My sister recently purchased 2003 Camry with 118,000 miles showing. I never heard the noise but she and her son-in-law swear there is a terrible noise coming from the starter. The CARFAX report shows the battery and starter were replaced 9,000 miles +/_ ago. She finally convinced a mechanic of the noise. He kept the car overnight and claims he heard the noise in the morning. After a new/rebuilt stater last week, the noise has returned. I told her to turn the radio volume up. Before this latest starter, she said there was a bad vibration in the steering column when spinning the starter. The new starter doesn't do it. Today by telephone, I had her crank the engine several times. I couldn't hear the noise but she said the noise appeared WHEN THE KEY WAS RELEASED TO THE "RUN" POSITION. My first thought was a bad starter ring; damaged teeth. But what are the chances the engine would stop in the same place every time? I have to assume the mechanic checked the starter teeth for damage. He should have checked the ring for teeth damage as well but I don't know. None of this makes sense to ma. Is it possible the ignition switch isn't releasing which holds the starter solenoid engaged for a second or two? confused?

 

Suppose the starter could still be engaged when engine now running, then the noise.

The starter motor is powered by the starter solenoid. Suppose the starter solenoid contacts could be welding together momentarily keeping the motor running. Never experienced this issue but a solenoid can stick closed, or ign switch fail leaving engine cranking.

The solenoid is powered by a small starter relay (ST) that is powered by the ign key. The relay location is in a fuse/relay box, left side of engine compartment.

The relay may be sticking or as you state the ign key.

As to what to do?

Might ask sister to start car with son-in-law standing by with a hammer outside engine compartment. If starter "sticks" have him hit the solenoid with the hammer. Not too hard, hard enough is when a solenoid refuses to engage (sticks). Not sure if the contacts can be accessed or replaced without removing the stater.

Or have son-in-law find the ST relay and repeat about. Pulling the relay if the starter keeps running. Then the issue is the relay or switch.

If a ring gear issue the odds of stopping on the same spot are slim. However the odds of stopping at the same spot are greater then most other spots.

 

I checked the car today but the starter had been replaced. Even so, sister says she hears the noise. On the first crank today, I heard a faint "noise" but it didn't come from the starter area. Sounded more like it came from the intake area where several components are in the air duct. The power steering rack and the hydraulic line attachment point is in the same area but lower down. Since I couldn't repeat the "noise" when she cranked the car several times, I'm wondering if the hydraulic pressure is the culprit since it did it only one time. Another thing and it was slight, I felt the steering wheel vibrate ever so slightly when I cranked it the last time. The hydraulic pressure moving the valves in the ps rack may be causing the slight noise and vibration. After the engine is turned over several time or runs for short time, it's quiet as a mouse. Motor mounts and the dog bone were ok.
The teeth on the recently removed starter were not damaged in the least. In fact, if I don't find anything wrong when I apply voltage, I would reuse the starter. Ever hear of replacing the intake manifold because of noise in the runners? "Mechanic" said it needed replacing.

 

Is this a 4-cylinder? The intake manifold (made of plastic) has a baffle that can loosen up and cause a rattle or buzz, the Toyota fix is a replacement part. However some have cut holes in the manifold and used glue or screws to retain the baffle.

The internet has posts, photos and video's on this subject as very common including repairs.

The link below has a technical service bulletin on this:
http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/cl...SB-0034-08.pdf

The loose baffle DOES NOT appear to be at risk for getting into the engine, thus can repair, replace or live with it.

Unless wanting to dig into the steering system, suggest replacing the PS fluid. Use something to draw out the fluid from the reservoir and replace with new fluid between drives until the fluid is clear again. If a PS pump valve issue it may act up more in cold weather = thicker fluid.

 

Good info. I'm wondering if the noise she hears is coming from the baffle since the rack and manifold are so close in the same area. Seems like the baffle noise would not go away while the engine is running though. Doesn't explain the slight vibration in the steering wheel when cranking. Maybe there is no baffle noise and the mechanic is trying to sell her something because of the service bulletin. I told her to drive it until the noise can be located and identified.

 

Not unheard of for a mechanic to put profit over the customers interests.

A problem or worn timing chain or VVT-i system can make a rattle or ticking noise.

 

Could be she only hears the noise or it happens after the starter is disengaged. At this time the engine is now operating at a higher RPM then cranking speed.

 

It sure wasn't the starter. I paid the core charge just to look at it. I purged the power steering system and refilled with Dextron. Made a lot of difference but just before I returned the car, I heard the faint noise again. Long story short, I found an "S" shaped soft hose in the return line that would rotate on the steel tube. The hose was hard and the spring clamp wouldn't provide sufficient clamping force. I replaced the hose with a short piece of hose and added two screw clamps to both ends. Made no noise Wednesday morning or yesterday morning after the weather turned cold. I assume air was being drawn back into the system causing the pulsing in the rack that was transferred to the steering column.
Now I may have a problem with my daughter's 2005 Camry. I haven't seen the car to run the codes but she said the check engine light and one associated with the brakes and maybe the skid control system came on. Jumping ahead of myself, where is the VSC ECU located? Is it a part of the ABS control unit? May turn out to be an engine code and something simple.

 

Thanks for posting back with the fix on the PS system.

The computer turns off the VSC if check engine light comes on. If the VSC light came on at the same time as the check light, the issue may be other then VSC.

 

Refer to my posting regarding this problem under the 2005 master switch reply.
I checked the car using an OBD II scanner. If you don't have one, get one. The code read as P0354 and referred to coil D. My Chilton manual doesn't show this code. Cylinders are usually identified by numbers. I found on JustAnswer what I needed in a previous posting. Coil D is cylinder 4. Fortunately, this is the middle cylinder on the radiator side of the engine. (A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.) One way to verify a bad coil is to swap the suspect with another cylinder. They're the same. Depending on which cylinder is used, the code for the relocated bad coil could be P0352 or P0356 on the front side of the engine. I didn't do that; I purchased a new coil from NAPA. It took 10 minutes +/- to remove the engine cover, disconnect the plug from the coil, remove the bolt, remove the coil, and do the reverse to install the new coil. The cover is held on by rubber grommets that slip over the pins. No tools are needed to remove it. I pulled the spark (actually an arc) plug to check for condition.
I kept the old coil to use for testing if the problem occurs again in another cylinder. So far, no code.