heya, did a few searches on this "noise" that I have that I just recently noticed.
It's cold here in Edmonton for the past 2 weeks... note* I didnt have this noise prior to the cold weather* anywho.... when I first start my S in the morning... it idles high which is fine... but I hear this weird noise which sounds like the following:

1 - Dull Chattery Noise
2- A Playing card running through the spokes of a bike

something along the lines of these described noises.... but is LESS audible or not even there once the car warms up...

has anyone had any similar experiences? Thanks!

 

I hear it only while idle or while driving next to a wall.
I called Honda today, they said it's not covered under warranty.
I am waiting for Billman to come up with his "everlasting" timing chain tensioner.

 

so Jakub2000, are you familiar with the noise? and is it because of the chain tensioner??

 

I hear a fluttering noise while driving. I dont know if this is the timing chain tensioner or if it is a normal noise for the car.

 

actually a good way to describe this noise is ... a very faint diesel engine chatterrting

 

I definitely hear something, can anyone who is EXPERIANCED as diagnosing a timing chain noise PM me and let me e-mail them my sound clip?

 

I have the same sound on my 05 since new.

 

If it sounds like baseball cards in a bike spoke, that is most likely the timing chain tensioner.

If you want to be sure, you can get an automotive stethoscope and listen to the tensioner while the noise is audible. If you don't have an automotive stethoscope, you can improvise by using a long screwdriver. Put the metal tip to the back of the tensioner, and put the handle to your ear. If you can hear the sound clearly, then you've found the culprit.

This seems to be a very common problem, unfortunately.

 

Yeah, I had the noise at start up ocassionally and here's something odd that I would like explained: after every single auto-x run I would come back into grid and the tensioner would let the chain rattle for about a minute before it would get quiet. Now I understand the tensioner is hydraulically driven and it is actuated from oil pressure.

Why would it take a minute to be quiet after a hard 50 seconds of driving?

 

I don't have an answer to your question, but I noticed a similar occurrence. Right before I replaced my tensioner, I was at an autocross and ran a 90 second run. After I came off, the tensioner sounded horrible. Way louder than normal. I let the car idle for a bit trying to find out where the problem was. I thought it was my cams (since I've had other issues w/ my Toda cams), so I took the valve cover off and inspected them and even did a valve adjustment). Still when I started the car back up, I could hear the tensioner (took me about 30 minutes or so to do the valve adjustment). So, I let the car sit through the afternoon runs, and after that started the car and the sound was gone.

I'm not sure the relevance of all this, though.