Anyone who is experiencing a metalic rattle from the engine compartment at certain RPMs should check the heat shield that seperates the exhaust side of the engine from the rest of the engine compartment. Mine was touching the bolt on a valve control cable on the (heater?) hose that comes out of the firewall. This scratched the heat shield which my kindly Honda dealer is replacing under waranty. The shield is easy to bend so it does not touch so even if you don't have the rattle yet check the clearance before it gets scratched.

 

I've heard a sound on mine that could very well be the exhaust shield. I've brought it up before on this forum and nobody had noticed anything like it. I get the sound between 2500 and 3000 rpms with just a tiny bit of throttle. Any other engine speed or giving it more or less throttle and it goes away.

I'll have to see if I can make it go away now.

 

Well, I just had a peek in my engine compartment and there was evidence of very minor scratching on the heat shield from the pin or rod sticking out of the heater temperature control, even though it was almost half an inch away. I applied a little bit of pressure to the black heat shield and moved it away a little bit more and now the sound is completely gone.

Thank you for finding the cause of this minor rattle that has been annoying me for over a year now.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by scottrnelson
[B]Well, I just had a peek in my engine compartment and there was evidence of very minor scratching on the heat shield from the pin or rod sticking out of the heater temperature control, even though it was almost half an inch away.