Waste Gate Rattle Noise

[RubiRed]

I'm observing the infamous waste gate actuator rattle noise. This noise was present on day one of owning the FL5. It sounds just like metal-on-metal scraping and I thought it was the front brakes at first but I'm near certain it's the turbo waste gate issue that FK8 owners have experienced. This can't be normal/acceptable from Honda, can it? Do others hear it as loud?

Steps:
1. Turn off radio and roll down your windows
2. Drive at normal speeds in 1st/2nd/3rd/4th gear
3. Let off the gas and coast
4. It goes away when engine nears idling RPM or when you step on the gas

Sound comes from engine compartment. In person I can hear loud high pitch noise from the cabin clearly. Unfortunately phone microphone pics up wind noise so taped a recorder in the engine bay to capture it.

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[CTR]

Normal. I'm not sure what you are trying to prove here. It's just the downside of a modern turbocharged car with an electronic wastegate.

 

[007]

This reminds me of the BMW models fitted with the N54 and N55 engines, especially the 335i, which were widely reported to have noisy valve lifters or rocker arms. This resulted in the notorious 'lifter tick' or 'lifter rattle.' Surprisingly, this was also considered normal. I'm aware of cars with several hundred thousand miles on them that still exhibit that noise.

 

[optronix]

Yeah, my ITS has a very similar noise produced under similar conditions. I think mine is actually louder though. If I actively try to make the noise between ~3500-4k rpm, it reverberates through the pedal and cabin and is REALLY damn annoying.

There are times I drive it and don't really notice it. There are other times I drive it and it drives me up the damn wall.

I would like the car more if it went away. I don't care if it's normal or not, I don't like it, and I've owned a shitload of other turbo cars that didn't make this sound.

 

[NoelPR]

Yeah, my ITS has a very similar noise produced under similar conditions. I think mine is actually louder though. If I actively try to make the noise between ~3500-4k rpm, it reverberates through the pedal and cabin and is REALLY damn annoying.

There are times I drive it and don't really notice it. There are other times I drive it and it drives me up the damn wall.

I would like the car more if it went away. I don't care if it's normal or not, I don't like it, and I've owned a shitload of other turbo cars that didn't make this sound.

Mine too

 

[Kfo_cpa]

Mine is the same. I thought I had a rock stuck in the rotor at first.

 

[Clark_Kent]

@RubiRed Well done! Not sure I've seen a video capturing the wastegate rattle this well. I also appreciate the ingenuity of overlaying the oscilloscope output onto the video.

 

[RubiRed]

Thanks for confirming this isn't unique to my car. I agree with @optronix, whether others experience this or not, it's certainly annoying in an otherwise great driving experience. I'm curious are there any FL5s that don't exhibit this noise with the windows down (wondering if this is 100% or 25% of cars)?

I've only owned NA engines prior so this was a surprise. This noise is akin to hearing a pebble scrape your rotor all around town. Is there a technical reason electronic wastegate would need to make this high pitch rattle noise? Why doesn't Honda design this characteristic out?

 

[albi]

Thanks for confirming this isn't unique to my car. I agree with @optronix, whether others experience this or not, it's certainly annoying in an otherwise great driving experience. I'm curious are there any FL5s that don't exhibit this noise with the windows down (wondering if this is 100% or 25% of cars)?

I've only owned NA engines prior so this was a surprise. This noise is akin to hearing a pebble scrape your rotor all around town. Is there a technical reason electronic wastegate would need to make this high pitch rattle noise? Why doesn't Honda design this characteristic out?

It is 100% of all R's (FK8 or FL5). As @CTR stated, it comes with owning modern turbo with electronic wastegate. The noise is vibration from exhaust pressure.

 

[optronix]

It is 100% of all R's (FK8 or FL5). As @CTR stated, it comes with owning modern turbo with electronic wastegate. The noise is vibration from exhaust pressure.

This is just such a tough pill to swallow... what's "modern"? I have a 23 Macan GTS that exhibits no such noise. 2021 RS5- exact same engine as the Macan so probably shouldn't have even typed this... 2019 718 GTS. That thing made a lot of unpleasant noises but none seemed "wrong" like this one...

