whenever i start my car, until it gets to about the normal running temp..i hear this awful crunching kinda sound comin from the engine..its kinda hard to explain the noise that its making, but sometimes its really loud, and sometimes not..it kinda sounds like if you put two rough metal objects together and started moving them back and forth on each other lol..thats the best i can describe it...anybody know what can be causin that?

auto or manual?
could be just about anything, get a mechanics scope and trace the noise down.

could be throwout bearing/rod bearings,and much much more

1998 dodge avenger 4 cyl AT
Mods are:
Not enough

its a manual

could it be the starter? my dads honda has a problem with the actual mecahnical ignition where it "locks" into start sometimes and keeps the starter running until it pops out of place.

:shhh: i do cocaine :/shhh:

no im pretty sure its not the starter..it sounds like its comin from the lower block...i was guessin it was just somethin warmin up, because like i said once the car gets fully warmed up the noise goes away, well at idle at least...

mine does the same, I thought it was bad tranny bearings, had those checked/replaced. Still does it. Was told it could be release bearing, wasn't that. Mine does it more when its colder outside, or like you said when the engine is completely cold when first starting up. I personally don't care anymore about it since it doesn't affect the performance of my car.

yea i think maybe im gonna start to think that lol..b/c like you said it doesnt effect my performance, so oh well.

yea I think it's a throwout bearing, if you shifted into first, does it still do it?

ummm..i cant really tell b/c of my exhaust, but like if i put it into 3rd at low rpms and put it 2 the floor pretty good i could hear it a lil...but usually its only if the car isnt all the way warmed up