Anyone know why there's engine rattle in the morning when starting in cold conditions and a fix for it? After the valves/engine warms up it goes away, but it's darn annoying and can be loud. It's been doing this for 2+years and noone can seem to fix it, but darn it if the car still runs perfect after it warms up and has never had any engine work besides standard tuneups and replacing timing belt.

I purchased the car new, and made sure it was assembled in Japan to avoid some of these issues but I guess you can't escape Engineering problems no matter where it's assembled. I've heard other owners complaining of the exact same problem.

 

almost 90% of the time that tinny rattle you hear is your aluminum heat shields on the bottom of the exhaust.

 

Or it could be the clutch. It does that on mine, press it in and see if it goes away.

 

Adjust your valves and see what that does.

 

you see how poor of a description creates 3 completely differnet diagnosis?

 

Poor description? I don't recall saying anything about rattlin under the car? Only my mom would confuse an engine rattle with a heat shield rattle. But thanks for trying to provide advice. However, it's not the "heat shield" that's rattling. That would come from underneath the car. I had a Del Sol that did that and I personally removed it and then rewelded it when I added an aftermarket exhaust.

I've adjusted the valves 3 times over the last 4 years, and that didn't take care of it. Nissans will also do this sometimes, and their techs think it's the lifters dropping overnight. I think that's a load of shi... However, certified Honda techs think it's a combination of the lifters and the valves. If you approach the problem logically, cold weather causes metal to contract. Hence, leaving more space between the shaft and the actual cylinders/lifters. Once the engine heats up, the engine rattle goes right away. My local shop keeps telling me that it may actually increase the life of the engine because the xtra space is reducing the friction although producing an annoying rattle.

 

So, you have trained mechanics telling you that it's your valves, and you don't listen to them? Get it through your thick skull!!! IT'S YOUR VALVES!!!!

Why are you supposed to do a valve adjustment on a completely cold engine? So, you have very little noise at start up, and so once it does warm up, the gap is even smaller. After sitting overnight, much of the oil drops out of the ehad, and it needs to relubricate itself. If you want to prove me wrong, before starting your car in the morning, drain a quart of oil, and put a fresh quart into the fill hole. If the noise is any more quiet than normal, I'm right.

 

pretty sure it has to do with expansion and contraction, dont think there's much that can be done about it. my car has been doing it for about 3 years, and valve adjustments don't help

 

Get a new engine. You need a swap anyway.

 

You are hearing the characteristic cold engine piston slap. This is a characteristic of the Civic's especially. Honda has stated this several times in some of their correspondants to us at the dealership. You can do nothing about it.

Craig