991.2 Carrera S- no issues at all.
F82 M4- no issues at all

I will say that I had a 2015 STI that made a similar noise that drove me absolutely apeshit. But it didn't start doing it til I started modding it, so I figured I screwed something up. It sounded sort of like a heat shield rattle and was sort of intermittent- maybe that was a wastegate issue. But even though the car is "semi-modern" from 2015 (almost a decade ago...), that engine was ANCIENT so I doubt that's what we're talking about with modern turbo engines...

I even had an E92 335i that apparently had a notorious wastegate rattle that if I recall correctly was under warranty. I don't believe that was electronic either (could be wrong- don't feel like googling) hence maybe why it was covered under warranty? Anyway, it probably made a noise but it wasn't nearly as significant as the noise my ITS makes so it didn't bother me at all.

This noise is the only thing I don't absolutely love about the car. I didn't have any intentions of modding but I'd happily swap out the turbo if it would just get rid of the damn noise.

 

[albi]

This is just such a tough pill to swallow... what's "modern"? I have a 23 Macan GTS that exhibits no such noise. 2021 RS5- exact same engine as the Macan so probably shouldn't have even typed this... 2019 718 GTS. That thing made a lot of unpleasant noises but none seemed "wrong" like this one...

991.2 Carrera S- no issues at all.
F82 M4- no issues at all

I will say that I had a 2015 STI that made a similar noise that drove me absolutely apeshit. But it didn't start doing it til I started modding it, so I figured I screwed something up. It sounded sort of like a heat shield rattle and was sort of intermittent- maybe that was a wastegate issue. But even though the car is "semi-modern" from 2015 (almost a decade ago...), that engine was ANCIENT so I doubt that's what we're talking about with modern turbo engines...

I even had an E92 335i that apparently had a notorious wastegate rattle that if I recall correctly was under warranty. I don't believe that was electronic either (could be wrong- don't feel like googling) hence maybe why it was covered under warranty? Anyway, it probably made a noise but it wasn't nearly as significant as the noise my ITS makes so it didn't bother me at all.

This noise is the only thing I don't absolutely love about the car. I didn't have any intentions of modding but I'd happily swap out the turbo if it would just get rid of the damn noise.

Get you a dp and exhaust and you won't hear it anymore

 

[optronix]

Get you a dp and exhaust and you won't hear it anymore

If you're talking about drowning it out I think sadly that you're mistaken. I turn the radio up and still know it's there...

But I may do the dp and exhaust anyway.

Let me be clear- this isn't a big enough annoyance to get me to consider another car, and I've been a serial car-hopper up to this point.

I would just love it if I could get this noise to go away and never come back.

 

[albi]

If you're talking about drowning it out I think sadly that you're mistaken. I turn the radio up and still know it's there...

But I may do the dp and exhaust anyway.

Let me be clear- this isn't a big enough annoyance to get me to consider another car, and I've been a serial car-hopper up to this point.

I would just love it if I could get this noise to go away and never come back.

I have a dp and exhaust and cannot hear it at all, but it was very clear when stock even with the radio up

 

[optronix]

I have a dp and exhaust and cannot hear it at all, but it was very clear when stock even with the radio up

That's interesting, and duly noted.

I was considering it anyway- I like the exhaust sound from the ITS but it could be louder. If it lessens how noticeable the wastegate noise is then it's a done deal.

Once some aftermarket options become available for the ITS, obviously.

 

[albi]

That's interesting, and duly noted.

I was considering it anyway- I like the exhaust sound from the ITS but it could be louder. If it lessens how noticeable the wastegate noise is then it's a done deal.

Once some aftermarket options become available for the ITS, obviously.

For sure, it is annoying I will be the first to admit, but something that that is noted thoroughly in the civicx forums and is not new to the FL5.

The ITS does have a much better factory exhaust so maybe you could get away with just the dp but to drown it out I would think you would need to go louder than factory. It can get pretty rowdy with the dp and exhaust combo (too loud for most I would say) but it still sounds good for being a 4 cyl (imo of course).

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