042

So I've determined there is no clutch slip after my last thread. Was going about 20 MPH, put it in 5th, and floored it. Zero slipping.

But then later tonight I popped my hood and listened for a bit. I feel like something on the left side of the engine is off. There doesn't seem to be anything rubbing on the drive belts. PS pump is certainly not well off. I need to get new o-rings on it for sure, but I don't think what I'm hearing is related. I wouldn't call it a full "knock" but it definitely sounds like something is off.

At the end of the day I've had some issues with this car in the first few months I've had it and I may just be overly paranoid. But regardless, if anyone is willing to waste 40 seconds of their life listening to those videos I'd appreciate it. IDK what happened on that vertical one. I turned it vertical after a couple seconds but it just made it worse.

Thanks.

WDPanda

That doesn't sound normal to me.
That "knocking" noise is the most concerning

042

Any ideas? Definitely sounds like it's coming from the drive belt/PS pump area.

emegge23

Timing belt area, maybe Timing Belt Tensioner.

042

Timing belt was done <5k miles ago. I hope it's not that. I have no clue when the accessory belt was done. It may be worth doing that.

Think I'm just gonna take it in. I'm not confident in my ability to troubleshoot. It really does sound belt/pensioner related though just due to how constant and rhythmic it is. The engine temperature doesn't change anything either.

WDPanda

The knocking noise I heard on a 2012 Navigator which ended up being rod bearing or the lifters, I forgot.
Tensioners and pulleys have a more rattle type noise vs the knocking.

042

If it's either of those things I'm just going to crash it into a tree or burn it.

Please don't quote this post for insurance fraud purposes.

I've got a 1995 Legacy sitting in my driveway with a spun rod bearing. The piston slap on that thing is insane.

At the same time the TB was done the car passed a compression/leakdown test. It's a got a new headgasket on it and doesn't appear to be leaking anywhere. I'm hesitant to jump to the worst possible conclusion. I'll take the video by the shop on Monday and see what they think. I think they cringe every time I walk in the door since I see them so often. They've probably done $1k worth of free work on this car already due to how hard the last problem was to solve.

042

Also, I'm just joking about the insurance fraud.













I'm really just going to drive it so hard a crash happens naturally and get the insurance payout that way.

WDPanda

For starters, pull off the coils and make sure the spark plugs are tight. There is a front plug on this engine that is known to come loose.

nfnsquared

Pull the drive belt and see if the noise goes away. Why was the head gasket replaced?

Edit: After listening a few times, that may just be injector noise. Was there more history to this thread?

042

Headgasket was replaced as a long list of work that started with the previous owner stripping a spark plug off into the head. He then brought it to a shop and they did the TB and HG while they had the head off. I have receipts for all that stuff so it's not a "he told me" deal.

It's pretty obvious to me that one of the pumps in the car is not working properly. If I go full lock or close to it at slow speeds the car makes a moaning sound until I straighten it out or speed up. This problem is independent of the o-rings I need to replace on the PS pump.

Somehow I managed to find a money pit Honda even though I had it inspected and every time it leaves the shop they say "ya man everything looks good".

nfnsquared

Wait. What sound are you talking about in the video?

If it's a "moaning" sound (which I don't hear), then yeah, it's either low PS fluid or the O-ring/s. Has the PS recall been done on this car? If not, get it done. It includes replacement of the O-rings.

042

Just saying the car obviously has some other issues going on on that side of the engine. The moaning is not a big deal.

It's the rhythmic sort of knocking noise that I'm bothered by. It really sounds like it's related to a belt or tensioner. Although it could be far more serious.

Like I said I have a car that's slapping the pistons against the cylinder and I know it's not that so we can rule out the worst.

DMZ

042,

Ever had the valves adjusted?
.
.

042

Well let's just say this car has not been a smooth ride. Right after I got it (inspected and all that shit) it developed a misfire with codes P0300-P0306 so we started replacing coils one by one.

