Fluttering on first start of the day

1022 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by interpon, Oct 11, 2015

newman

Discussion Starter · Sep 27, 2015

Hello all, new member, first post.

I purchased a 2008 RTL (navi+sunroof) back in May with 150k miles on it. Immaculate condition. Recently I've noticed a "fluttering" sound on the first start of the day, and only the first start of the day. After a couple of minutes it goes away. Truck runs good, starts good but I can't figure out what's causing this noise. Has anyone else experienced this?

Before I purchased the truck I had it looked over very well by a certified Honda tech. There was no record of the timing belt being changed but he opened it up and said the belt was too new to be stock. My first though when I heard this noise was the hydraulic tensioner but I can't pinpoint the noise is coming from that side of the engine. I would think with a tensioner it would happen more often that just the first start and would not go away after a couple of minutes.

Any help is appreciated.

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speedlever

· #2 · Sep 28, 2015

Welcome to the ROC newman.

I don't know how you can tell by looking at a timing belt if it is new or not. And there's a ton of work that has to be done to open it up to get to it as well. So I have strong doubts that he actually looked at the timing belt. Is there any record on a Carfax that shows what maintenance has been done on your RL?

OTOH, the serpentine belt is easy to get to and see. Just sayin'.

My 2006 Pilot has a fluttering sound.. but it's related to the HVAC system. Without hearing your particular sound, it would be difficult to diagnose over the 'net.

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newman

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 28, 2015

speedlever said:
I don't know how you can tell by looking at a timing belt if it is new or not. And there's a ton of work that has to be done to open it up to get to it as well. So I have strong doubts that he actually looked at the timing belt. Is there any record on a Carfax that shows what maintenance has been done on your RL?

OTOH, the serpentine belt is easy to get to and see. Just sayin'.

I agree with you 100%. The garage did quote me to install a new timing belt if I chose to go that route but flat out told me he was confident it was not original. A garage that tries to encourage me that something is not needed instead of inflating a job gives me reason to trust what he found. He did have the top cover off so assuming he could inspect part of the belt from there - I could be wrong. He did put a new serpentine belt on though.

Yes, we got a carfax and it had a lot of data about service but the timing belt was not on it. There was a period of a few years where it didn't show the service around the time that it was due.

speedlever said:
My 2006 Pilot has a fluttering sound.. but it's related to the HVAC system. Without hearing your particular sound, it would be difficult to diagnose over the 'net.

Yes. I was more hoping the fact that the sound goes away after a minute or two would be a sign of something.

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henni

· #4 · Sep 28, 2015

Were the plugs replaced and checked for proper torque ?

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Dnick

· #5 · Oct 11, 2015

Similar to what Speed said, when I hear "fluttering", I think A/C / heater issue. I think there's a "balancing door" or something like that down below that goes awry.
Does your noise come from the lower area below the dash, or from under the hood?

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interpon

· #6 · Oct 11, 2015

Loose heat shield would be my guess

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