For the past month or so I've been hearing an audible tick. I can barely hear when started up, but when it settles at 750rpm it ticks. It does go away at 3000rpm like many have done to conclude it's the belt/belt tensioner, but when I took it to my mechanic he said it sounds like something more serious and that I should sell the car before something major happens Apologies for the engine dirty bay it just started getting warm here.
The belt hasn't been changed and the car has 114,000kms(71,000miles). I don't see any wear on the belt, the teeth are good and there's no play in it.

 

Check all of your spark plugs to be sure none of them are loose. Start with #5 (the front middle one) and then #4 (to the left of #5).

Plenty of J32 engines have blown out spark plugs and the precursor was a loud ticking.

There's no guarantee that your tick is being caused by a loose plug, but I'd start there....

 

I'll gladly start with the front ones as the rears look pretty fun to get to. Even #6(I'm assuming) looks like I'll have to unbolt the coolant overfill reservoir?

 

is there any dents in the oil pan? to me it sounds like either very loose valves or sumthing isnt getting enough oil while sitting at idle. does the noise originate from the top or bottom of the motor?

 

No dents in the oil pan. The sound is coming from the top more than it is the bottom. I just got an oil change yesterday(5w20 synthetic) as it needed a change, but the sound remained.

 

sounds like the valve train ticking.

If the spark plug was loose would it throw a CEL ?

 

No one with a blown spark plug ever reported a MIL that I recall...

 

I'll fiddle with the spark plugs today and if nothing changes it's off to the dealership. Thankfully I know a mechanic there so it won't be too threatening.

 

So I went to see my Acura guru and his senior guy and they both concluded that it's piston slap and that I shouldn't worry about it. He said it's way too early for a valve adjustment and to do my belt in the near future.

 

Did your "gurus" check the plugs?

 

No I checked the fronts though before I went and slightly tightened up #5. He also said #5 has a tendancy to loosen up a bit. I'll check the rears also.

 

"...loosen up a bit..."? No, they (the #5's) have a tendency to loosen up totally and blow out

Most of the blown plugs that I recall are #5. I've heard of a couple of #4's and one #2.

As far as that being piston slap, I say BS....

 

If it's not piston slap what would you think it would be? If it's not the belt/tensioner or valves then it must be something major. I've had the transmission go on this car at 70,000 miles so nothing will surprise me now.

 

Sounds like a fantastic mechanic! Instead of diagnosing the problem he says it sounds pretty bad, you should probably replace the car! Hahahahahaha this cracks me up!

 

ehhh my engine kinda sounds like that. and ive been recommended for a valve adjustment too. even though we both have low miles i think 7+ years is still kinda due.

 

Yeah I heard that and gave him the face lol he's a buddy of mine, but lost points for that comment. Time to replace my mechanic.

 

I'm about to check out plugs 1, 2, and 3 as the sound is loudest where the #2 plug is. Going to attempt to without moving the strut bar for now, but I'm sure I'll snap pretty quick and take it off.

 

1,2, and 3 were all tight. Did it all with a 6" extension and didn't touch the strut bar so I was pretty happy about that.

 

Hey, i've had the same tick/knock for quite some time now:
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/valve-tick-injector-click-860485/

Since then i have changed the timing belt and everything along with it (pulleys, tensioners). Plugs are not loose either.

How is piston slap an "okay" thing?

 

I don't know, but my Acura mechanic said that he hears a lot of used MDX and a couple other models come in with that same noise. The sound from your vid is pretty much identical to mine though.
We just went through a hellish winter here with an average temperature of -25Celcius(-14Farenheit) too which I'm sure didn't help. My last car was a Volkswagen too which from factory sound like small tanks, but to me this isn't "normal".


I've also noticed that before I come to a complete stop my rpms will jump a little before sitting at idle.

 

It's a long shot, but did you try removing the serpentine belt and seeing if the noise went away?

 

No I haven't tried that yet. I shot this video this morning and noticed it's not as loud? My mechanic put in a can of Wynn's Engine Tune Up when he did my oil change so that must've fixed it

 

i have that same sound. didn't notice last summer when i bought it at 118,000km (07 base). but as the temperature started going down, it became more noticeable and took longer to go away (as the engine heated up).

in the winter (toronto, canada), when it was down to -15 C or slightly lower, it would take several minutes to go away, but would eventually go away after the engine warmed up. i suspect this is why the previous owner installed an auto starter, cause you turn on the autostarter, warm up the car, and the sound is gone by the time you're ready to go...like a ostrich sticking his head in the sand, haha.

anyway, my mechanic suggested valve adjustment. i haven't done it, he says he's seen it before but no one actually opted to do the valve adjustment because the sound goes away when the engine is warm. haven't conclusively determined WHAT is causing it, like a pulley or something, or i'd get it replaced...

i tried removing the drive belt but the noise was still there. right now...i dunno, on the back burner i guess, haha. i had an 03 accord up to 340,000km....stuff (small noises, vibrations) that bothered me at 240,000km seemed like the end of world at the time, but eventually i forgot about it and the car still worked just fine...so i've resigned myself to just live with it but keep up to date with any other maintenance and periodically see if anyone else has found a solution

i'll ask my mechanic to change all the tensioners and pulleys when the TB gets replaced, just in case, thought he post above suggests that this may not fix the noise. goes away after a few minutes, but i don't want to be sitting on a time bomb, haha.