After it happened for the third time the shop said they checked the EGR which was clean and also checked the valves which they said were within spec. A full set of new coils ended up fixing the problem. Like I said the head was off and worked on within the last 12 months. I don't have record of valves being adjusted though. I think I need to take it to a different shop, maybe even an Acura dealer, as much as I hate to say that.

But the "ticking" is secondary to the knocking. It seems to be pretty normal as the cars get up in mileage.

BukvaMan

For what it's worth... My car sounded like that when the coli on the AC compressor went bad.

feldmanbd

Not sure if this helps or not because I never found out what the problem was - but mine made the exact same "knocking" sound - about 6 times a second at idle.

The ticking sound is fuel injectors - that's perfectly normal. The knocking I'd be concerned about.

I first noticed the knocking sound about a year ago (2006 6 SPD in 2015) with 110K when I was helping jump start a friend's car. Two months later the #5 spark plug blew out of the cylinder head and I repaired it with a kit from AutoZone. The threads on the kit were a little longer than they should have been, so under hard acceleration the engine would detonate, and it started consuming a quart of oil every 3000 miles (compared with 0.5 qt in 10,000 previously) and leaking it out of the gasket at the exhaust manifold. At that point I decided "I'm not doing the timing belt service." But I did replace all the plugs and adjusted the valves.

My knocking noise was worse in cold weather or after the car had been sitting a while and would go away for the most part after the car had warmed up (several minutes), but it did become worse over the past year. If it was 20 degrees out I'd hear it while I was inside the car for the first few miles. Then again if it was 70 degrees out and the car sat for a day or two I'd hear it as well.

I'm fairly certain the power steering pump was on its way out. I never took the belt off to troubleshoot the knocking though.

Got rid of the TL last month due to the need for timing belt service, power steering pump, rear rotors needed replacing, engine damage from the spark plug thread repair, engine knocking, suspension starting to creak when it was cold (meaning something was on its way out) and possible need for a clutch job in the future - plus whatever else might happen on a 10-year-old car with 122,000 miles on it. To me it was sounding like taking care of all that was going to require an engine swap, which would have ended up including engine mounts and a clutch and would cost at least $6000 - $8000 to fix everything. It wasn't going to get any cheaper to drive. Loved the car and hoped it would last a lot longer than that.

Long story short... 6 times a second is 360 cycles per minute, which is half engine speed at idle, which implies valvetrain noise or something happening only on power stroke. Maybe it's just me but it sounded like it would get better when I added oil (was never more than a quart low and that was only once). When I opened it up to adjust the valves (and then again to do valve cover gaskets) it looked clean and always had oil changed every 7500 miles (10,000 toward the end - all at dealer with their oil and filters) and never had any short trips. Premium gas all the time too until the very last month.

Shortly after the plug blew out last year I seafoamed the intake and gas tank too. Didn't fix it.

One time it was on the verge of knocking (cold, after driving a few minutes) and when I was at a stop if I turned the wheel slightly the knock would go and then come back when I moved the wheel back straight. Don't know if the change was because of load on the engine (which would indicate the noise should have gone away when I accelerated, but it didn't) or could be load on the power steering pump or tension on the belt tensioner.

My thoughts on possibilities are:
Piston slap (half engine speed - only on power stroke) - but strange that it would only be on one cylinder, although that goes away when the engine warms up
Valves or valve guides (never checked compression but fuel mileage didn't appear to drop, and I logged every tank)
Some part holding the camshaft in or rocker arm assembly loosening?
Rocker arms shifting side-to-side?
Oil not getting to valvetrain
Power steering pump
Timing belt tensioner (unlikely in my mind)
Another loose spark plug, or maybe my thread insert was loose? (I tightened those plugs pretty well when I installed them after the plug blew out)

Anyway, I'd love to have the mystery solved myself.

feldmanbd

Has anyone given this fix a shot?

Easy Fix for Honda Engine Noise - ALLDATA