started, died, & different cranking sound.

I started my 2000 ls the other day. it cranked like normal, ran for a second or two, and then died. when I attempted to re-crank, it made a totally different noise while turning over. almost like the bendix on the starter was not engaging.a whine. a friend in the automotive field told me to see if the pullys were turning. I did, and they were.does anyone have any ideas what this could be?

Do you have the V-6 or the V-8?

So it sounds like maybe the starter is engaging the flywheel, but maybe there is no compression, hence the less loaded sound. That would usually indicate a broken timing belt, but I think both the V-6 and V-8 LS use a timing chain. That's not too likely to break.

Do you have access to a compression guage? How about a spark tester and fuel pressure guage? May as well check all avenues while you're troubleshooting.

-Rod

it is the 3.9 v8. the timing chain is the same response my friend had given. the car has 130,000 miles on it. the sound doesn't even sound like it is turning over, it is just a whine.

But if the pulleys are rotating, at least the crankshaft is turning, so the starter is engaging the flywheel. If you perform a compression check on a couple of cylinders and you don't have compression, then you probably are looking at a shot timing chain. With any luck, no upper engine damage occurred (bent valves, etc.).

-Rod