VtecTL06

Hey everybody, I'm having this knock noise while the car is idling and I got the timing belt changed. There's a video online that sounds exactly the same as my car is doing. I already changed all my motor mounts and transmission mount. I really need some help guys thanks

heres the link

peewizzle

have you checked your front 3 spark plugs? I bought my 05 6-speed recently and it made a similar sound.

I pulled all the coils and checked the spark plugs and the front 3 weren't torqued properly. After proper torque, I checked and sounds has been gone since.

VtecTL06

Interesting, I'll check all the plugs right now. Thanks, I'll let you know if it works.

rshynkarou

any luck?

VtecTL06

I checked the front plugs and one of the plugs was lose but I still have to check the rear ones. The noise is still there. I'll keep you guys posted!
Thanks,

VtecTL06

UPDATE: I checked the rear plugs everything looked okay, the plugs aren't NGK they're autolite plugs. I'm still stuck with the noise.

BCH TL 2013

It's piston slap. Notorious for these engines.

BCH TL 2013

Oddly enough my car started making that noise too soon after my timing belt was changed. There's tons of threads here on knocking but I do remember one thread was promising that suggested the "hydraulic tensioner adjuster" was broken.

feldmanbd

Has anyone ever checked the exhaust manifold(s) or exhaust manifold bolts?

There are an awful lot of things that it could be and a lot of people are having this problem but I'm under the impression that a solution hasn't been found for many of the engines out there that are making this noise.

VtecTL06

I did an engine swap on mine with 71km engine my other engine went after 430,000km. I changed both precats. Uhm idk I'm kinda frustrated with this stupid noise. I'm doing an oil change today but its not going to do anything lol. Could it need a value adjustment or is the timing belt is off. I'll have to take back to the shop this week. Ill ask them to check the hydraulic tensioner adjuster cause it could be broken. Thanks everybody ill keep you guys posted.

feldmanbd

For all the proposed solutions I've heard for the knock:
Valve adjustment - that's never fixed it - they're never that far off
Timing belt tensioner - sometimes that's it, but it makes a distinct sound
Hydraulic lifters - the TL doesn't have hydraulic lifters, so that's definitely not it
Timing belt - plenty of people changed this and still had the noise
Piston slap - possibly, but I'd expect more than one cylinder slapping - all these engines that knock seem to knock at the same frequency - about 6 times a second at idle
Spark plugs loose - sometimes that's been the issue
Rocker arm bolts loose - I'm not aware of anyone checking these on the TL but there is a TSB out for newer Honda V6 engines
Exhaust manifold/bolts - I'm not aware of anyone checking these
Accessories - plenty of people have taken off the accessory belt and still had the knock

BCH TL 2013

Great list for sure, with the exhaust manifold bolts, what do you think about this.
After I get past 2K RPM either cruising or full throttle, the engine sounds beautiful and has the same power as the day it was new.

Would piston slap grow with the RPMs? Or does the increased oil pressure play a role here with more throttle.

feldmanbd

Piston slap would increase in speed with engine RPM as it's usually heard on every stroke or or on every power stroke of a given cylinder.

At 720RPM (for the sake of argument - idle speed) the engine is spinning 12 times per second. Each cylinder is then firing 6 times per second, which is about the speed of the knock. The reason I have a hard time believing that it's related to one cylinder is that if one cylinder is bad, it's possible that the problem would affect multiple cylinders (like piston slap or valves out of adjustment) and give us a much faster sound. I could, however, understand it being something in the entire engine or one of the heads (even so, both heads should make it worse) caused by the expansion differences in aluminum and steel over time and causing bolts to lose tension or a gasket to lose compression, for example. Most of these knocks go away when the engine warms up which leads me to believe it has something to do with thermal expansion/contraction, and of course the shaking/knocking could be caused by the firing of one of the cylinders.

VtecTL06

Wow, thanks for the detailed explanation. When I take off you hear it after there's no knocking it's around idle and stops the noise at 1500rpms I believe.

VtecTL06

LOL same issue then

rshynkarou

Guys, sorry but i have a bad news(

today i left my car with the absolutely the same issue at the dealer service and they said that one of the my cylinders is broken and i need ti change the engine(

will ask how much i can drive with this issue in the evening

Nyordrms

iTrader: (1)

my 08 type s has a similar noise, been there for about a year, and the sound started after i had the timing belt and water pump replaced from acura, I've done lost of searching and everything comes back to either the serpentine belt tensioner or the timing belt hydraulic tensioner, i haven't got around to figuring out which one, my noise goes away as soon as u give it a little throttle, and is not as loud as that video

feldmanbd

If the noise was caused by the serpentine belt tensioner then it would disappear if you took off the serpentine belt (for testing). A lot of times the noise doesn't go away with throttle, leading me to believe that there are several different causes for these knocking noises.

