[dumbtick19]

I'm at my wits end! Our 2019 Honda Passport started having a ticking noise late last year and so far two different dealerships have not fixed it. The first claimed the sound was normal and the second the technician there actually told us to stop driving it because it wasn't supposed to be making that noise, yet here I sit months later and it's still ticking. The problem seems to be that Honda corporate sent a technician and he wasn't able to reproduce the intermittent noise which means Honda corporate can't make a recommendation to fix it, therefore the dealership can say "well we tried!" and gave the car back to us. That was two days ago and while the noise seems to have gotten quieter, my wife and I have both heard it again.

I'm not sure what else to do since I've already spoken with the GM of dealership #2 and he didn't seem very interested in helping us out, saying talk to corporate about it, which I already have and they said talk to the GM of the dealership... I've also heard multiple times how everything is documented so if something were to happen, Honda will cover it. When I hear that I hear "We don't know what's wrong so lets wait until the engine blows up and your family is stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.. THEN we'll fix it."

Check out the video of the noise for yourself

and see what 11 weeks of being at dealership #2 produced for a write-up. What else do I do? Create a twitter account and start tagging Honda in it to get something to happen? I'm not sure what else to do.

 

[stevenD]

That really sucks, but if a Honda corp. Tech can't figure it out, I doubt anyone here can.

Maybe talk to a Lemon Law Attorney?

 

[dumbtick19]

It's an intermittent noise so it appears to have not happened for the Honda corp tech. The car is drivable and there doesn't appear to be any deficiencies other than the noise that comes and goes.

 

[dumbtick19]

I'm not looking for a diagnosis from you all, just some help about what to do next. It seems that any dealership I go to will defer to corporate since it's warranty work and corporate already sent someone out for 1 day when the issue didn't happen, so it seems like they've given up as well. I have a case # with corporate so do I just start pestering them everyday and asking for managers like a Karen in hopes someone will want to eventually fix this?

 

[stevenD]

Take it back to where you bought it and trade it in for a different Passport, sure you may lose some money, but it beats living with 8-10 years of aggravation...!

 

[14v6]

I don't think there's much you can do. It's probably going to come down to accepting it and tolerating it, you trade the car in or something finally breaks. The DI V6 makes lots of noises from the direct injection, the high pressure fuel pump and then there's the timing belt tensioner. I had a Ridgelnie that made a noise I was obsessed with and the PP makes the same noises so I've learned to accept it. I've read of one instance where bearing caps were replaced but that's for a low end noise. I wouldn't want that engine opened up or a short block or a replacement, it could lead to other noises.

 

[scottawinn247365]

Curious, what gas do you put into it and have you tried other types and octanes'. Some states change fuel for the season. I have noticed the owners guide says a minimum of top tear 87. I have also noticed it runs better with higher octane Top tear fuel. Not to advertise, but try putting a bottle of Chevron Techron in it. it if helps great if not you are out a few bucks.

 

[pshadoa]

I'm at my wits end! Our 2019 Honda Passport started having a ticking noise late last year and so far two different dealerships have done nothing about it. The first claimed the sound was normal and the second the technician actually told us to stop driving it because it wasn't supposed to be making that noise, yet here I sit months later and it's still ticking. The problem seems to be that Honda corporate sent a technician and he wasn't able to reproduce the intermittent noise which means Honda corporate can't make a recommendation to fix it, therefore the dealership can say "well we tried!" and gave the car back to us. That was two days ago and while the noise seems to have gotten quieter, my wife and I have both heard it again.

I'm not sure what else to do since I've already spoken with the GM of dealership #2 and he didn't seem very interested in helping us out, saying talk to corporate about it, which I already have and they said talk to the GM of the dealership... I've also heard multiple times how everything is documented so if something were to happen, Honda will cover it. When I hear that I hear "We don't know what's wrong so lets wait until the engine blows up and your family is stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.. THEN we'll fix it."

Check out the video of the noise for yourself

and see what 11 weeks of being at dealership #2 produced for a write-up. What else do I do? Create a twitter account and start tagging Honda in it to get something to happen? I'm not sure what else to do. View attachment 11733

That noise is not in any way normal for the PP engine. I am no Honda mechanic, but that noise sure sounds like valve lifters to me. I had the same noise issue with my BMW 3 Series 6 cyl engine. BMW replaced the head. I would suggest that you refer to the Owners Manual to read about the binding arbitration process that is available to you. Honda is required to agree to the process. Be sure to document everything as apparently you have. Wishing you the best of luck!

