# 2008 Honda Accord Sdn - Rattle at startup **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** honda\ **Created:** [November 23, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-honda-accord-sdn-rattle-at-startup/153410 "2019-11-23T19:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WarrenWoodbury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e0b2c6/32.png) [@WarrenWoodbury](https://community.cartalk.com/u/WarrenWoodbury)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-honda-accord-sdn-rattle-at-startup/153410/1 "2019-11-23T19:58:01Z")
We have two 2008 Honda Accords, one for each college student daughter. Both have the 2.4L 4 cylinder engine and are in the vicinity of 150K miles. Both cars, when started cold, have a nasty sounding rattle for about a half second. It does not happen when the engines are warm. A local independent Honda-specific repair shop says it is the VTC actuator, and that it is a common issue with these engines. The repair entails a complete valve adjustment and runs about $600. The local Honda dealer agrees, but the service advisor told me that he has never seen this condition actually lead to a catastrophic failure. So, considering these cars are intended mainly to get our daughters through their college years, is this a high priority repair? ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2008-honda-accord-sdn-rattle-at-startup/153410/2 "2019-11-23T22:02:44Z")
Yes, it is. Why would you put off any needed repair? In the grand scheme of things $600 is a pretty cheap repair these days. If you can hear a rattle, there is damage being done. Ignore the service advisor, he is not a mechanic.