is common with Mitsu is the crank pulley (Harmonic Balancer)..through time the rubber insulator wears out and the actually pulley seperates. I would check the condition of the drive belts and the crank pulley.

Well..in a manual, if you try to park in gear and you don't have that momentum the car will stall persay. I personally park the car in neutral...I "coast" into the parking spot. When the car is off...then I will put the car in gear, this prevents the car from moving...a little better than just engaging the Ebrake. Just make sure before you start the car to put the car back in neutral.

[seth98esT]

Could be the power steering?

[thebirdman13]

check your power steering fluid... if it's good, then it may be the bump or belts

[Moodyb4]

The noise sounds like it could be one of your drive belts. Usually if your belts are old and worn or don't have enough tension or too tight..they will make a "squeel" noise. Another thing that is common with Mitsu is the crank pulley (Harmonic Balancer)..through time the rubber insulator wears out and the actually pulley seperates. I would check the condition of the drive belts and the crank pulley.

Well..in a manual, if you try to park in gear and you don't have that momentum the car will stall persay. I personally park the car in neutral...I "coast" into the parking spot. When the car is off...then I will put the car in gear, this prevents the car from moving...a little better than just engaging the Ebrake. Just make sure before you start the car to put the car back in neutral.


thats a problem, my mom drives the car often because she likes it, and she stays in gear and rides the clutch to park instead of just shifting into neutral, this cant be good for the clutch.. , and she always starts it in gear, is this going to cause severe damage? like that we would have to purchase a broken part caused by her clutch usage/ starting it in gear?
because she probably will make a habit of starting it in gear, and yeah that's not good...

and I don't have any idea where the crank is, or the drive belts, I don't have an owners manual :( and I don't have any money right now, spent it all on the car, how much are they usually, I want to learn about all these parts so yeah, i need an owners manual D:

I just ran down and looked, power steering is half full. Okay, if the drive belts are the belts that are just to the left of the power steering I just looked at them, they looked new, if needed, I'll take a picture of my engine.. or a few up close high res pictures of sections of it, so you can see every detail..
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3916/1022440ar0.jpg
blah, yeah, digicam was set on low, and I didn't see it, and the batteries were about dead and I only had time for one picture

[seth98esT]

Say leaving the car in gear with the clutch in at a stop light, or starting the car with it in gear and the clutch in, ect will only put wear on the throw out bearing. I dont see it being a problem at all.

Yes those are the drive belts. Top belt is the Powersteering belt. Bottum is the alternator belt which wraps around the crank pulley. The other belt towards the back is for the A/C. If the noise is only when you turn to the left its probably just the power steering. Is it extremeley loud or just a on/off whine?

[Moodyb4]

No, I think everyone missunderstood me... when I turn the car on, as in turn the key, and when I turn it off.. and she starts the car while it's in gear.. is that bad?

[Shadow19]

No, I think everyone missunderstood me... when I turn the car on, as in turn the key, and when I turn it off.. and she starts the car while it's in gear.. is that bad?


Not at all. You have to push in the clutch when you start it anyways.. So it couldnt possibly be a bad thing. One thing. Not being an asshole because im the SAME way when it comes to my cars but if youre this anal about the Galant (no offence to any galant owner) but get rid of it. Its old and things start to wear out and you have to realize that. It will PISS you off from time to time but its a car. You just have to learn to let the petty shit go. I have a MAJOR case of OCD and the slightest little thing wrong fucks with me. Say if there is a scratch on the car i just want to have it repainted but nothing lasts forever and my car is pretty old but not that old. I just learned to deal with it and let it go. Anyways. Nice to see that you are learning a stick. Its SIMPLE. Starting off is the hardest but its cake. Dont rev to high and dont pop the clutch too fast and you will be ok. The funest part is when you REALLY learn how to drive a stick.. Man i miss it.. But i have the luxury of Cruise control so i guess it evens out.

[milo111000]

did you have your car blessed yet??? might be haunted.. heheheheh peace man..

[Moodyb4]

Ahh, and hey shadow thanks for the big response, but the main problem is the noise car made when it started up and when it turned off

Well I was on msn with luke and I wanted him to hear the sound, and I turned on the car, and it made a horrible screetching noise like a belt rubbing against plastic and it lasted 2 or 3 seconds, and brandon was standing there and he said that the 2 fans that are right behind the radiator werent spinning are they supposed to be spinning at all times or what, because I think it was my fan belt that made the noise, brandon was saying that it was coming from the area above the fanbelt, and also it smelled almost like exaust when I turned it off, but the thing is, it smelled like exaust right up near the block, well yeah, like behind the block.. but I'm afraid to turn it on I don't want to fuck it up anymore..

[4-G-rim]

1. Starting the car while in gear won't hurt anything...unless you forget and let go of the clutch while in that gear and suddenly move forward or backward depending if you left it in a forward or reverse gear and the car will jump then stall. Not good if you are parked..you'll hit another car if close enough.

2.The fans aren't suppose to turn on right away especially on a cold startup. You have 2 fans...one is for the A/C which will spin when you turn you A/C on. The other fan is for when coolant temps get to around 200 degrees or so and then they turn on to cool things off to normal operating temperatures.

3. Ok...the noise with the "burning" smell is giving me the impression its belt related for sure. You may of lost tension to one of your belts and most likely the crank pulley is spinning faster than the belt and causing the "burning smell". The only other thing I can think of is maybe one of the pulleys is not spinning as freely to where the belt is moving faster than the pulley. I work at a dealership and I have encountered many customers to where a pulley was going bad then eventually locked up and either causing the belt to get severely damaged or just break.

IMO...I would have the car checked out by your mechanic, he should be able to find out whats going on. Also..don't loose any hope in the car, you gotta think its a 10+year old car so alot of the parts are old. Now if the previous owner(s) didn't take care of it...its pretty normal for them to go out around this time of the cars age. Though think of this....it lasted 10+ years IF it was neglected, which is dayam good.