1995 Integra GSR w/ Vortech Kit.

When I start it up cold, for along while theres a rattle that seems to be coming from around the intake manifold area, maybe a bit lower, its like a deep death rattle that makes you go, oh ****, spun rod bearing? But after it warms up the rattle goes away but the engine developes a slight tick almost like piston slap. I checked and the valve lash is all ok, engine is pulling less than 5% leakdown on all 4 cylinders (Just checked again) and it doesn't seem to be bothering my driving performance. I've changed the oil twice sense I've had the car and I've cut open a filter and there were no metal flakes in it. The first time I checked it oil I should have looked closer but the second time I changed it I didn't see any metal (But I changed that oil within 300 miles also due to the first oil change looking something like water).

So, what would cause my engine to rattle while its cold but go away when it warms up. I'll take video if nobody can guess.

 

I have the same issue with my 00 GSR motor. The noise sounds like ticking/rattling, and it's coming from the distributor/intake manny area. I don't have a piston slapping noise afterwards, I've had several people listen to the motor run and everyone thinks it sounds fine once it's warmed up. But, the ticking/rattling while it's warming up is driving me crazy.

The only recommendation I've gotten so far is to do a valve adjustment, which didn't help anything. I am going to replace my cap & rotor tonight (had to do it anyway), so I will post back if it changes anything (although unlikely).

Has your car always done this, or is this something recent?

 

I believe it's fine. I assume it just takes a moment for the oil to be distributed about.

 

Actually I just bought the car like, a week and a half ago. I'm seriously glad to see that its no MAJOR cause for concern, even though I did order an oil pressure gauge prematurely due to the noise.

If I fix it, I'll tell you what it was, I hope you do the same .

Thanks man.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KooK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Actually I just bought the car like, a week and a half ago. I'm seriously glad to see that its no MAJOR cause for concern, even though I did order an oil pressure gauge prematurely due to the noise.

If I fix it, I'll tell you what it was, I hope you do the same .

Thanks man.</TD></TR></TABLE>

fix what. its not even a problem. the only thing I can think of is that you need a vlave adjustment. its normal man. might even be some metal hitting metal vibration. its nothing though. and it doesnt have to do with your oil.

 

Mine does the same exact thing...I was changing the coolant and letting the car warm while I was slowly adding and I heard this noise like some valve was stuck clickig in the valve cover/intake manifold area but once the car was warmed up it entirely went away. My car does have 135K mi or beating on it since it was teen owned since new so it would't surprise me if it was something in the head getting ready to "let go" but hopefully it isnt. I haven't done a compression check yet but the car doesn't smoke at all and only uses about a qt of oil per 2500miles.

 

Well, I changed the cap & rotor last night since I was convinced that's where the sound was coming from. No changes, it made the same noise when I started it up this morning.

A good analogy to describe this sound would be like the sound of shaking a can of spraypaint when the metal ball inside rattles around. Any other ideas anyone?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dynamo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, I changed the cap & rotor last night since I was convinced that's where the sound was coming from. No changes, it made the same noise when I started it up this morning.

A good analogy to describe this sound would be like the sound of shaking a can of spraypaint when the metal ball inside rattles around. Any other ideas anyone?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I've replaced my distributer cap and rotor but mine makes the sound more toward the timing belt side, check your distributer for rust colored dust b/c that is a sign that the bearing is going shot, also check the distributer shaft for any play, mine has basically zero but when they bearings get worn out they sometimes get some play.
My noise does sound like a muffled ball inside a spray can also.

 

Sounds like a different issue alltogether - this noise is not muffled, and it's definitely coming from the distributor side. I checked out the distributor last night when I opened it, there was no signs of rust or play or anything out of the ordinary.

 

CLASSIC "VALVE CHATTER" Guys come on now.....oil hasnt been pumped up to the top of your motor as mentioned b4, a valve adjust would help im sure but there no permanent fix....its always gunna tick tick tick for a few minutes

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 0Q0Q0Q0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">CLASSIC "VALVE CHATTER" Guys come on now.....oil hasnt been pumped up to the top of your motor as mentioned b4, a valve adjust would help im sure but there no permanent fix....its always gunna tick tick tick for a few minutes</TD></TR></TABLE>


hahah oh yea I notive after my last oil change it was ticking like crazy when I started up.

