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[acura]

Hi, I have a rattle which seems to be from the top of the engine. I'm pretty sure its not lifters as they seem fairly quiet when listened to closely.

From a cold start there is a tap which I first thought was a lazy lifter but it actually sounds like a put put sort of sound. This lasts a few seconds then goes quiet.

When the engine is hot there is a rattle which develops and is pronounced on idle, it clears when the engine speed increases but returns if the engine is revved hard.

When I drive the car I can hear (just) from inside and it is audible when accelerating but not when decelerating or cruising.

Could this be the blow being more prominent when the engine is under load? I'm pretty sure it can only be this, there is no difference in noise with the aux drive belt off and the timing belt, tensioner, rollers and water pump have been done only a few weeks.

Car runs fine but when holding the revs fairly high in neutral I can detect a slight misfire.

Any thoughts anyone? Sorry about the long post.

[Abiton]

Take the heatshield off the exhaust manifold and look for cracks, and particularly, broken studs. 

[Welung666]

Do as Abiton suggests, also might be worth ordering a new manifold gasket too. I did a members gasket Sunday and found 3 broken studs, so my stud extractors are going to get a workout this weekend

[acura]

Cheers, will do.

From that reply do I assume the symptoms sound like a manifold leak to you also?

Is there enough room to get a drill in to remove the broken studs?

Cheers.

[Abiton]

Drilling (in situ) is a real last resort, but yes, it can be done.

I also have a drilling-jig if it should happen to be (just)the front-most stud (and stud positions are all exactly the same on 2.2s as on 2.0s).  Need a really short power drill, or some sort of right-angle converter thingy.  And a really steady hand with a tap afterwards.

It might be a gasket/manifold leak, but I'm sure there are other possibilities.

[acura]

Hi again,

I removed the heat shield from the exhaust manifold and all the studs (with nuts on) were there. There is a slight blow which only makes itself known when the engine is revved or immediately after starting up.

I guess there is no immediate panic to sort this but I will have to get round to it.

2 questions: 1, is there a strong likelyhood of studs breaking off flush with the cylinder head when the nuts are removed?
2, to get snapped studs out, does this mean cylinder head removal?

Obviously loads of plus gas the night before starting will help but are there any precautions I should take before starting this or should I go with an engine shop and bite the bullet over the bill?

Thanks for any suggestions chaps. 

[minihero]

hi, sorry for jacking the post but i have the same on my v6 a very nasty rattleing noise when i accelerate hard from the engine (not cambelt done that few months ago to try to clear the noise) is it possible its the sam fault?

[Abiton]

Hi again,

I removed the heat shield from the exhaust manifold and all the studs (with nuts on) were there. There is a slight blow which only makes itself known when the engine is revved or immediately after starting up.

I guess there is no immediate panic to sort this but I will have to get round to it.

2 questions: 1, is there a strong likelyhood of studs breaking off flush with the cylinder head when the nuts are removed?
2, to get snapped studs out, does this mean cylinder head removal?

Obviously loads of plus gas the night before starting will help but are there any precautions I should take before starting this or should I go with an engine shop and bite the bullet over the bill?

Thanks for any suggestions chaps. 

No, I'd say you won't have too much trouble.  On our '96 car, all the studs except the sheared one came out relatively easily.  With yours being an '02 I'd hope you'd have a pretty low likelihood of problems. 

[acura]

Thanks Abiton, I'll order the bits and crack on as soon as I get some time.

Minihero, sounds like you have a similar problem to me but you need to listen closely, preferably with the heat shield removed to pinpoint the noise. I originally thought I had a lifter problem but it seems to be the manifold gasket.

[JamesV6CDX]

absolutely soak those studs in plusgas before attempting to remove 

[acura]

Cheers all for the advice.

Just a thought, has anyone ever used a splitter on the nuts to prevent the possibility of shearing the threads, or is there an issue with there being enough room to use one?

[Welung666]

Cheers all for the advice.

Just a thought, has anyone ever used a splitter on the nuts to prevent the possibility of shearing the threads, or is there an issue with there being enough room to use one?

Exactly that, no room at all. If you do them from cold them use plusgas, I will say though, it'll smell for a couple of days afterwards as it burns of but it'll reduce the chances greatly