Hope someone out there can shed some light on my situation or has experienced a similar problem. My 01 TL currently has 35K mi on it and has run flawlessly up to this point. I use only Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W-30 with recommended oil changes every 3K - 5K miles depending on driving habits.

Recently, I have been experiencing some valve clatter first thing in the morning at cold start. The noise starts in about 5 seconds after start and lasts b/w 45 seconds to 2 min. Engine runs smooth and quite after about 2 Min and has plenty of power. Noise does not re-occur for the remainder of the day. Tempretures here have been in the upper Teens and 20s this winter. The Acura dealer has heard the noise - says it is normal and to bring it back if the problem persists into warmer weather. I am not buying it. Synthetic oil has superior oil flow capability over conventional oil in cold start situations.

Anybody else out there had a similar experience and what was the outcome?

 

I used to run only Mobil 1 as well. It's a great oil. A friend of mine was doing the same but he decided to give Valvoline a try. Same weight and everything as Mobil 1 and for some reason, Valvoline really made his valves quiet. Mobil 1 for some reason tends to make my valves noisey after a few oil changes of only Mobil 1. Just a suggestion. I had really noisey valves and this is what did the trick for me.

 

My first reaction points to the oil filter.
It is restricting the oil flow when its get a little colder than usual.
The particular filter you may have now may not have a bypass valve or just not a good quality filter..
Fram by any chance...... (I STAY AWAY from Fram .POS..) and the Honda ones are so-so.
Mobil 1 5w30 is an excellent oil, and it flows quite well under severe cold conditions. (believe me,its gets cold here.....;-).
Try a K&N or a Wix filter they have much better flow rates and oil will get to the heads a lot faster.
..It worked quite well on my GM minivan with valve chatter.
J

 

I live near Annapolis and had the same problem plus I have the same car and used the same oil as you. On a whim I drained out the Mobil 1 and put in Amsoil 5W-30, same Wix filter as it was nearly new. Since that day I haven't heard the clanking again. It starts up like it used to with zero valve noise. Just my 2CW. Oh also, when I drained out the Mobil 1 I did it cold, and man I'm telling you it came out SLOWWWWW. I thought it was supposed to pour easily when cold but believe me it didn't.

 

I expirence exactly the same symptompts as you are describing.
I also use Mobol 1 5w-30, could it be mobil 1? I have PureOne Puralator oil filter. Could it be the filter? I am gonna try Honda filter again, btw, what kind of Mobil1 are you using? SuperSyn, or TriSynthetic?
I have 5qt of Mobil1 left, dont want to throw it out, but once I use it, I will try Vavoline.

 

I ran out to the garage and the bottles said Supersynthetic. Can anyone shed light on this? Is the Trisynthetic better? Thanks

 

The Supersyn is a replacement of the Tri-Synth.
The M1 SS is a better oil as they are adding more POA to the base stock.
Sort of going back to the gold old times for Mobil 1.....
Whe the SS came out.. I went back to Wallyworld and exchanged it for the SS.
J

 

My friend..
The fact you have drained your oil cold and it poured out a touch slowly..thats OK..DONT let that deter you from Mobil1. If you are living near the Annapolis Valley I am familiar with.. ( DC area) and you were under your car changing the oil.. what outside temp was it..?? 30*F or 40*F or warmer maybe.
My last oil change was done in cold, also is was approx 14*F and the oil flowed. The point I am trying to make is that Mobile 1 will flow at temperatures are at -40*F..... instead of sitting there like jello in the bottum of the oil pan, if you were using a low budget conventional oil.
Amsoil/Redline/Schaffer/Royal Purple are all very good oils also..
Mobil1 is the BEST bang for the Buck....
Jean

 

Folks, thanks for all your input thus far. Most of the posts center around type of oil being used. While I am not convinced this is the root cause of the problem, I may experiment at my next oil change and try another synthetic product to see what happens. I have used Valvoline in the past on my other cars. My oil is always changed at the dealer so I should have an OEM filter. That is not to say the Honda filter is not defective in some way.

I was thinking that maybe I have a filter with a bad check valve allowing the oil to drain out of the filter back to the pan after it has been sitting for some time. At startup, It may be taking the extra minute to fill the filter and flow to the top part of the engine. Does this sound like a possible cause?

 

IMO, not likely.

 

Yes.. get a better filter/better flow... you probablywill notice an improvement.