Rattle on acceleration: Does anybody know what this sound is?

chinchilla978

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Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2019 certified used Civic Coupe Sport from a dealership in Massachusetts. Recently, I have been having an issue with a metallic rattle that occurs only on acceleration. The car has been to two different dealerships, both of which have ruled out the possibly of it being detonation or spark knock, but I want to get another opinion. There are no performance issues with the engine and no lights on dash.

Attached is the video where you can hear the metallic rattle clearly (around the 15-18+ second mark). It is more prominent on acceleration (around 2k-3k rpm) and then goes away as the engine does not vibrate as much. I saw a thread on here saying this could have something to do with the exhaust manifold or engine shielding on the underbody of the car. I know very little about cars, so no mods were made. But I am open to any suggestions at this point because this noise is driving me insane.

Thank you for your help in advance!!
 
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DRUSA

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Do you hear the noise when not accelerating, such as just cruising at freeway speeds like 60mph? Usually the metal splash shield will rattle dependent on wind speed under the car, so the faster you go only then does it rattle.
 
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chinchilla978

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Do you hear the noise when not accelerating, such as just cruising at freeway speeds like 60mph? Usually the metal splash shield will rattle dependent on wind speed under the car, so the faster you go only then does it rattle.
Honestly, no, usually only on some form of acceleration. I've narrowed it down to the metal heat shield (if it is even called that???) that goes around the exhaust that is also near that same engine shield on the bottom of the car. I just am waiting for Honda to get back to me about repairing it. I hear it was a common issue with this generation of civics though, so I wonder how long the repair will last. lol
 
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chinchilla978

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Do you hear the noise when not accelerating, such as just cruising at freeway speeds like 60mph? Usually the metal splash shield will rattle dependent on wind speed under the car, so the faster you go only then does it rattle.
Here is what I think it is. It's been to the dealership 3 times in the past 4 months that I've owned it. The master tech said he could not hear it, however, the service manager took my car for two days and said he COULD hear it when driving, but could not replicate it in the shop. I'm seriously hoping it's this. Everybody told me Hondas are generally reliable, but I'm nervous because I still don't have an answer. :(
 

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That sounds like it could be your issue. I fixed a Clarity last week with the same concern. The shield was held to the chassis with 4 bolts, the area around the bolt had cracked making this sound. Really hard to find.

In all honesty, I get handed a lot of noise cars. As a rule of thumb, I give them a 10 mile test drive and about 30min tops of my time. That's about all the time I can allocate to these issues before I have to move on to the next car that is waiting. If the noise cannot be duplicated frequently and under most conditions, I just don't have the time to drive it the hundreds of miles it may take to duplicate the concern. It's frustrating for myself and the customer, but just a reality until they start paying technicians salary.

Providing a video like you did is very helpful. We need to know the conditions needed to drive under in order to duplicate the problem to find it. If I can't make it rattle, I can't find it. You'd be surprised how many repair orders I am handed that just reads "customer states car makes a noise" lol, like telling a repair man there's something in the house that squeaks.
 


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chinchilla978

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That sounds like it could be your issue. I fixed a Clarity last week with the same concern. The shield was held to the chassis with 4 bolts, the area around the bolt had cracked making this sound. Really hard to find.

In all honesty, I get handed a lot of noise cars. As a rule of thumb, I give them a 10 mile test drive and about 30min tops of my time. That's about all the time I can allocate to these issues before I have to move on to the next car that is waiting. If the noise cannot be duplicated frequently and under most conditions, I just don't have the time to drive it the hundreds of miles it may take to duplicate the concern. It's frustrating for myself and the customer, but just a reality until they start paying technicians salary.

Providing a video like you did is very helpful. We need to know the conditions needed to drive under in order to duplicate the problem to find it. If I can't make it rattle, I can't find it. You'd be surprised how many repair orders I am handed that just reads "customer states car makes a noise" lol, like telling a repair man there's something in the house that squeaks.
I get where you are coming from completely. I feel somewhat terrible because I've been very frustrated about this issue. From my point of view, it just is a little discouraging when you buy something certified used and find issues shortly thereafter. The tech also found a severely bent rear left rim the first time I bought in the car for a/c compressor issues. That was replaced under warranty no problem, but still, I feel like that was something that should have been caught during the certification process.

I don't know, I hate being "that customer" that complains about noise issues. But I really appreciate your reply because it will help me help them.
 
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chinchilla978

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That sounds like it could be your issue. I fixed a Clarity last week with the same concern. The shield was held to the chassis with 4 bolts, the area around the bolt had cracked making this sound. Really hard to find.

In all honesty, I get handed a lot of noise cars. As a rule of thumb, I give them a 10 mile test drive and about 30min tops of my time. That's about all the time I can allocate to these issues before I have to move on to the next car that is waiting. If the noise cannot be duplicated frequently and under most conditions, I just don't have the time to drive it the hundreds of miles it may take to duplicate the concern. It's frustrating for myself and the customer, but just a reality until they start paying technicians salary.

