Hey guys. Car has 95k on it and runs perfect except for this issue.

I've searched a ton of threads that come up mostly motor mounts but i'm almost sure in my case that its the starter solenoid not retracting in time.

It only happens ~60% of the time and the engine does not seem to be moving around much on cranking. (ruling out mounts?)

Before I drop a bunch of cash getting my my starter rebuilt or buying an oem replacement has anyone else experienced this and figured out the fix?

Anyone have an idea how to narrow down the possibilities a bit?

Thank you.

 

I don't think moving around on crank 'rules out mounts'. Isn't the usual method of checking motor mounts to pull the e brake and change between gears (especially reverse and drive)?

 

Hey OP. I had the same issue with my 07 TL auto 84k miles. I thought that my front and back engine mounts were fine... I went to my car mechanic to check them both (I replaced the side one not that long ago) and turned out the the front was was completely shot and the rear one was also in bad condition. I just got them both replaced with OEM mounts yesterday and my car is smooooth and that noise is gone. I paid $480 for parts and labor. That loud knock would happen usually when the car has been parked for few hours. So far so good but it has been only one day since the fix so give me few more days and I will keep you posted. (Unless your issue is being caused by something different)

 

Thank you that's definitely what I was hoping for.

Just to make sure we have the same issue it sounds like a single hard tap of a hammer smacking against a block of wood or piece of metal and it happens immediately after the engine catches.

Is that what you were experiencing?

Thanks for letting me know what happens!

 

I guess I thought it couldn't be making the noise if it wasn't moving around enough to "pop" into something.

I'll double check with the method above. Thanks!

 

That is exactly what I was experiencing. It hurt me so much every time I would hear it...

You can diagnose your mounts by putting car on lift and then start it up, put it on D, hold the brake pedal and slightly rev it up. This is how we checked them with my mechanic.

As I said earlier, I will keep you posted on mine - I keep my fingers crossed

 

Doesn't hurt to check the heat shields.