Ok, I drive a 5spd 97 Integra rs w/greddy evo & aem cai...car has 60K miles.

For the last week or so, after my car WARMS UP, I would hear this "grinding noise" coming from somewhere anytime I would be ~1600rpm. This confused the hell outta me, so I took it to the local tire/exhaust place, thinking it was my heat shield or exhaust being loose. A couple minutes later he comes out and said he "bent the heat shield back", and it should be fine now. I get in, drive home, all is well.

Next day (yesterday), now the sound is back and after the car warms up, I can hear the sound at idle and at 1600 rpm. I'm having to turn up the music REALLY loud now not to notice it, it sounds HORRIBLE. Imagine someone scratching metal with a rock or something. I'm baffled, anyone have any ideas? It's a nasty grinding, knocking sound, coming from the general area of the exhaust/heat shield area, maybe header area. Any ideas??? And why in the hell would it only do that at about 1500-1700rpm. And whatever the mechanic I took it too did, obviously hurt the situation.

Thanks,
Stephen

 

You get this kind of noise when you put on an aftermarket exhaust system. It's a PITA to find what part of the heat shield is causing the noise so I just removed one of them and that was it.

 

Yeah get rid of the heat sheild

 

I too drive a 97 Ls with the Greddy Evo and a AEM CAI . I got a noise (only at about 1700 rpm when i started rolling from a dead stop) . I have removed ALL heat shields from the exhaust . I also check to make sure that my CAI wasn't rubbing on anything. I think its path is real close to some AC lines and if you added the bypass but failed to trim the tube enough it may be rubbing on the overflow can for your radiator as well. Check out these possibilities and if its still doing it... wait till the car is cool and start tapping stuff with a wrench too see what that blasted sound is coming from!>!>!