I've asked this before but asked quite badly and took a slight scorching for it.

I'm asking again because I want to be certain that this isnt just me and my car and that everyone gets has this under the same or similar conditions; otherwise I may have an issue that just happens to show itself under cold conditions perhaps.

This noise appears when I drive the car from a cold start (first thing on a morning or after work when setting off for home of an evening) when the temperature is around 3c or lower.

I'm very careful to not rev the car in these conditions and short shift well below 4k (usually granny driving at around 2-3k for at least 30 mins which I imagine warms the engine but perhaps the diff/gearbox still require further warming.

By this time the water temp bars are at 7, ie, normal operating temp; but I appreciate that the car in general; engine, diff, gearbox, etc will all still need further warming before even thinking about VTEC and beyond.

I must emphasise here that I am very sympathetic to the cars mechanics when warming it up from cold; I drive very steady for at least 30 mins and make a point of short shifting; I want the car to last and be in good shape.

What's concerning me is that even at this semi warmed up stage after 30 mins and with the water temp at operating level, if I creep to or just above 4k revs but not to 6k and VTEC territory; I get this strange noise which I can best describe as a kind of metallic sound; perhaps like tin foil being scrunched up.

Now it's pretty obvious that this is related to the car being cold as it doesnt happen when the car is thoroghly warmed up and it also doesnt happen when the outside temperature is higher than say 5-6c.

What I want to know though is, Is this normal? Does everyone else experience this noise if they rev to say 4-5k when the car has been running for 30 mins and the water temp is at operating level but the outside temp is low.

Now Obviously; It's something I dont want to do but on occasion it happens; When it does I drop straight back off the throttle as soon as possible.

My biggest concern here is that this isnt normal and that others simply dont get this happening to their car and thus in my case it may perhaps be a symptom of another issue that rears its head when the car is cold. Hence me asking if anyone else occasionally experiences this odd sound.

I can see already that I'm going to receive a string of flames along the lines 'Dont rev the car untill its fully warmed up' Which is why I'm being quite specific about the revs I'm using; I'd have thought that 4-5k after half an hour when the outside temp reading is 1c as it was last night, that I shouldnt be hearing strange sounds from the car. Am I wrong?

The car is under warranty still and one thing that concerns me is that it was a Honda Demo car for the first 1k miles of its life; I queried this when I bought it and the sales chap assured me it was correctly run in before VTECing for the first time etc but the thought still niggles me.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to explain clearly this time and get your opinions before asking my dealer what he reckons.

 

Changed the gearbox/diff fluid recently? Could be too thin?

 

First of all congratulations.... you have the fastest colour

If you treat the car so carefull like you are mentioning i believe this noise is just vibration from another part of the car, exchaust or something else and not from the engine. Is just that is created at these certain revs of the car and the outside temperature. It's a compination of both

 

If it's still under warranty. Have you tried asking your dealer?

 

This is not something that I have experienced on the S2000.

You say that the noise is like someone scrunching up tin foil? Could it also be described as like the noise you get if you snap the ringpull off an empty tin of fizzy pop, then pop it inside and roll the can along a desk?

If so, then I know exactly the noise that you are talking about. I had this in my Land Rover and was convinced that it was something impinging on the drive shaft. It turned out to be the end one of the metal "fingers" in the clutch that had snapped off and was rattling around inside the pressure plate. Not a big deal in and of itself, as it did not affect the flywheel or the friction material of the clutch, but it did make annoying noises.

However, whipping the clutch out of a landy is about a 4 hour job if all goes to plan. Doing the same on an S2000 is not to be undertaken lightly and may well prove not to be the source of the noise.

The best way to get the dealer to deal with the issue would be to take them out for a drive to replicate the noise. Point it out and ask them to fix it or to give you a written statement that it is OK.

Don't just settle for a verbal "They all do that, Sir"!

What would I do? Hang on until something gives up, or until it manifests itself as something more tangible. As long as you are doing everything by the book wrt oil changes, services, etc, then if it does go horribly wrong, your dealer is without a leg to stand on!

 

Yup, that's my next port of call Bass as I mentioned in my post; I just wanted other peoples opinions first; ie, Does anyone else experience this at all; If not then I have some type of issue.

I'll certainly mention it to my local Honda dealer when I'm in for the next service in a couple of weeks time.

I did change all fluids back in September last year; Diff Oil is Silkolene Silk Tran 5; Gearbox oil is Amsoil MTF.

 

Ahhhh I think i know the answer

Try retuning the stereo away from Radio 1 and report back

 

Quality Post

 

Cheers Ian, I do actually get the sound you are describing also funnily enough but hadn't related the cold issue thing with this.

I've been getting a light metalic rattle (sounds like a baby's rattle almost), similar to how you describe above; It appears to be coming from the area of the gearbox and I initially thought it was a loose washer on a hollow length of metal bouncing about and so imagine it was something rattling loose on the passenger seat mounts.

Perhaps the two are the same issue then.

I'll definately be pointing both out to the dealer asap.

Cheers fellas

 

You might find that there is a certain rev range where you get vibration. My heatshield (non oem) would vibrate and rattle against the brake lines, that sounded like a crackle. It also depended on temp but was ok when cold and made the noise when warmed up.

I just ajusted (bent) the heatshield, but again this was the J's heatshield which is quite different to the OEM.

A rather annoying feature of the DBW cars is that you can't rev the thing from the engine bay.

Might be worth getting your helper to hold the engine revs through the range where you have a problem while you look and listen to the engine.

I guess if you take it to a dealer your going to need to leave it with them so it can cool down between tests, which could take a while for them to find anything.