The engine produces a light clatter noise at idle. Is that normal?

The Accord has a little over 29,000 miles only.

It's probably been like that since new from what I can remember. Maintenance is done in a timely manner and I’ve kept up with everything so far. All maintenance I do myself.

I have drained and filled the transmission so far, done oil and filter every time the MM comes on (Mobil 1 fully synthetic or Castrol Edge Fully synthetic), changed the engine air filter, cabin filter, and flushed brake fluid followed by bleeding. Everything was bought from Honda besides the oil.

Anyone experience this? I’ve read an article online about excessive clearance from rocker shaft bridge that needs to be loosened and re-torqued? But like I have said it has been like that since new and I have heard it on another 2015 Accord v6.

Any ideas? No performance issues whatsoever and it is not related to engine RPMs at idle in the park as I can rev it up all I want with nothing heard at all until it drops back to idling. You start hearing it once it's warmed up only as well. With the gear in drive, the noise goes away and is not heard while driving either.


I cannot pinpoint an exact spot where the noise really comes from and the engine idles smooth as well. Cannot feel any odd sensations when putting my hand on it and when putting my ear close to the engine it doesn't even seem like the noise originates internally as well.

I attached a clip that I uploaded to YouTube.

 

At 37,338 miles, I took mine in for the same noise. The dealer replaced the timing belt tensioner after finding it had leaked oil which caused the belt tension to be loose. The noise was still there so at 37,763 miles, they replaced the torque converter. Like you, there hasn’t ever been any performance issue, just the noise. The noise was gone but the car now has just over 70K miles and the same sound is back without any performance issue.

I’d be interested in learning what you found to resolve the issue or if anyone else has any info on this issue.

 

You know I had a very strong feeling it is related to the trans. So you had your converter replaced which solved the problem, but now the noise is back again at the same level of frequency?
Mine is still there up to now with the same noise, and like I said before putting it in drive or reverse makes the sound go away instantly. I bought a mechanics stethoscope a few months ago and I did narrow the noise down to the transmission. Still absolutely no weird issues or drivability issues except for the noise.

Did Honda ever tell you why it was making the noise and if this is something that normally starts occurring after a while, because I have listed to other Accords of the exact year and drivetrain and the noise was not there.

Does your issue follow the same pattern as mine, with the whole putting it in gear thing?

 

I’ll post another response once I get it warmed up and have someone else put it in gear with the hood open while I listen closer. But it seems more prominent when it’s cold and does appear to stop once it’s in gear.

The dealer didn’t mention anything about other accords doing it.

 

Thank you, I would be very interested in hearing yours. Mine seems to show more when its warmed up and it may be just due to the fact that the idle is a little higher when its cold so it drowns out the sound. However, in general if I rev the vehicle in park or neutral at warm idle the sound does not get louder or correspond to higher revs. I am most sure that it is transmission related and very well may be what your issue was. As to why it came back again is interesting.

 

Just wondering if you were able to get a video of the noise?

 

Apologies for the delay. I’ve listened to it a few times and it hasn’t been doing it. I have heard it a few times since the torque converter was replaced. But for some reason, I haven’t heard the noise again since I last posted.

 

No problem at all, thank you for the reply. I'll try back at the dealership to see what they say, maybe I'll mention the torque converter as I know for sure it is transmission related.

How long did it take for them to finally diagnose it as the torque converter being the issue and did they mentioned anything in particular to you about the issue? I'm just very curious here as I've been to the dealer before about this noise and they have failed to come up with a solution.

Thank you again for you input, I appreciate it.

 

Interesting issue. For what it’s worth, my 2017 V6 MT coupe is very quiet at idle, certainly nothing like the noise in your video. Id be curious as to what the torque converter has wrong to make the noise. Is it the lockup mechanism? Loose tension on the timing belt tends to sound like the playing card pinned to a kid’s bike wheel rubbing on spokes. Not like your sound.