I'm beginning to think it is piston slap... I changed over to 10W30 Mobile 1 and the noise I was hearing is no more.

 

How long has your car had the noise and at what point did you make the viscosity switch? Also, I wonder if the 10 weight oil could have any negative effects.

 

The only times that I ever noticed the sound was immediately after startup on very cold mornings.. If I didn't drive right off and let the engine idle it would quieten down when the revs dropped... It was worse with 0W20 than with 5W20 and not at all noticeable using 10W30... Other than a loss of 2 or 3 MPG with the 10W30 there is nothing else I can complain about. When my car was almost new and nearly in it's stock form I could tell that there was a loss of power when I tried using 10 W 30.

 

I just posted my video up on the other thread, so this is a repeat. Just wanted to see if this sound is similar to what other people are experiencing. The metallic rapping doesn't show up until about 1:07 in the video. Best if you use earphones.

As I said, the dealership acknowledged that they heard the noise, but they don't know what the cause is. They said that they don't believe there's anything wrong since they started up other Fits on their lot and all of them made a similar noise.

YouTube - 2008 Honda Fit - Cold Idle Noise

 

I have some sort of engine noise, too. Worse when warm, not at cold start-up. Also, mine is, for the moment, intermittent.

Re the above statement: Techs often say such things to me, too. I don't know how anyone can become a tech with methods like this.

 

Thats a good experiment and suggests that the oil pressure is inadeqate where it counts and the knocking is piston knock from inadequate lubrication. Check your actual oil pressure with a remote gauge to see if the pressure is adequate or if is tapped to the sender perhaps there is an unwarranted pressure drop in the oil gallery.
Wish I could say otherwise but Honda SQC appears to be faltering like their product development.
Even at idle there should be at least 20 psig.

 

To me it sounds normal if you look at the 8th gen civic forum you'll hear from people that say Honda engines absolutely hate the cold & cold starts. I'm using Honda Idemitsu 0w20 which flows great during cold and mine sounds similar but not as loud.

 

If I can find my stethoscope I will see if I can get an idea where any kind of noise is coming from... It should be pretty cold in the morning and that is when people always notice the elusive mechanical sound... I am almost sure that it was loudest at the EGR valve and the throttle body.

 

Good deal, Coyote.

What your MY? '07-'08?

 

I posted this in the 'Check out this noise thread' but figured it wouldn't hurt here either:

So, I just picked up a religiously maintained 2007 Sport Auto from my good friend (I sold the car to him brand new) with 121K on it. The car runs and drives beautifully, but makes a very similar (if not identical) knocking noise WHEN THE ENGINE IS WARM...it does not seem to make it (Or at least I cannot hear it) during cold start, but is noticeable after a minute or so once the 'Cold Engine' indicator turns off and the idle settles down. My car has had tons of oil changes, the valves adjusted, plugs done, etc.

It does seem to go away if I rev the engine, but stays present at idle even after driving the car.

I've gone through this thread fairly thoroughly, is this something to worry about? Has it been confirmed that an engine failure is imminent? Any advice appreciated.

P.S. Last night I had our master technician go through the entire car, he even used a stethoscope-type tool to listen inside the engine; he said the noise is certainly noticeable but not crazy loud to him; noted that it sounds similar to a 'rod knock' as mentioned in this thread. Other than worn original shocks and the control arm bushings having some play, the car checked out A-OK.

Would switching to a different grade oil help? Many thanks.

 

"Would switching to a different grade oil help?" - doubt it, what grade were you thinking of switching to? Did you run that by your tech? Sounds like you have a good little Fit.

 

Oil won't do the full trick, if it is a rod bearing or piston slap. How could it?

 

It was more just a general idea; I would much prefer to just run the factory-spec oil as it has since new. In another thread someone mentioned a different viscosity oil (5-30 or something) took care of the noise, but resulted in a 3MPG loss.

I sure hope it's a good car; just don't want to have to tear down the motor!!

 

What's a heavier weight oil supposed to do? Muffle the noise?

Oil 101: You always want to use the thinnest oil possible, but no thinner. Oil's purpose is to lubricate. It must be thin enough to reach and cover the various parts and create a film. This prevents wear. That's why cold starts are the most wear on any engine--because the oil is cold and not yet thin enough to do its job.

 

It is a 07 that was purchased July 14 2006....
I was able to hear the same sound today without the stethoscope. It is definitely coming from the plastic fuel line connector under the throttle body behind the coolant line fitting.. The reason I started using heavier oil was due to high crankcase pressure when my supercharger was making boost causing oil to enter the air intake and end up going into the combustion chamber, through the exhaust and ending up coating the back of the car... Every place except North America it was impossible to find 5W20 at the time I purchased my Fit and in Europe the recommended oil weight was either 5W40 or 10W40... The developer of the Kraft Werks supercharger kits (Oscar Jackson) recommends using 10W40 weight Torco oil with the kits for the Honda Fit... I will be switching to 10W40 in the springtime or maybe sooner since I am still seeing oil droplets on the back of my car after misbehaving and using too much throttle... If my car was stock I would still be using 5W20 or 0W20 in the colder months.. If I had to spend a lot of time in stop and go driving where my engine was idling a lot I would be inclined to use higher viscosity oil during the summer.... I have to take a trip to the big city in the morning to visit grandchildren and will need to ad about 1/2 a quart of oil before I take off..

 

Thanks, Coyote.

"The plastic fuel line connector under the throttle body"? I'll have to open my Service Manual and see if I can figure out what in a fuel line would make a noise like the one I'm hearing. Also: ILoveMyHonda1984 said he was certain that his noise was coming from the bottom end of the engine. His suspicion is piston slap or something like that.

As for oil choice, I leave that to you. I'm sure you know what's best for your car.


BTW, if it is fuel line connector noise, does this mean that the noise is normal??

 

I am completely aware of this; as mentioned above another FF member put a different grade of oil in and it helped cover the noise up, but there was a loss in MPG, so I have no interest in that.

Thanks for the reply!

 

There is definite loss of fuel mileage when using higher viscosity oil but there is going to be an increase in oil pressure... I never used any oil whatsoever when my car was stock and using 5W20... I used about 4 ounces between changes with 0W20 when I was only boosting the engine at 5 PSI and the mild tune of the KWSC base kit... It's kind of true about driving a slow car fast is more fun than driving a fast car fast.. I seldom go over the posted speed limit now that I have close to 2 times the power my car came with but I drove at 90 MPH when it was stock every time I got in it.. Even when driving fast I was getting about 37 MPG or better... 33.5 MPG is the best that I can get now.. I have seen it get as low as 28 MPG..

 

Coyote safe drive tomorrow, enjoy!