I just started my car this morning, and for no apparent reason it made a really weird noise when it started. Kind of like fabric ripping, or pulling a zipper fast. It runs fine. This has got me worried. Whats up?

 

Sorry, this should probably be in Tech/General Engine. The moderator can move it. But the question still stands.

 

Have you seen your cat since then?

errr

does it do it everytime, or did it just do it once?

 

It does it every time.

 

It might be the starter, if the solenoid is bad, then sometimes it doesn't pull back the gear and stays engaged with the flywheel and makes a bad noise. If had this problem before, and a new starter solved the problem, assuming that is the same bad noise....

 

Well, it totally stopped working today, so I took it off and the aluminum case was totally cracked in half. Figures...

 

lol yeah cracked in half will definatly tell you your problem. i had a starter not line up right once, i tried to use a little afro-engineering which tunred out to be a bad idea cause the 3rd time i started the car there was a loud BOOM and white smoke everywhere, i looked under and my starter was ready to turn into 2 smaller half starters. lol brains

 

I'm glad that you found the problem, I know what it feel like to have a bad noise under there and don't knowing exactly what it is. You start doing some thingking like: Oh no, the engine is screwed, or, it's gonna die on me anytime.
But yeah, if it makes a loud noise when starting, it can only be two things: one the starter is bad, and two, your girl is bugging you for revving up so much the engine.