Scraping Noises During Acceleration

[nosaints9]

I drive an 04 Galant ES with around 83,000 miles on it. Generally, when I pull off from idle and accelerate, I hear a grinding noise coming from the car. The noise only lasts for a few seconds.

It's pretty much like a SCRAPEEE...SCRAPEEE, then as I accelerate to higher speeds it stops. I definitely don't hear it on the highway or at speeds above 30 MPH for that matter.

I've been told that it may either be the heat shield or transmission issues. I checked the tranny fluid and it is indeed very dark in color.

Is it time for a flush or some type of service to the transmission? Would something like Stop-Slip work for this?

[00LeibyRacing]

Idk about "stop slip"...ive never heard of itt.. but LUCAS is what i use, just mix it in with tranny fluidd..
Check your exhaust manifold/heat shield with the engine running and rev it up a bit to see if you can hear or see the scrape sound... maybe your heat shield is tweeked and when you accelerate, your engine moves a bit and maybe itz rubbin up on somethin..
well atleast i hope thats just your problem and not your tranny makin that noise....
GL

[nosaints9]

Idk about "stop slip"...ive never heard of itt.. but LUCAS is what i use, just mix it in with tranny fluidd..
Check your exhaust manifold/heat shield with the engine running and rev it up a bit to see if you can hear or see the scrape sound... maybe your heat shield is tweeked and when you accelerate, your engine moves a bit and maybe itz rubbin up on somethin..
well atleast i hope thats just your problem and not your tranny makin that noise....
GL

It's this stuff here:

http://www.shopbvm.com/store/pc/catalog/rah049807100094.jpg

I rarely hear this noise at idle. Only during that initial acceleration from standstill in drive.

I'm sort of just using this thread to be more informed before I decide to send it to a shop to take a look at it. Seems like it's pretty easy to get hosed by mechanics for jobs that aren't necessary.

[00LeibyRacing]

Yup. But if its tranny, unfortunately a fluid flush wouldnt fix muchh if its already been scratchy for quite a whiiile... firstt i would check if i had tha proper amount of tranny fluid in theirr. before i go flushing and puttin all new shit in....
Are you sure this scratch noise isnt pully related? It sound like you explaining the idler pully SQUEELING. Mine used to squeel b4 i replaced itt, some may just need a little tightening...

[huskerinaz]

Check fwd motor mount.

[nosaints9]

Mechanic said it was some loose parts in the exhaust system and that it doesn't appear to be anything serious. I had the drive belt changed; it was worn.

Noise is still there however and still looking for options. Tranny fluid level seems to be good, though it's sort of hard to tell.

[#1GALANTFAN]

From what your describing I don't think it's exhaust related. It might not be a bad idea to check the driveshaft if you can. Maybe at low speeds cause it doesn't move as rapidly, something is getting flung around down there? If you can, it would be easier if you could identify for us where exactly the noise is coming from.

[nosaints9]

After a bit of testing today, the noise definitely seems to be coming from up front, or at least from a point around or before by vantage point. Can't exactly tell but it is more than likely coming from underneath the car.

Another thing is that as soon as I shift it into reverse (but still idling) in the morning (when the car is cool and hasn't been run for hours), I can hear this clunking/rattling sound. But it doesn't do it at park, and of course it continues when in drive and up to around 30 MPH or so. I will have to check things further but any other suggestions from the info I just gave are appreciated.

[#1GALANTFAN]

Now it sounds more like a transmission problem. I would almost guarantee its something going wrong on the inside of it.

[nosaints9]

I was afraid of it and suspected it. Guess I need to get some money together to go get it checked out in particular.

[#1GALANTFAN]

Well, hopefully its just something small, because our tranny 's are expensive.

[nosaints9]

Purely an idea here, but what if I were to drain a bit of tranny fluid and replace that amount with Lucas- to see if that would help?

[00LeibyRacing]

that might help, when mine started gettin sloppy i just took that front plate off tha tranny and most tha fluid drained out(car was jacked up from tha back so the tranny fluid run out faster) and just refilled with mostly lucas.. never had a problem again. jus make sure you put tha proper amount of fluid back in when you take outt...