Astro

Several months ago my local Acura dealer let me know they think my '95 GS-R might have the classic header rattle. I've heard of this problem being typical on older Integras and I haven't noticed any noises.

I'm not sure if the problem I am having is the header rattle or something else. There is a buzzing noise at around 2500-4500rpm. It seems to come from the front and what concerns me a bit is it sounds like there is some "swirling" action involved (similar to when you get some dirt in the brakes and you hear a squeeky swirling noise).

Thoughts or ideas? I'm going to take the car over to the local Acura dealer during lunch, but I was wondering if anyone here ran into this and could provide me with some ideas before I get there.

Also to make things interesting, would it be safe to drive and autocross? There is an event this weekend, but I don't think I want this noise to occur in front over everyone nor do I want to break the car (or make it worse).

Thanks!

Asahi

take it to an exahust shop and tell them you need your A-pipe welded still. It is a double wall design and the inner wall is loose and vibrating at those rpms. IT should cost $25 at a shop and welding will last unlike denting the outter wall.

Astro

I will be very very happy if its that simple! Thanks!

ChaseIntegra

It's actually the A-pipe that rattles and the GS-R is the worst about it. Since I work at Acura and my car only has 31,000 miles, the part is under warranty, so I don't have to pay for it. If you don't work there then you are SOL because from Acura the A-pipe is $500. I'm not kidding, my parts manger told me all about it. But if your car has under a certain mileage then you can get the part for free too but they will charge you $190 to put it on.

Astro

Update: I stopped at the local Acura dealer (not one of my favorite ones, but they work when you persuade them to). I was able to talk the service guy into driving the car and he said he didn't think it was the a-pipe. He then broke down and got one of his mechanics to drive it. They both think its the heat shield to the catalytic converter. He was pretty excited to try selling me $170 in parts to fix it. I figured if its a heat shield, there's a good chance it could probably be clamped.

I contacted my regular Acura dealer and they seemed pretty open to the idea of just clamping the shield down if that was all it needed (I basically want a 2nd opinion from my regular dealer - I don't trust the first one).

I haven't witnessed the a-pipe noises before so I wasn't sure if this was what I was hearing. The car goes in tomorrow so I should have a final answer then (as well as a fix - just in time before autocross this weekend!)

Asahi

If the heatshield is the culprit just take it off or bend it or cut it. I would not pay the dealer to fix that.

If taking it off doesn't fix it you should be even more sure it is the a pipe.

Best was to knowit is the A-pipe is it does it all the time as certain RPM's and is usually loud enough to be embarrassing

Audipwr1

my header is rattling too
solution get an aftermarket one

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

I removed my cat heat shields as well as the shield bolted to the car ahead of the shifter. That didn't work. I'm almost certain my rattling is the rear exhaust manifold heat shield. If I rev the engine I can see the edges of it vibrate right around that certain RPM. The heat shield itself is 2-layered and I can see the edges of the 2 layers vibrating against each other. I will have to pull the manifold to get the shield off, which I will be doing in a couple of weekends.