This is related to an 09 Accord I4 and I know this is a Acura forum but maybe this is an issue that was experienced with either a 1st gen or 2nd gen TSX. My car is making a rattling sound between 1500-2000 rpm. The sound disappears after 2000 rpm and after the car warms up it is completely silent throughout the rpm range. In my opinion, it doesn't seem to affect the performance of the car so I am scratching my head over this issue. It is more of an annoyance than anything else. I have replaced the timing chain tensioner since symptoms seem similar through some research but I am very unsure now. It has 124k miles and it doesn't have a cold start rattle which is related to the VTC actuator (which I know is an issue found on 2nd gen TSX's also) but I am not ruling this out as a possibility. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

maybe exhaust rattle?

 

This could be a possibility, but would the exhaust rattle disappear completely once the car is warmed up?

 

on cold start ups, the engine throws fuel on the cats to get them warmed up faster.
if you notice the car is louder and more noisy on cold start ups.
this could be resonating through the exhaust making something rattle.

just a guess as your description is pretty vague and can be ANYTHING.

 

I wasn't doubting your suggestion, just wanted to know if it was possible for the exhaust rattle to disappear which you did explain above. I also checked the exhaust heat shield which was completely tight and not touching anything. All I want are some suggestions like you provided so I can go over them and see if there is an issue. I'm not expecting anyone here to know exactly what the issue is.

 

Just threw that out there as a disclaimer.
some arent as smart as you.

 

Haha, well thank you for the suggestion. Maybe later today I'll put it on jack stands and take a closer look at the exhaust system.

 

All the 3G TL models ('04-'08) had a TSB for a rattle from the intermediate shaft heat shield at idle speed which would disappear above 1500 RPM, IIRC, so you might want to look at the heat shields on the Accord.

G/L.

 

Thank you, I will look at that also when I get the car on jack stands.

 

2nd gen TSX have a TSB for the knock sensor and a PGM-FI update. Those cars suffer from pinging and it'll help a little but it is still noisy even after the repair.

 

Good to know, I will put it on my list. Thank you.