The thing is that unless you are actively looking for the noise, the majority of other CivicX owners will simply dismissed the noise as normal.
*you ain't neva lie* kevin hart voice
Just curious...did American Honda tell you that? Or did a dealer? If so, what dealer?
if honda had planned for this to happen it would happen on EVERY start except cold starts... so that's not it man... the VTC actuator is the cause... honda has ALREADY acknowledged this issue but only for the crvs and accords.. i'm sure the civic will be next let's just hope its soonI wonder if I have found the culprit... My EX-T has the same issue if the engine compartment is hot (combination of >80F ambient temp and engine run within last 0-3 hours). At first I thought it was the starter sticking, the VTC actuator resetting or maybe even the electronic turbo wastegate cycling. But then I found this site as a cool resource of how the new engine is designed: http://www.cleanmpg.com/community/index.php?threads/52571/
This may be the cause: "Based on the operating conditions, the direct-injection system alters its function for best performance. Upon cold engine startup, fuel is injected into the cylinders on the compression stroke. This creates a weak stratified charge effect that improves engine start-up and reduces exhaust emissions before a normal operating temperature is reached."
When temperatures are high, this is a perfect setup for pre-ignition in the first 1-10 seconds or so of engine operation. Once the sensors all align to one another's readings the "knock" is corrected and the engine carries on its merry way.
So, while the sound is indeed disconcerting and unpleasant (no-one likes to hear a passenger lament a noise from your new car) it may well be "normal" as Honda indicates. Pre-ignition for more than a few minutes is very bad on an engine, but for a couple seconds long before normal operating temperature is reached I suspect there will be absolutely no problem.
Any thoughts on this theory??? I'd love to hear them!
Bad starter has different symptom (take longer to crank, sometimes doesnt even start your car, and the noise sound like click click click). I hope that your car does not have the same problem as many of us in this thread do.
A forum member @cabecker01 took his car in and the service department heard the grinding noise. They went ahead and changed his starter but after a day the noise was back. He later reported that the noise became worse, occurring more often and on cold starts. I would strongly advice against having your starter replaced as it is not the source of the grinding. Just like a few members here, I strongly believe that the source of the noise is the vtc actuator also. I really hope that Honda is working on a redesign of the actuator for our Civic.
Less than 30 days later, that very same dealer told me it was turbo making the sound. That was the day I went stark raving mad on them and called American Honda on them.
Thing is though...That gen Accord and CRV got the k24 series engines. We have the b15t series. The Fit gets the n/a b15.
But it does seem weird that the Fit share the same engine as Civic - minus the turbo. But the VTC actuator noise only visible in Accord, CRV, possibly CivicX, but why not the Fit also.
