For the last 10,000 miles, if I hit the gas hard (or when letting off the clutch) I can hear a rattling noise coming from the front left of my car. Doesn't make the noise on decel. At first I thought it was a motor mount but I installed an engine dampener and it's the same (also checked mounts but rocking car in gear while off -- no noise). I don't think it's the pedal either. What suspension piece should I look over?

-Tanabe front swaybar (made noise before install)
-Corsport endlinks (made noise before install)
-Tokico shocks/springs

 

lol i had this problem for a while and i could not find out what it was...so i took it to my friends shop and this was really embarrassing but my lug nut wasnt tightened on my front driver side lol...i felt sooo stupid

 

It's definitely not that. I've had my wheels off at least twenty times. Also had 3 different sets of lugs on it.

 

is it mainly when the steering wheel is on-center? if so, you may have the "rack creak". there is a TSB for it, but honda never issued a recall since its not a safety issue, only an annoyance. where the tie rods enter the steering rack block on the front of the rack, the tie rods pull the block up, and it wears the guides. and since the EPS system is basically dry, when the lubrication wears off, its metal on metal. it sound similar to a squeaky coffin lid coming open.

 

It's creaky yes. I never thought it would be that because it is when the wheel is on center. Is there anything I can do? Relube the rack? I get free alignments anyways...

 

the wear is on center since thats where the steering block is most of the time. some folks have had success in relubing the rack with white lithium. cut a small slit in the rack boot as close to the steering block as possible, insert the red straw, and spray away. one guy from NYC rebuilt his rack. you need a new guide and a special tool to do this. his rack was good for about a year and it came back. your other option is to try to get honda to cover it. mine was warrantied, but that was pretty early into this problem becoming common. its a thousand dollar fix, so they may fight you on covering it.

if you want to read more about this specific topic, check out ephatch.com and search for "rack creak". there are several threads ranging from how to duplicate the problem in the service lane to how to replace the guide. this has been one of our most common issues. if you have any questions, just ask.