I have a 06 CTD with about a thousand miles on it. Unfortunately I only can drive it on the weekends. I have been hearing a strange noise the first time I start it up. The engine turns over immediately and then 2 or three seconds later there is a loud grinding(hard to describe) sound coming from under the hood. It almost reminds me of a compressor starting. This only seems to happen the first time I start it up for the weekend.

Any help would be appreciated

 

Hiloram - are you starting it with the air conditioning, or the defroster (which runs the air con) in the ON position? If so, then it's common - when they sit for awhile the compressor starts to bind, and DC told me that it is due to some parts in the compressor being on one end of the tolerance limits. Apparently because it's annoying more than anything, they're not warranting the repair, as that would entail replacing parts that may also be at the same end of the tolerance band - therefore having the same result. (one dealer told me if I was willing to pay for it, they could swap parts until they got some that didn't make the noise - but assured me that other than the noise, I shouldn't worry about it)
Lucky me - my last CTD did it in addition to the one I have now - and the last one did it for over 60K and never got worse - or better.
Hopefully that's the source of your noise...

 

Thanks for the reply. The air con was definitely on each time. I will try it with it off from now on to verify. I don't think it could have been the defroster as that is something that will never be used around here.

Thanks again

 

Even though you start it with the Aircon off, it will still make that noise when you do get around to turning the aircon on - unless you can wait a long time for everything under the hood to warm up...
For what it's worth - although they tell me it's no big deal, I'm still not used to it and I cringe every time it sounds off...