thin mettalic ratling in 5th gear!


AndyH

AndyH

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2007
Messages
860
bit of a weird one here guys.may be nothing but something rattling lose of may be serious -

when just cruising along in 5th gear if your doing around 40-45 MPH u can hear a thin metalic rattling.it seems to be coming from straight in front of the drivers position.but not within the car. it gets louder depending on how far you push the accelerator etc. i have tried getting it to repeat in 4th but it only seems to happen in 5th. i have checked the engine and theres nothing obviously loose etc.

im not saying a spend alot of time cruising at low speeds in 5th etc or booting it from low down in fifth etc before people quiz that.but when your plodding into work in traffic u obvioulsy sometimes are in 5th doing 40 - 45 MPH.
 
yes all stock apart from a catback and panel filter.. i might strip it down and check the thottle body and intake etc this weekend incase
 
i havent as of yet..cars due for a service on the 28th with honda.

why you think its the sparks?

thanks for the time guys :D
 
ye i know..just strange how its only in 5th. and only at a certain speed. screams out to me that somethings just resonating at that frequency but one of thouse impossible things to find.lol.

maybe the service will show something.will keep you posted.
 
AndyH said:
i havent as of yet..cars due for a service on the 28th with honda.

why you think its the sparks?

thanks for the time guys :D
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When the sparks are almost dead they make a similar noise the more you give throttle, at least this what happens to me...
 
aw never heard that before..might be worth a look :) thanks. but wouldnt it misfire slightly with a spark plug gone?
 
AndyH said:
aw never heard that before..might be worth a look :) thanks. but wouldnt it misfire slightly with a spark plug gone?
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I remember when I went for mods(cams, headwork etc), I had spark failure a couple of days after(with the same set which was almost new) and I had no ignition at all, but I managed to start it up at my garage and "scroll it" for about 2 kms to my mechanic. The sparks melted I don't know why perhaps from the extreme testing or were problematic, but yea you can easily understand when your sparks are close to take their last breath. Your throttle response and revving becomes worse and the engine noise gets a bit muddy. You might smell fuel as well and this ratling noise that is so disturbing but at the same time a clear indication.......:nono: Btw, I'm replacing my platinum spark plugs every 2-3 services(20000-30000 kms) depending on their current situation. Usually, these symptoms appear right before the 3rd service(if they manage to pass the 2nd :lol:)
 
ManosEK9 said:
I remember when I went for mods(cams, headwork etc), I had spark failure a couple of days after(with the same set which was almost new) and I had no ignition at all, but I managed to start it up at my garage and "scroll it" for about 2 kms to my mechanic. The sparks melted I don't know why perhaps from the extreme testing or were problematic, but yea you can easily understand when your sparks are close to take their last breath. Your throttle response and revving becomes worse and the engine noise gets a bit muddy. You might smell fuel as well and this ratling noise that is so disturbing but at the same time a clear indication.......:nono: Btw, I'm replacing my platinum spark plugs every 2-3 services(20000-30000 kms) depending on their current situation. Usually, these symptoms appear right before the 3rd service(if they manage to pass the 2nd :lol:)
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If your using platinum, then you don't need to change until 70000kms. Just needs a bit of cleaning with some extra fine sand paper. you must running pretty LEAN for your plugs to melt. Get it properly tuned.:nice:
 
jugbugz said:
If your using platinum, then you don't need to change until 70000kms. Just needs a bit of cleaning with some extra fine sand paper. you must running pretty LEAN for your plugs to melt. Get it properly tuned.:nice:
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Are you using the platinum ones?
 
ManosEK9 said:
Are you using the platinum ones?
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I think we discused this on the thread 'which spark plugs do you use'. Apparently theres no platinum version made for our engines. When I say platinum, I mean the ones with 4 firing hooks.

The best one currently is the Eridium( I think that how its spelt lol), you only need to change these every 75000kms. The spark on these plugs are repoted to be more fine and stronger. Some say they are better than platinum.

But more importantly, if your melting sparkplugs, you don't know what else is melting... ask your tuner to run it richer. Don't risk it without a dynotune.
 
Sounds like you might have a loose heat sheild on the manifold ,they tend to rattle more when the engine is labouring at low rpm's in high gears :nice:
 
vtec said:
Sounds like you might have a loose heat sheild on the manifold ,they tend to rattle more when the engine is labouring at low rpm's in high gears :nice:
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yup i would go with u on this one heat sheild or on the mani or cat common on these cars. its prob the we tack weld on the cat that holds the heat sheild on thats cracked. if u still have a cat. just go under your car and tap the top of your cat with your hand and u should hear it

good luck
 
ye will check the cat when i can ..bit cold to be getting under the car at the mo.lol. the heatshield on the manifold looks ok but will give it all a going over soon.

as for the sparks.....i have heard that the iridium are alot better than the platinums. but when i called honda for service info they stated that they would fit platinums.
 
jugbugz said:
I think we discused this on the thread 'which spark plugs do you use'. Apparently theres no platinum version made for our engines. When I say platinum, I mean the ones with 4 firing hooks.
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Sorry for insisting but I'm sure the sparks are called either platinum or iridium.....
 
i was told platinum by honda. but i know you can get iridium ones for the EK9 also. and have heard these are alot better.
 
hmm, i don't know what oem ones are called. But I always had the impression that platinum ones are the ones on BMW etc. But I went to see some Spark plugs and found even NGK platinum ones have only 1 firing hook....ohwells... changing them more often is the best way to go.
 
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