I am curious how concerned I should be about the clanking noise I've been hearing when I start my car for the last two days. At first I thought it was a fluke, then the next day upon a cold start it made the same harsh clanking noise for a second at startup.

First thought that went through my head was "oil", since I am due for a change since it is about 5,400 miles since my last oil change. My G has 49K miles on it (holy **** I drive my car a lot!), its an 05. I checked the oil in my driveway but it is a considerable incline, none the less the dipstick showed I am about 1 quart low on the incline (which I think may equal out to a half quart low on level street, but I'm just guestimating since I feel sick and am too lazy to go outside, move it and test again.)

Anyways, I am not too sure what to make of it, should I be concerned for my engine or should I just give it an oil change tomorrow and move on?

Thanks!

 

There are tons of parts on your car that can make a clanking noise when you start her up. If it isn't a loose bolt on the exhaust, then I would change the oil to see how much oil has been burned.