I`m leaning away from the starter idea. It doesn't have quite the same sound. I put of quart of transmission fluid in it yesterday. Now its reading at the lower level hole in the dipstick. So im guessing it was about 2 quarts low on transmission fluid. I haven't had a chance to fill it up completely yet. I think im already noticing the noise to be less and shorter lasting than before. Before i put that quart in to get me at the lower indicator the grinding would last for about 1 minute thirty seconds. the grinding lasted about only 30 seconds after i added a quart. Hopefully when it gets to the full mark there will be no noise at all.