I have a very faint rattle that sounds metallic. I only hear it when I am gentle with the throttle taking off from a stop. I hear it right around the 2k rpm mark. It does not seem to coincide with a gear change, so I think it is the heat shield that others have documented.

I have searched the garage and read many threads, but I cannot find a picture or diagram of where this heat shield is.

Would really appreciate it if someone out there can point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

 

Go to: tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=839129 (found using the search terms "intermediate,""heat" and "shield").
Check out post #7 and follow the instructions to open the TSB, which has descriptions and diagrams.
Hopefully, you just need to tighten things, rather than replace the shield or bolts.

G/L.

 

Did you change your brakes recently?? I had a similary noise in my brakes.. i believe it was the brake pins

 

I did the front rotors and pads about a month ago. This noise only happens at about 2k rpm under light acceleration, not deceleration.

Can you explain your noise?

 

it sounded like metal to metal scrapping...

 

When you were braking or when you were accelerating?

 

just like you said everytime when accelerating, maybe up to 20 mph then it go away ...

 

How did you figure out it was the pins? And what was the fix?

 

we took the tire off, and spin the rotor to hear what was causing the scrapping, and the pin was extend or better words touching the rotor, so i think he bent the pin on the outside and keeped spinning the rotor to make sure it wasnt touching.. i gonna met up with him later on tonight i try to get details so ill follow up tmmrw for you..

 

Okay guys, I'm totally lost.

I got under the car tonight and checked the heat shield - no movement whatsoever.

Checked all the other heat shields as well and they all look fine - no movement.

I realized that it is a mettalic - buzzy sound right around 2000 - 2200 rpm, regardless of what speed or what gear. And it does not correspond to a gear shift. And it does not make that sound if I am in park and rev the engine to 2000 rpm.

Any ideas?

Appreciate the help troubleshooting.

 

Ditto on mine with the slight metallic rattle. Seems to be coming from the passenger side near the front wheel at light acceleration 2200-3k rpm, but not with revs in neutral. The engine has to be under a load. I have a 6sp so I can replicate it pretty consistently.

James

 

Allin- I just got back from the exhaust shop that installed my j-pipe a couple weeks ago. I showed the tech the diagram of what the heat shield looked like (from the link earlier in this thread), and he let me stay under the car while it was on a lift (I didn't have my phone so no pics).

As mentioned in the link, there is a bolt that is accessible without taking off the j-pipe. He was able to loosen that which allowed for a little play in the heat shield. I used a long flat head screwdriver to push the shield towards the drivers side (it moved maybe 1/4") while he tightened it back down. Noise is gone now.

Hope this helps,
James

 

The heatshield slides on bushings. Loosen one of the bolts like stated above and pull the shield towards the drivers side. It will slide 1 or 2mm

It should not be bolted down as tight as possible and must have some slight play. The manual explicitly says this.

This fixed my metallic pinging sound under light acceleration.

 

Thanks guys. I'll try that. Right now, the car is at the dealer. I posted in a separate thread that they made a mistake a few weeks ago when they did a pulley TSB for me. The tech left the power steering reservoir loose, allowing it to touch the belt. It worked a hole in the reservoir and hose, dumping fluid all over the belt. I did not notice until i saw fluid when i was checking the heat shield. I stopped by this morning on the way to work. They got me in right away and gave me a loaner for the day. They are fixing their mistake. I mentioned the rattling sound while I was there, wanted to make sure that the ps fluid didn't damage any engine components (the manual warns to clean any spilled ps fluid as it explicitly states that it can damage engine components).

My dealer has been good to me so I think they'll make this right. I'll post back with results afterwards.

Thanks again.

 

Got my car back. Dealer had to replace the power steering reservoir, hoses, clean off all the fluid etc. They also adjusted the heat shield for me. They said it reduced the vibration but didn't get rid of it. The dealer did this free of charge. Said that cost to replace the shield is $201. I passed on it.

Driving home, i agree that it reduced the noise, it's probably only 1/2 as annoying now. Since they already tried to adjust it, I don't think I'll be able to get it any quieter.

However, I think I have an idea for reducing the rest of the noise.

 

Wanted to update everyone. Took a good look under the car and realized that there is nothing wrong with the heat shield other than it was loose and therefore rattles. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to tighten the bolts further due to all the exhaust components that are in the way.

I think all the dealer did was push the heat shield up a little, as others on this site have done. It lessened the noise by about 50%. But I am anal, so I had to take a crack at it.

After being under the car for 2 hours today, moving the heat shield this way a little - test driving - jacking car up again - repeat, several times, I concluded that the only way to get rid of the noise was to tighten the bolts.

Unfortunately, I did not have any tools that allowed me to turn the bolts any further due to the complete lack of clearance. Just as I was about to give up...an idea came to mind.

The heat shield is held on by 3 bolts (2 you can see without removing any exhaust components). There are 2 wire metal washers on either side of each bolt, they look unlike all other washers, and must be there to help dampen vibrations. Since i could not turn the bolts to tighten them any further, I decided to "expand the washers" thereby tightening the connection point.

So I took a flathead screwdriver and placed it on the accessible edges of the washer and tapped with a hammer. This deformed the washers a little, but tighted everything up. The heat shield no longer moved.

Test drove and I will say that noise is about 95% gone. Don't know how long this fix will last, but it sure beats paying dealer $201 to replace a heat shield that isn't broken (I think they replace it because it sounds better than charging a lot of money to remove the exhaust just to tighten 3 bolts).

Sorry I don't have any pics, but it was about 12 degrees F while I was doing this and the garage floor was wet from snow melting off the underside of the car. This was not an ideal day to do this, but like I said, I am anal and the noise was triggering my OCD.

 

I take a large stainless steel hose clamp and wrap it around the heat shields.
With it tight it will quiet the rattles.

 

I had the rattles and it pissed me off really bad! So i just lift my car and see the front driving shaft passenger side heat shield that rattles so bad! Its really unaccessible but i just use a pry-bar for prying the heat shield and the ratles gone !!!! Sorry for my english im french so you didnt need ti change all just pry It !!

 

This was happening for a few months but very little and sporadic. After I changed my timing belt, water pump, auto tension belt and brakes (rotors\pads) it seems to have gotten worse to a point it driving me nuts. I thought it was the brakes or the pulling but I'll check the heat shield tonight. I hope that's what it is and thank god for forums.

 

Thanks to everyone for their advice in this thread. I jacked the car up, tightened 2 of the bolts on the heat shield and now the noise is gone. Sooo souped! now i can actually hear my car accelerating and not some tinny metal squealing.

lol and my buddy guaranteed me it was the belt, i bought the $30 Dayco belt... oh well, at least i have a 3 year warranty on the belt now.

 

Hmmm I have a slight rattle under light acceleration as well. I used to have the same problem with an old Accord, so I figured that the sound was that of the heat shield. Good to know that there's a fix out there for it. Guess I'll be under the chassis tonight!

 

I encountered this problem several years ago and was able to tighten the bolt which eliminated the noise.

You need long narrow extensions on a socket.
The bolt is accessible if you go in between the Jpipe.

I have a post on that with a picture.
Let me see if I can find it.

 

here
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/fighting-squealing-noise-778285/

 

my 06 has developed this noise as well. going to get it looked at tomor. hopefully the fix that everyone else used works on my car too. what an annoying sound!

 

It worked for me.

 

Do you guys have any picture? Can I have some visual instruction on how to tighten the bolts? Thank you.

 

just needed to read one more post down

 

is it easily accessible with a standard jack at home? i am trying to look at pics since I have no clue..on my 2011 TSX