Anyone know what this sound is? It's not the power steering pump. It goes away as the engine warms up (two minutes). Thanks
http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...urrent=001.mp4

 

Sounds like valve clatter. You need a valve lash adjustment. Honda suggests an adjustment every 100K but, you really need to do it between 40K- 60K.

 

I will do the valve adjustment next weekend (weather permitting). Some people with the same problem have tried the valve adjustment to no avail, but I'm hoping for the best.

 

Take your screwdriver (longest, thinnest one you have is best) and CAREFULLY put one end to each part you suspect and put your ear to the other end until you find the part that's making the noise. That loud a noise will be obvious once you put your ear to the screwdriver.

 

I'll try that probably next weekend. I can't do anything till then. Thanks for the tip.

 

I've been advised that it could be a loose timing belt tensioner, and the adjuster is rattleing back and forth against it. I ordered all the parts tonight from an online dealership. I'm hoping to do the job this weekend, but we'll see. Don't want to dive into this job half ready. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

 

Wow, that thing is loud. Does the noise stay the same if you increase RPMs? Any updates?

 

it is more than likely one of two things... or both.
one is that the caps are not properly torque down... either in sequence or in torque value... it's the same procedure to inspect and re torque so just open up the top end on the offending bank and retorque in sequence and in foot pounds.
the second is that the belt is slapping at the tensioner... quite common and makes an ungodly sound. there is a procedure for grinding away part of the surface that is being slapped. I don't think there is any issue with #2 other than the sound though, leave it if you choose and keep an eye on the belt.

 

I believe BLKFLSH completed his 105K service and valve adjustment recently and it fixed the problem. One of the timing belt components was found to have little grease left.

 

Yes, I did the timing belt on Dec. 10th, and I haven't heard the rattle since then. I changed the belt, water pump, idler pulley, adjuster pulley, and the tensioner. The only thing is, when looking at the old parts, there was nothing really obvious that was causing the problem. The tensioner looked great and tested good. I did open up the pulleys to get a look inside, and there was IMO not much grease inside on the bearings. There were black lines around the pulleys, like the pulleys were getting hot, and some of the rubber from the belt stuck to the pulleys. The rattle would only last a short time, on cool mornings, at first start. So I think the belt was slipping a little on the pulleys, similar to how a drive belt slips on cold damp mornings then never slips again for the rest of the day. The little grease that was in the pulleys may have been causing the pulleys to slip, until the grease warmed up a little.

All of this could be totally wrong, but it's the best explanation I can come up with. I have not done the valve adjustment yet, so that was not the cause of the rattle. I have been listening for the rattle every day for a month now, and no sign of it coming back yet.