 

[dumbtick19]

Curious, what gas do you put into it and have you tried other types and octanes'. Some states change fuel for the season. I have noticed the owners guide says a minimum of top tear 87. I have also noticed it runs better with higher octane Top tear fuel. Not to advertise, but try putting a bottle of Chevron Techron in it. it if helps great if not you are out a few bucks.

I've always used ethanol'd 87 in it. I'm not familiar with what using a tank of 93 would do engine wise but anything is worth a shot at this point.

 

[mr_bots]

Maybe try to talk them into a valve lash adjustment though it's usually a maintenance item that you have to pay for.

 

[Tadakatsu]

I don't think there's much you can do. It's probably going to come down to accepting it and tolerating it, you trade the car in or something finally breaks. The DI V6 makes lots of noises from the direct injection, the high pressure fuel pump and then there's the timing belt tensioner. I had a Ridgelnie that made a noise I was obsessed with and the PP makes the same noises so I've learned to accept it. I've read of one instance where bearing caps were replaced but that's for a low end noise. I wouldn't want that engine opened up or a short block or a replacement, it could lead to other noises.

Personally I would tend to agree with this, I was just telling someone over at BITOG that was experiencing similar noises with their Hyundai GDI engine that frankly this is or at least can be considered normal with any gasoline direct injection engine especially with a timing chain. My 2012 Hyundai Accent with the 1.6L GF4D Gamma GDI engine makes similar noises and I have a two prong solution. I either change the oil or run a bottle of fuel injector cleaner or fuel system clean through the gas tank or do both and the issues go away for a few thousand miles. I also run higher octane fuel in it or ethanol free gas or high octane ethanol free gas and that helps as well. If the issue persists too long the knock sensor CEL will go off and that is the sign that it needs to be addressed immediately.

@dumbtick19 here is what I would recommend: Get a bottle of Royal Purple Max Clean fuel system cleaner and use it as recommended, I would say that this product has produced the best results of anything that I have used to include Seafoam, Techron, Berryman B12, Red Line SL1, etc. Also consider getting an oil change no matter what time and mileage you have on the current oil and oil filter. Try running some ethanol free gas if it should be available in your area and if not just try running some 91-93 octane gas through your tank, Shell VPower has produced good results for me as well.

 

[14v6]

I played the video back on another computer and I've never heard noises like that before on a DI V6. It sounds just like a timing chain on a 70's Chevy V8. Totally unacceptable that Honda could explain this away. @dumbtick19, this noise is intermittent and periodically goes away? If you go on the web, the noise yours is making seems to relate to camshaft videos. There have been instances where a keyway is broken on a camshaft but I cant find the video. Your noise does not sound timing tensioner related, it is more metallic sounding. Hopefully you can find a competent dealer. If it's one of the cams it could be an easier than expected fix. Good luck.

 

[Passporter]

Take it back to where you bought it and trade it in for a different Passport, sure you may lose some money, but it beats living with 8-10 years of aggravation...!

^this. Used car market is through the roof high values. I made 8k more than I paid on a 2020 Toyota but it’s on all used cars right now. Good time to trade up

 

[carpayments4life]

It reminds me of the ticking that 2011 - Current (noisy fuel injectors) Toyota 4Runners have.
The high fuel pressure needed for Direct Injection can cause a fuel injector to tick. Fuel injector technology is based on the "pre-DI" engine and needs to be "beefed up", to be better under high fuel pressure.

 

[RkFast]

This post is very misleading. Honda did not “ignore” your problem or “do nothing about it.” They literally tore your entire engine apart, no small process, trying to diagnose. They also sent separate field representatives out to try and help you.

It sucks you’re having this issue, but to say Honda didn’t try to help us just flat out wrong.

 

[Clentsch]

I had a 2004 VW Touareg that started making a similar noise at 125000 miles. It did it for 3-4 minutes only when starting the engine from cold. Brought it to the dealer and was told it was of no concern.
About a month later, the engine blew. The ticking noise was the automatic timing belt tensioner failing.
When the car died, I had it towed to the closest import auto repair joint. When they opened it up, they said the tensioner was original, and should have been replaced when the timing belt was replaced.
I went back to the dealer that did the timing belt replacement and complained. They shrugged it off saying it was my responsibility to make sure they did all the correct items at the 100,000 service.
I fought VW USA for about a month and gave up after consulting with a lawyer that said it would cost more to fight it than the $7,000 new engine cost.
I sold the car for parts and would never consider purchasing a VW / Audi / Porsche between now and the end of time

 

[dumbtick19]

This post is very misleading. Honda did not “ignore” your problem or “do nothing about it.” They literally tore your entire engine apart, no small process, trying to diagnose. They also sent separate field representatives out to try and help you.

