Started the car this am from cold and the engine made a horrible grinding/clattering noise for about 20 seconds on idling. Sounded like metal grinding . Sounded like someone dropped a diesel engine in. Only thing i have done since the last start up was trickle charge my battery for a few hours. Didn't get the same noise when i started the warm engine. Anyone got any ideas on this please?

 

im no mechanic but im guessing lifters, a oil change and filter change might be in order, cheap way to find out.

 

How cold was cold?

 

Hadnt been started for 48 hours bu outside temp was around 6c. Am now wondering if the oil is low but not low enough for the warning light to show up yet. Need to check that first i guess.

 

I would imagine that it was temp related, but without being able to replicate the noise I'd save myself a trip to the shop.
Let it warm up and check your oil level using the usual method.

 

Thanks to the couple of replies i got to this post, it suddenly clicked that perhaps the oil level was too low and hey presto it was at the minimum . 1 litre later and it all seems fine. To be honest i would have though the pcm would actually tell me that without me having to go into the sub menu to actually check it. A lesson learned i guess..

 

I had a similar issue with my 996 TT a few winters ago when I hadn't started it for 5 weeks. Sounded like the whole engine wanted to escape through the exhaust system. Now I make sure to start and warm up each car at least each 2 -3 weeks during winter and if possible give them at least a 20 minute run. I'm thinking in the 5 weeks all the oil drained down out of the engine into the dry sump and I was effectively starting a dry engine. The oil level in the oil tank was essentially full.