I have a 2010 Honda Accord that is having issues with metal rattling when there is cold weather. I believe the rattling is coming from the heat plates where the exhaust pipe starts. However, I have taken it to the Honda Dealership in San Antonio. They cannot find where the noise is coming from the car. The issue has been occurring for the last 2 years. On top of that, my oil light is coming on. I am not sure if the oil light and the heavy metal rattling are linked (properly not). I would like to get this fixed. Any insight or help is greatly appreciated.
Have you checked your oil level?
The rattling is probably a rusted-through weld on a heat shield. You can just rip the shield off if you don’t want to replace it.
That oil light (actually a warning of low oil pressure) is the automotive equivalent of chest pains.
In other words, while it is not necessarily a sure indication of impending death, it is VERY unwise to ignore it.
There is a possibility that your engine’s oil pressure sensor is defective. That would be the good news, so to speak, but only a mechanic who can examine the engine can tell for sure if that is the problem.
There is also a strong possibility of one of the following conditions…
…a VERY low level of oil in the engine…
…an accumulation of oil sludge that is impeding oil flow…
…extreme wear of the engine’s main bearings and other friction surfaces…
…a failing oil pump (which is extremely rare)…
…and since any of these situations does spell impending doom for the engine, you would be very foolish to continue driving the car.
I would suggest the following:
Check the oil level, and–if it is low–add the proper specification oil necessary in order to bring the level up to the full mark on the dipstick. Then, restart the engine and see if the light has gone out.
If the oil level is normal, do not start the engine, and instead, have the car towed to a competent mechanic (That means NOT going to a chain operation like Sears, Midas, Meineke, Monro, Pep Boys, or AAMCO)
Please report back to us on what you found when you checked the dipstick, and also please give us a report on the actual maintenance that the car has had over the past 3 years. A statement such as, “it has been well-maintained” is not what we need. You need to give us specifics on the maintenance procedures that have been done over the past 3 years.
Good luck!
Address the oil light first then rattle. If the oil is worst cast it explains the rattle.
How many miles on this car? If <=60k it has a powertrain warranty and dealer should check out the oil light.
The test is using a mechanical oil pressure gauge to see if oil pressure is actually low or sensor has failed reading falsely. If oil pressure if low it turns expensive likely unless warranty is there.
Have you changed the oil regularly and how many miles on this car?
“60k it has a powertrain warranty and dealer should check out the oil light.”
+1
However, depending on how the car has been maintained, it is possible that the warranty has been voided as a result of negligence.
@jcamb321–What can you tell us about the car’s maintenance over the past 3 years?
According to the “tag” it’s over the 60K warranty limit.
You’ve gotten excellent advice on this thread. Until the oil pressure problem is properly diagnosed, I would proceed on the assumption that the two problems are related. Your engine is full of things that will make rattling noises if started without lubrication. The worst are the rod and main bearings. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
Sincere best of luck with this.
"According to the “tag” it’s over the 60K warranty limit."
The same tags are appearing on almost all posts recently, and unless there is some unusual coincidence, the “78014” tag is not the vehicle’s odometer mileage. When I started the Tesla thread and the small Jeep thread, I decided to delete the tags that automatically came up, namely “shocks” & “78014”.
@cdaquila–Why do those tags show up automatically on all new threads?
Thanks VDC.
I’m looking forward to finding out why they appear too. I assumed it was the mileage.
That oil light is a problem and especially so seeing as how it’s been going on for 2 years.
If the engine has not had regular oil changes and with no documentation to back up maintenance claims then any pleas for warranty repairs will probably fall on deaf ears; as they should.
On a scale of 1 to 10, your rattling is a 1 and your oil light is a 9.5. !0 would be a blown engine.
How mysterious. Let me look into this!
Yup!
It is still happening. If you take a look at the most recent thread http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/2297298/2003-mazda-pickup#latest you will see that it is tagged with the same tags as this thread, namely “shocks” and that mysterious “78014”.
???
Try now – support got back to me and said there was a weird database error that caused it.
Let me know if you still see it!
Yup!
Those tags are still present.
Maybe they won’t appear on new threads, but they are still appearing on this thread.
@cdaquila
The tags are not present on new threads
I just checked
Thanks for checking!
Hmmm…Is this going to be just another “drive-by” thread, or is the OP going to return and answer the questions that we posed?
??
If he is still checking, I would like to point out that if it has a 4 cylinder engine, it has a timing chain that is lubricated by the oil pump. If the oil pump is defective, then the timing chain is not getting lubricated so the guides would wear out quickly, hence a link between the cold weather rattling and oil light.
The cause, I can’t say. Could be lack of maintenance or a factory defect.
Hello, all;
Sorry for not responsing sooner. The car has 88, 000 miles already. The car maintenance has been regular. Nothing out of the ordinary. I have just done oil changes, tires, and brakes in the five years since I have had the car. On a very cold day the rattling can get to a 8, 9. However, after the car warms up it goes away. Buy after a while the noise does come back.
Also, thank you all for your help!!!
I’m glad you’re still with us.
To me, the melat clanging and the rattling are confirming that your oil pressure sensor and gage are functioning properly and you truly do have low pressure when starting and when hot. These are classic signs of oil depletion due to the pump having difficulty creating and maintaining pressure. I’d suspect neglect as a root cause. How well has the vehicle been maintained? Have you allowed it to run low on oil? Has it run out of oil?