If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it a lot. I don't have a lot of time to search online for answers because I can only get online at work, so please help out.

My 98 Prelude just started making a scratchy sound at 2800 RPMs. It sounds kind of like metal scratching against metal. It's not extremely loud. With the windows up it's easy to hear, but with windows down or air conditioning on high it's too quiet to hear. It does it in every gear, and it only does it when a gear is engaged and I'm accelerating. The more I press in the throttle, the louder the sound is. If I'm slowing down from say 3500 to 2500 RPMs then it doesn't make the sound. If I'm in neutral then it might make the sound a little bit, but I haven't really figured out the conditions for making the sound in neutral.

Thanks in advance to anyone who reads this and responds.

 

90% chance it's either the exhaust heat shields or the little bracket where the header bolts to the back of the block (right below the oil filter).

I went through all that crap myself.

 

Cool! Thanks a lot for the quick response. I'll check those areas out tonight