 

I hope you guys are right... I really need to find someone with a GSR motor to hear/see if their car is doing the same thing.

 

try looking under the car where the cat is .on most of the hondas/acuras ive owned the heat shields around the cat usaully get rusty and loose .and in the morning they tend to rattle then after a while the car gets warm it goes away if thats the problem take the heat shields off

 

I took the heatshields off a long time ago while troubleshooting another rattle, they are definitely not the problem.

 

I've already adjusted my valve lash. All intake valves are between .006-.007 and exhaust valves are .007-.008 prefectly. But yeah, the noise isn't muffled at all. I just think it's weird and it still scares me because my old GSR never had this problem, and this one only has 10k more miles.

But yeah, I've put my ear to the distributor (Smart, I know) and it is very noticible in the dist.

 

Aftermarket Dist?

Have you tried changing that cap and rotor to see if this solves it?

Does it go with the sound of the motor?

(I mean is the sound consistant? Like the rotor firing to the cap)

 

I just did my cap & rotor 2 days ago, and no luck - sounds exactly the same, which makes me think that it's not the distributor after all. The sound is not "consistent" meaning that it's not rhythmic - it doesn't coincide with the rhythm of the motor, just kind of rattles on its own fairly quickly. 10 minutes later it's gone when the car is warmed up. Kook - correct me if I am wrong in describing your noise, this is what mine sounds like, but it seems we have the same exact issue.

I am seriously thinking of leaving my car at an Acura stealership overnight to have them listen to it in the morning. Somebody has to know what this is since quite a few cars on here have had this problem, yet no one posted with a resolution.

 

No, what your saying is pretty damn spot on. I think you're right in assuming, we have the same problem.

We should meet halfway between California and Iowa and have Waffles or something, our cars can get to know eachother and maybe they will be like, wow! We must be twins! Then they will be happy and tighten up and no longer do that.

I think I need to go to bed.

 

Bump.... someone has to know what this is!

 

Up for the day crew....

 

I'm racking my brain...

Check all your plug wires, it sounds like one is grounding out on something. But you said it's not Rhythmic so.......?

When your car is running, pull off a wire from the plug and put it near your frame or somewhere metal where it's not gonna hurt anything and you'll see it shoot. Don't do this for long though and be very careful not to get shocked. But I'm curious if the sound it will make matches the sound you are describing. Sounds like it to me. I don't know why when it warms up it would go away though....really i'm just rambling

AHA!!! What about a clogged injector? Run some cleaner through that bish. I bet once it heats up and builds enough pressure it blows through.

 

What do I clean the injectors with? The sound is coming from approximately that area (injectors/IM), but when I listen closely it seems like it's coming from the distributor.

I am going to record the sound tonight/tomorrow am, and post it here for people to listen - maybe someone will recognize it. Hopefully my digicam can record well enough for the sound to be clearly audible.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dynamo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What do I clean the injectors with? The sound is coming from approximately that area (injectors/IM), but when I listen closely it seems like it's coming from the distributor.

I am going to record the sound tonight/tomorrow am, and post it here for people to listen - maybe someone will recognize it. Hopefully my digicam can record well enough for the sound to be clearly audible. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I bet it's your far left injector. Either way, start running some cleaner through your tank tonight, can't hurt.

Or maybe with no fuel in that cylinder it's reverting the spark backwards to the distributor....I don't know if that's possible but? With no fuel maybe it's rebounding off your piston.

 

The car will run and idle perfectly like that and in all honesty, I MIGHT agree that it would be an injector but I'm currently running 440cc RCIs and I just flushed seafoam through them. It would be weird that two people with two different injectors are having the same problem.

I truely and honestly believe its either the distributor itself or something with the intake valvetrain.

 

Allright so I got the sound recorded as an MP3 file, about 1.5mb / 1:40 mins long.

Right Click, Save As

Listen to the whole file if you want to hear the whole progression of how it becomes audible. To hear the actual noise, it gets really audible after 1:10 or so. Also, the part where it gets audible, the camera is right above the distributor which is where the sound is the loudest. Again, the sound went away completely as soon as the car was warmed up.

Hopefully someone knows what the hell this is!!!