Providing a video like you did is very helpful. We need to know the conditions needed to drive under in order to duplicate the problem to find it. If I can't make it rattle, I can't find it. You'd be surprised how many repair orders I am handed that just reads "customer states car makes a noise" lol, like telling a repair man there's something in the house that squeaks.
I do have one other concern, maybe you can tell me if this is something worth bringing up to them as well. Every so often my engine makes (what i can only describe as a chirping sound) coming from the belt area (passenger side). Is that normal for these belts to be a little noisy - to the point of hearing them in the cabin? It's strange because I feel like I didn't hear it until after the a/c compressor was replaced. I notice the chirping speeds up as I accelerate and goes away when I have my foot completely off the gas.

Here is a video. Not sure if this helps, but I'm curious to know if this is normal or not. I know it's normal to hear some noise but the chirp drives me up a wall. If it's something that is normal, I'll feel better about it.
 

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No worries. Hey, you're paying for it, make sure it's fixed right. Rattle noises are some of the hardest repairs we have to deal with and are the most frustrating. A lot of my customer interactions are what I refer to as "talking the customer off the ledge". They just bought a car and a super concerned it's a lemon they are cursed to pay out of pocket expenses on for the next few years, rarely the case. I have technician friends at Subaru, Toyota, BMW etc....they all have their own issues, there is no perfect car. The determining factor that I've found with the 10th gens is those who do the BASIC routine maintenance on them when it's time have the best experiences with the car. They change the filters and fluids very regularly, that's it.

The "chirping" noise is pretty characteristic of the car, they all do that to some extent.
 
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chinchilla978

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No worries. Hey, you're paying for it, make sure it's fixed right. Rattle noises are some of the hardest repairs we have to deal with and are the most frustrating. A lot of my customer interactions are what I refer to as "talking the customer off the ledge". They just bought a car and a super concerned it's a lemon they are cursed to pay out of pocket expenses on for the next few years, rarely the case. I have technician friends at Subaru, Toyota, BMW etc....they all have their own issues, there is no perfect car. The determining factor that I've found with the 10th gens is those who do the BASIC routine maintenance on them when it's time have the best experiences with the car. They change the filters and fluids very regularly, that's it.

The "chirping" noise is pretty characteristic of the car, they all do that to some extent.
Okay! So the chirping is something I shouldn't worry about? I was going to bring it up, but I mainly just want them to fix that rattle sound that's been driving me insane.

Also, thank you for taking the time to reply to me. I have been a bit nervous about the car given what has happened thus far. I know mistakes happen, I just hope this car lasts longer than my Altima did. Nissan was a NIGHTMARE.
 

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I just hope this car lasts longer than my Altima did. Nissan was a NIGHTMARE.
I do a bunch of used car reconditions at work, we rarely re-sell any Nissans made in the last 10yrs because they are all garbage. We've had numerous ones blow up their CVT trannies right after purchase, I send them all to auction when they come up.
 


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chinchilla978

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I do a bunch of used car reconditions at work, we rarely re-sell any Nissans made in the last 10yrs because they are all garbage. We've had numerous ones blow up their CVT trannies right after purchase, I send them all to auction when they come up.
YUP. That's what happened to mine. 2015 Altima, 40,000mi. CVT blew within a year of me owning it and the car was well cared for. Nissan claimed "that was within normal operation". lmao

Also, my car is back at the dealership again today. They weren't so happy to see me again, but they have the videos and some ideas of where to start. So, I'm hoping it gets fixed! *fingers crossed*
 
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chinchilla978

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I do a bunch of used car reconditions at work, we rarely re-sell any Nissans made in the last 10yrs because they are all garbage. We've had numerous ones blow up their CVT trannies right after purchase, I send them all to auction when they come up.
@DRUSA - got my car back today after dropping it off last Monday. I basically had a meltdown at the service manager because he was treating me as if I made a poor decision about buying a "used" car. Anyways, this was the outcome. It semi-fixed the problem, however, the rattle still seems to be occurring when accelerating. Just not as often??

Is the "shifter linkage cable" something that oftentimes comes loose on these cars?
Honda Civic 10th gen Rattle on acceleration: Does anybody know what this sound is? IMG_5521
 

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Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2019 certified used Civic Coupe Sport from a dealership in Massachusetts. Recently, I have been having an issue with a metallic rattle that occurs only on acceleration. The car has been to two different dealerships, both of which have ruled out the possibly of it being detonation or spark knock, but I want to get another opinion. There are no performance issues with the engine and no lights on dash.

Attached is the video where you can hear the metallic rattle clearly (around the 15-18+ second mark). It is more prominent on acceleration (around 2k-3k rpm) and then goes away as the engine does not vibrate as much. I saw a thread on here saying this could have something to do with the exhaust manifold or engine shielding on the underbody of the car. I know very little about cars, so no mods were made. But I am open to any suggestions at this point because this noise is driving me insane.

Thank you for your help in advance!!
I'm hearing a rattling noise on my SI .too when accelerating not sure what's causing it.Can anyone help

 

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Happens to me all the time. Hard part is tracking them down.
 

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I'm hearing a rattling noise on my SI .too when accelerating not sure what's causing it.Can anyone help

Yours sounds like mine right now. It sounds like it’s the engine. Rev slowly to like 3k without it moving with windows down and the hood open. I believe we both may have an issue related to the engine something got damaged or loose. Best part is we both are in Fresno. Lol. Mind meeting somewhere to compare the rattle sound.
 
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