I managed to fire up the 322 in the 56 Special today. Took a lot of tinkering, but I have it to the point where it will start right up. However, shortly after starting it, the car developed a strange noise. It sounded like something winding up. I can start the car and it will run for a few seconds before the noise starts, and the noise will continue slightly after the engine has stopped. (I have started the engine several times to verify this) I have a very poor quality video I took of the engine starting, you can kind of hear the noise at the very end. I took it with my phone, so it isn't going to win a best sound editing award or anything. You can hear the noise at the very end, it kind of sounds like a power tool. (I've never posted a vid before, sorry if it doesn't work) I suspect it has something to do with the torque converter, because if it were the starter stuck in the flywheel it wouldn't keep going slightly after the engine has stopped. I knew the trans didn't have much fluid in it so I added some. However: 1) Does the pump in the trans need to pump that fluid around to be of any use? 2) If so, should I disable the coil and crank the engine for a bit to turn the pump? 3) Or should I start the engine again and let it go, despite the noise, to turn the pump faster? 4) Or should I sacrifice my neighbor's Honda as an offering to the Gods? Or, if anyone else has another suggestion as to what the noise could be, I am all ears. Never come across this before.
Check the fluid level it the trans, low fluid can cause noise. You might have to check in neutral rather than park. If it reads full try shifting through the gears a few times /move it a few feet, recheck.
I'm not sure. I thought it might be that. But the two things that make me think otherwise is that the noise doesn't start until a few seconds after the engine is running - I would think the noise would start as soon as the engine sped up when it started. The noise also appears to continue for a very short amount of time after the engine has stopped. But at this point who knows. It sure sounds like a starter winding up.
I would start a prosess of elimination....even though the sound quality is poor.... it almost seems it could be a pulley, waiting until it gets up to speed before it gets noisy. Loosen the belt(s) and check the pulley's, then move to the next item in line it could possibly be. I do hope you can figure it out, and it isn't an expensive fix.
My guess would be the starter, too, but go ahead and sacrifice the ricer anyway. Can't hurt to stay on the good side of the Auto Gods!
Just a long shot, but check the harmonic balancer, I've seen the balance ring come loose from the vulcanized rubber holding it.
I had too long fan pulley bolts contact the pump housing sound like that. Any pulley bolts changed lately?
Thanks for the replies. Here is the latest info. I pulled both belts off the car and started it. The noise was still there. Frustrated, I called the guy I bought the car from to see if he knew anything about it. I hadn't even finished explaining it to him when he said "Stuck in gear. The linkage isn't connected (to the column)." I would have thought that the neutral safety switch would have prevented me from cranking it, but who knows. Anyway, I got under the car and sure enough the linkage isn't attached; from what I can tell there are missing pieces. I can't make sense of it, or find a part that looks like it should move. Does anyone have a diagram of a 56 Dynaflow linkage setup? Google isn't helping me much here. I do appreciate all the help so far. I'll have to wait until my neighbor goes inside to sacrifice the Honda. He won't have a good sense of humor about it!
I may be the world's biggest idiot. Provided what the car's previous owner told me, which of the two places I have circled is used to put the Dynaflow in gear? I was messing with the smaller circle, but I am thinking that was for the kickdown.
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