2004 Ford Taurus is making a grinding/scraping sound. What could be wrong?

Question

Last month our 2004 Ford Taurus was having some problems. My husband had the codes read and was told is was the catalytic converter. Husband did not immediately have it repaired and we kept driving it. We finally got it repaired and it turned out to be a coil (ignition?) instead of the catalytic converter. Before we got it repaired it started making a noise like metal grinding a scraping on metal. It is a "long" sound, like the metal parts are scraping against each other for a couple of seconds.

I have only been driving the car short distances - taking my son to and from school, mostly. At these short distances (maybe two miles round trip) the sound is quieter and intermittent. A couple of times I drove the car more than a couple of miles and the sound gets very loud and constant. Today when this happened, I turned the a/c off and the sound got quieter, but did not go away.

Does anyone know what this might be? I am supposed to take my son to a specialists appointment first thing in the morning. The appointment is 30 minutes away. I am guessing that I should not go...I know I should not go, but we ve had to mess with his medication to prepare for the appointment, and I don t want to have to go through that again.

So, what might the problem be and can I drive the car?

James · Answer

The only thing that comes to my mind is brakes.. a stuck caliper and or worn brakes would do this. Most other sounds are a rattle or a metal chirp but grinding is usually brakes. It could also be a rock stuck in between the rotor and pads. If any of this is happening  it's usually only one wheel. Worst case is slam on the brakes to avoid a situation and it doesn't stop as fast second is damage a 12yr old rotor more which is about 40 bucks or so to replace.

? · Answer

Could be a Lot of things. You need to narrow it down. Since noise lessens w/A/C off suggests a bad compressor, or, worn serpentine belt or idler or anything driven by the belt. Power steering pumps go out a lot., make awful racket. I just changed one on a similar Taurus.
  If it is brakes, loose suspension, you need note if noise worse, or, less, on steering, braking, acceleration, etc. More on steering, to lock, is probably that ol' P/S pump.
  Sorry can't be of more help. Need more data.

Evil C · Answer

The fact that you say the noise changes slightly when you turn off the A/C suggests to me that you have bad bearings in one of your accessory drive pulleys. You will need to remove the serpentine belt and check each accessory pulley for abnormalities in movement. In your case, a failing pulley might be easy to spot. Look for signs of metal bluing or metal shavings around each pulley. If you find any of that, then you need to have the bearings of the associated part addressed. Start with the belt tensioner and idler pulleys first as they are usually the easiest (and cheapest) to deal with. Then move on to the alternator, then power steering pump, and finally the A/C compressor.

Anonymous · Answer

HI so you have no engineering knowledge so as this is a 12 year old car. you have no concept of what happens in engines or anything associated with cars. as a car ages it wear metal from metal. plastic and rubber components degrade over time. bolts become loose and need to be retightened. exhaust systems which contain catalytic converters need to be replaced over time. so when a man who knows what he does about cars tells you it needs this or that you chose to ignore him as it costs money. 
well this has a downside eventually it will breakdown. not because of one thing but many. as it has not been well maintained.

thebax2006 · Answer

Go to a mechanic so you don't just get dumb guesses

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2004 Ford Taurus is making a grinding/scraping sound. What could be wrong?

5 Answers