Nick95TL06

I'm so thankful I found this thread. I literally just created an account for this thread!

I have the SAME issue on my 06 TL automatic with 98k km (about 61k miles). In my case, it's been doing it ever since I started my TL on a REALLY cold day (-40). It's been about 5 months now and the sound is progressively getting louder and it used to go away after about 20 minutes of driving or so but now it's still present after over an hour of driving, just very faint.

When I rev the engine slowly, the slap gets faster as the RPM's rise, then at around 2k RPM's it starts sounding catastrophic and really loud, and then as soon as I rev past 2100-ish RPM, it sounds perfectly fine and smooth all the way up to the rev limiter.

I just drove back from my local Acura dealership. I got it diagnosed (cost me $62), and the mechanic said it's "definitely" piston slap. He said it shouldn't hurt the engine too much and that I can probably still get several years of life out of the engine, but the sound may get louder with time.

I'm still not convinced though... :/

feldmanbd

That's disconcerting that your engine only has 61,000 miles on it and it's making this noise, getting louder, and the Acura dealer says you can "probably" get a few more years out of it.

So I found this video on YouTube with some comments:

One comment was:
"So... I have had the same noise for two years(the time I have had the car) and just recently had a misfire issue. I took it in to get the full diag and found out that the piston was slapping a sticky valve.. The Honda tech said this is from not check the exhaust valves. The exhaust valves get tight not loose, and with when Mileage is over 120,000 miles you need to check for tightening exhaust valves. Long story short, one of my valves was "floating"/ staying open because of tightness."

Another:

"My 06 had this same noise. On cold starts, it sounds like a diesel. At normal operating temp, the noise faints but is still there. I had my dad look at it who has 29 years as a tech for Toyota. The problem for me was a scorn bearings due to a bad connecting rod. A nightmare job and a costly one. If you don't fix it in time, you run the risk of the cylinder walls messed up. Hope this helps."

We've also got a suggestion for checking the play in the lost motion assembly for VTEC, and one vote for it being piston slap (determined by terrible condition of the cylinder) here:
2006 Acura TL engine knocking! (7/8) - EricTheCarGuy - EricTheCarGuy- Stay Dirty! - Results from #60

Nick95TL06

Thanks for the helpful post. I forgot to mention that the mechanic stated that the sound was coming from the "low end" of the engine, and therefore "too low to be a valve-related issue". He also asked me if the engine had ever been hydrolocked (which it hasn't), since he was surprised that the car had such low mileage.

It could be a number of things. I just don't know if it's worth dishing out well over 2 grand on either an engine swap or rebuild, especially when I'm not even exactly sure what the issue is.

BCH TL 2013

Keep it well maintained and just drive until it locks up. Then consider a rebuild or replacement.

VtecTL06

The thing that pisses me off is I did a engine swap and noise is coming from the new engine. It's complete bs to do an engine swap and give me a messed up engine which had low kms on it. I'm taking the car to the shop tomorrow I'm just sick of this annoying sound every time I'm idling and taking off. Thanks for everybody helping out and giving their advice!

BCH TL 2013

Yea I'd be annoyed too especially after a swap. Talk to the shop, and see what they say.

At this point I'm slowly saving up for a rebuild and bore out the cylinders since I'm keeping this car until it burns.

Nick95TL06

I feel you bro, it sucks. Especially hearing the sound again after an engine swap. I think a rebuild would be the better option

VtecTL06

I called the shop they said to bring it in next week. I have to wait :/ This noise is getting louder now when I did the engine swap and clutch replacement the noise wasn't that noticeable. Its been like this for the past 3 months plus its my uncle shop hopefully we can resolve the issue.... Keep you guys posted

VtecTL06

Hey guys sorry was so busy for these past weeks. I haven't had time to drop the car off yet had to give to my brother the car because his prelude broke down. Ugh hopefully THIS weekend I can finally get everything fix!

Nick95TL06

I spoke with my neighbor who worked a lot on engines in the past and had him listen to it a couple times. He is convinced that it's a lifter. I will be opening up the head soon and seeing for myself. I will keep you guys posted.

VtecTL06

Goodluck bro,

feldmanbd

lifter... just a friendly reminder that the TL does not have hydraulic lifters...

VtecTL06

**UPDATE: Okay so FINALLY took the beast to my uncle's shop, after going back and forth he's willing to refund my money back. Like, I don't blame him just sh*t happens sometimes. So I'm stuck if I should replace it now or run with knocking and see how long the engine will last me. The car is going to be parked now and without insurance. Sametime it's sitting I'm still going to be working on it.

Thanks,

feldmanbd

What was your uncle's diagnosis of the problem, and how much more life did he think the engine had in it?