It sucks you’re having this issue, but to say Honda didn’t try to help us just flat out wrong.

You're right, the second dealership did do diagnostic work on it and using that wording was a mistake. What I meant to say was they haven't fixed it and have no plans to. While they did remove the valve cover and adjust the valves, within 2 days the noise came back so I'd expect more work to be done in the 11 total weeks they had the car.

I find it odd that one person from Honda did not hear the intermittent noise during the one day they were there, therefore the dealership is saying there's nothing to do. When they've had the car for 11 weeks, have heard the sound multiple times, have a video of the sound, and then someone shows up one day and can't reproduce it I'd expect the dealership to step up and show them what they've found. That didn't happen so I won't be going back to that dealership but the issue still stands that it intermittently ticks while driving and there is no plan to address it by the dealership or Honda itself.

 

[dumbtick19]

Personally I would tend to agree with this, I was just telling someone over at BITOG that was experiencing similar noises with their Hyundai GDI engine that frankly this is or at least can be considered normal with any gasoline direct injection engine especially with a timing chain. My 2012 Hyundai Accent with the 1.6L GF4D Gamma GDI engine makes similar noises and I have a two prong solution. I either change the oil or run a bottle of fuel injector cleaner or fuel system clean through the gas tank or do both and the issues go away for a few thousand miles. I also run higher octane fuel in it or ethanol free gas or high octane ethanol free gas and that helps as well. If the issue persists too long the knock sensor CEL will go off and that is the sign that it needs to be addressed immediately.

@dumbtick19 here is what I would recommend: Get a bottle of Royal Purple Max Clean fuel system cleaner and use it as recommended, I would say that this product has produced the best results of anything that I have used to include Seafoam, Techron, Berryman B12, Red Line SL1, etc. Also consider getting an oil change no matter what time and mileage you have on the current oil and oil filter. Try running some ethanol free gas if it should be available in your area and if not just try running some 91-93 octane gas through your tank, Shell VPower has produced good results for me as well.

Thanks for the insight. Haven't done the fuel cleaner yet but getting an oil change scheduled and am half a tank through ethanol'd 91 with no change.

 

[dumbtick19]

I played the video back on another computer and I've never heard noises like that before on a DI V6. It sounds just like a timing chain on a 70's Chevy V8. Totally unacceptable that Honda could explain this away. @dumbtick19, this noise is intermittent and periodically goes away? If you go on the web, the noise yours is making seems to relate to camshaft videos. There have been instances where a keyway is broken on a camshaft but I cant find the video. Your noise does not sound timing tensioner related, it is more metallic sounding. Hopefully you can find a competent dealer. If it's one of the cams it could be an easier than expected fix. Good luck.

The noise comes and goes at will but is relative to the RPM of the engine and no apparent relation to throttle. It can happen for a 20 minute drive, not at all, show up half way through the drive then disappear just as quickly.. it's super strange.

 

[Uncle Gloomy]

I'm at my wits end! Our 2019 Honda Passport started having a ticking noise late last year and so far two different dealerships have not fixed it. The first claimed the sound was normal and the second the technician there actually told us to stop driving it because it wasn't supposed to be making that noise, yet here I sit months later and it's still ticking. The problem seems to be that Honda corporate sent a technician and he wasn't able to reproduce the intermittent noise which means Honda corporate can't make a recommendation to fix it, therefore the dealership can say "well we tried!" and gave the car back to us. That was two days ago and while the noise seems to have gotten quieter, my wife and I have both heard it again.

I'm not sure what else to do since I've already spoken with the GM of dealership #2 and he didn't seem very interested in helping us out, saying talk to corporate about it, which I already have and they said talk to the GM of the dealership... I've also heard multiple times how everything is documented so if something were to happen, Honda will cover it. When I hear that I hear "We don't know what's wrong so lets wait until the engine blows up and your family is stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.. THEN we'll fix it."

Check out the video of the noise for yourself

and see what 11 weeks of being at dealership #2 produced for a write-up. What else do I do? Create a twitter account and start tagging Honda in it to get something to happen? I'm not sure what else to do. View attachment 11733

I have heard that sound before on my Moms old 2009 accord 4 cylinder and my Ridgeline 2019 did it as well I was told by my Honda dealer it was the (Direct) fuel injectors, they make that sound because it has higher fuel pressures...