I live in the northeast and just started noticing that my car makes quite a bit of noise when the engine is cold. It was not the case in the summer and fall.

It goes away when the engine is warmed up. Drives and runs just fine.

I have looked at numerous posts on here and it seems hard to know what the issue could be. (bad timing belt tensioner...)

I had the 105K service done at the Honda dealer last July and they replaced the tensioner.

My car has about 190K miles and my AC compressor was just replace last week.

Oil level looks normal.

Can a timing belt tensioner go bad within 6 months? I know anything is possible but it seems unlikely.

2010 Acura TL SH-AWD - Aspec (6MT)

Thanks for your help!

 

Any ideas?

It seems to happen only when it is below freezing outside and the engine is cold.

Thanks!

 

Next time it Is cold, remove the serpentine belt and start the car and see of the noise is there. This could be indicative of a bad serpentine belt tensioner pulley.

The timing belt tensioner can make this noise. The back end of this tensioner sticks out right above the oil filter. Using a mechanics stethoscope, place the end of the scope on the back end of this tensioner with the car running and it will be clear real quick if this is the noise. I suggest you do this while the serpentine belt is off from test above so you don't interact with the belt. You can run the car a while with the belt off since the water pump is still working being driven by the timing belt.

And yes, the timing belt tensioner can go bad before the next timing belt service.

 

Thanks dvd2012tl

I appreciate the help!

The timing belt tensioner is new and was replaced at the Honda dealership back in July.

I will look at the serpentine belt tensioner pulley then.

 

I know this was a while ago, but did you ever figure out the cause of this problem? I recently looked at a used 2018 Acura MDX and it made a very similar noise at cold startup. But it sounded completely different once warm. Thanks.