Said It Here

Grinding noise and burning smell after starter replacement

A new starter can cause a loud grinding noise on startup and a burning wiring smell if something was installed incorrectly or a wire like the fusible link is damaged. This leaves the car owner dealing with warning lights and uncertainty about whether the vehicle is safe to drive.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Having the mechanic look at it again to adjust bolts
  2. 2
    Inspecting wires and trying to locate the fusible link

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/MechanicAdvice2 people · September 2026

“after it was making a loud noise and battery light was on and a wiring smell”source ↗

“And I was trying to locate the fusible link which I think is the black wire that look old and burned”source ↗

Ashamed_District6127 · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

“My starter motor failed the other day, mechanics put a new one in but it’s been making this grinding noise on startup since then.”source ↗

“I can’t tell if this is normal or not lol advice appreciated!!”source ↗

Dirt-Inspector444 · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised