Hello all. I purchased a 2007 TSX with 60k miles on Thursday and am new to Acuras (and Hondas). THanks for having this forum.

Since buying this car, the weather here in Pennsylvania has become very cold. On Friday evening, when I got in the car at work, I noticed the first few minutes of driving, the car sounded like a diesel. It almost sounded like a knocking. Is this normal? It took me a few minutes to realize what was going on and I thought it was odd. My initial thought is that maybe the engine was so cold (it was about 20 out), it takes some time for the oil to circulate.

I bought this car to replace an 03 Audi A4 1.8 turbo, which I had for 6 years. I never had any issues with that car, so I thought I was used to a 4 cylinder high performance motor.

In cold weather, should I be letting the engine run a few minutes before driving away? I have never had to do that before, but I also did not have this type of engine.

I have searched a bit on this subject, but all I seem to have found is that the small battery can be an issue. I have not found any comments about once the car has started in cold weather.

Thanks in advance for any comments or thoughts you have.

 

Welcome and I wish you good luck with the car. That said.... what you're describing doesn't sound good. It always helps to let the car warm up for a couple of minutes, though after that it will warm up allot faster on the road (it's under load then). You may experience a little clicking or tapping sound right after startup (valves, fuel injection, AC compressor), but other than that, it's a pretty quiet engine. Noises like what you describe are tough to quantify since what sounds loud to me might not to you and vice versa. If you really are concerned about it, I'd arrange to leave it at dealership (that you trust) overnight and have a service guy drive it stone cold. They should be able to tell you if it's normal or not.

 

Remember, the NE states and my area (Ottawa, Ontario) have been fridgid recently. Example: My car, with a relatively-new battery, took 9 cranks to finally turn over this morning, and they were long, labored cranks at that.
I let it warm up for 20 minutes, as even with seat heaters there was no way I was trying to drive in this cold! After 20 minutes of warming up and about 10 minutes of driving, the engine still sounded "frozen", which I'm used to as I grew up in a very cold location. I'd say the noise mostly comes from frozen engine mounts and frozen rubber bushings throughout the vehicle. It makes everything feel harsher and sound louder (increased NVH - noise, vibration, and harshness).
Trust me it sounds pretty normal from my standpoint.

Know how to tell if it's too cold outside? If it takes a solid 4 minutes for your radio and HVAC LCD screens to even turn on!!!!!!!!

 

True, but it hasn't been that cold here (New England)(or Pennsylvania)(coldest day of the winter was today with widespread sub zero temps (F)). I left just the other morning and the temperature was around 5F. I let the car warm up for a few minutes, and it was fine on the road (some tires will be pretty square for a few miles at that temp, but my Semperits stay pretty round). The car sounded fine, and within a minute or two I had heat (your example of the car still being cold after sitting running for 20 minutes reinforces what I said earlier about the car warming up much faster under load). What was described (the noise) just doesn't sound right to me.

 

Start it, 30-45 seconds at idle to get the oil moving and drive out. There is no need to let it warm up longer than that. None. With that said, drive easy those first few miles.

 

besides real issue with the car... i see 2 possible cause of the noise..
out of round tires. if the car idle fine, and noise can only hear feel during the drive, it may be the tire. the cold temperature had harden the tire and they are out of round. the first few miles will be rough, and like knock since everything bit and piece of the car is so hard and stiff. also ice chunk stuck near the wheel wall. check if the car idle fine, and then you can isolate the noise to other moving parts such as transmission, wheel, brake etc.

 

if your engine sounds like a "diesel", you have big problems. if it is knocking after you started the motor, its most likely due to lack of oil getting to the valvetrain. that issue can be resolved somewhat with changing your oil to full synthetic. it will flow better at colder temps and provide better lube especially at startup. if your car sounds like a diesel when you are driving, there are many things that could be. tires were mentioned, that could be. also, worn suspension components/bushings, especially swaybar bushings/links.
when are you exactly hearing the noise? idling, driving, over bumps, accelerating, braking, etc. I live in the chicago area and we've seen consistent subzero temps. my car doesnt make any noises at all, not even on full cold startup.