Heavy noise of ICE engine in winter

J

JKroll

Member
Just noticed heavy noise when ICE engine running .. we are in 10-20 F weather now

Initially thought the noise was coming from outside some truck or something .. was shocked how loud the engine noise had become

Anyone else notice that? Car has about 92 k ... I dont remember it being this loud earlier 3-4 years ago. There is always noise with these PHEV motors but this was too loud
 
Just a thought...

At 92K miles, there is a good chance that your valves need to be adjusted.
If the valve adjustment is off, it will likely be noisier when it is cold.

I have not experienced this with our Clarity, but we only have ~40K miles.
If you are unfamiliar, valve noise manifests itself as a sort of clicking / clattering noise.
How would you characterize this noise? Would it fit the 'clicking' / 'clattering' description?
 
I've never found my Clarities engine to be very smooth or refined. It's always been ticky, stumbled during idle, etc. It no longer bothers me, the engine has been through so many hours of wide open throttle (or near) that it seems to be built well.
Can't say the same for the transmission, though.
 
TC1782 said:
I've never found my Clarities engine to be very smooth or refined. It's always been ticky, stumbled during idle, etc. It no longer bothers me, the engine has been through so many hours of wide open throttle (or near) that it seems to be built well.
Can't say the same for the transmission, though.
Click to expand...
I didn't know the Clarity PHEV had a transmission. What problems have you experienced?
 
insightman said:
I didn't know the Clarity PHEV had a transmission. What problems have you experienced?
Click to expand...
Clunking when shifting gears, moving from "power" to "regen", rough engagement into and out of direct drive. Replaced everything except the transmission so that's almost certainly the cause.
 
noise is louder at lower speeds below 40 mph .. maybe once engine gets heated at 60-65 the noise reduces considerably .. sound is more like a blender
 
TC1782 said:
Clunking when shifting gears, moving from "power" to "regen", rough engagement into and out of direct drive. Replaced everything except the transmission so that's almost certainly the cause.
Click to expand...
I don't know what would clunk when shifting gears (there aren't any gears to shift, are there?), but hearing something when transitioning from "power" to "regen," or when the direct-drive clutch engages might indicate a problem with the engine mounts. However, if you have replaced the engine mounts, that can't be the problem.
 
This is a normal phenomenon in cold temperatures. The engine must work harder to maintain the battery pack’s state of charge (SOC), as the pack is under increased load in cold conditions due to climate control use.

With 92k miles, the battery pack is also entering the later stage of its service life. Combined with the higher energy demand from heating the cabin and increased internal resistance from aging, the engine is required to rev faster for a higher output to compensate.
 
JKroll said:
noise is louder at lower speeds below 40 mph .. maybe once engine gets heated at 60-65 the noise reduces considerably .. sound is more like a blender
Click to expand...
Sounds about right.
insightman said:
I don't know what would clunk when shifting gears (there aren't any gears to shift, are there?), but hearing something when transitioning from "power" to "regen," or when the direct-drive clutch engages might indicate a problem with the engine mounts. However, if you have replaced the engine mounts, that can't be the problem.
Click to expand...
There aren't any "gears" to shift to, but that doesn't mean there can't be too much play somewhere in the transmission. When the motor switches direction a clunk occurs as the gears slam.
All 3 motor mounts have been replaced, and the CV axles.
 
JKroll said:
Just noticed heavy noise when ICE engine running .. we are in 10-20 F weather now

Initially thought the noise was coming from outside some truck or something .. was shocked how loud the engine noise had become

Anyone else notice that? Car has about 92 k ... I dont remember it being this loud earlier 3-4 years ago. There is always noise with these PHEV motors but this was too loud
Click to expand...
What was the state of the HV battery? I don't run the gas engine with the HV battery depleted as mine is pretty loud if I do that.
 
JKroll said:
how do u check hv battery?

I had zero EV miles left and it switched to ICE engine
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I meant the state of charge of the HV battery. If you had zero EV miles left, then the battery was fully depleted.

Here's what I do when driving the Clarity:

If I will be taking a trip where I know I will be driving more miles than the HV battery will provide, I will start the trip in EV mode and drive about 10 miles in EV. (The reason to start the trip in EV mode is to get some room in the battery for regen energy to go back into the battery when you go down hills or decelerate - 8 to 10 miles will give you about 25% of the battery available for this). Then switch to HV mode. This will start the gasoline engine (again with the HV battery at near 75% charge). When I am within 25-30 miles to where I will charge the car, I will switch back to EV mode and deplete the battery to near zero by the time I arrive, aiming to still be running in EV mode at the time I reach the destination. If it looks like I switched back to EV too soon and I won't have enough battery to make it, I will switch back to HV mode, run a few more miles on gas, then switch back to EV and complete the trip. You might "waste" a couple of miles of EV mode (arrive with a couple of miles still on the battery) doing this, but you won't have the loud gasoline engine operation, and you will have adequate power available if you need to pass a car or climb a small hill at the end of the drive.
The goal is to not operate the gas engine with a depleted or nearly depleted HV battery.
Hope that helps.
Robert
 
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Robert_Alabama said:
I meant the state of charge of the HV battery. If you had zero EV miles left, then the battery was fully depleted.

Here's what I do when driving the Clarity:

If I will be taking a trip where I know I will be driving more miles than the HV battery will provide, I will start the trip in EV mode and drive about 10 miles in EV. (The reason to start the trip in EV mode is to get some room in the battery for regen energy to go back into the battery when you go down hills or decelerate - 8 to 10 miles will give you about 25% of the battery available for this). Then switch to HV mode. This will start the gasoline engine (again with the HV battery at near 75% charge). When I am within 25-30 miles to where I will charge the car, I will switch back to EV mode and deplete the battery to near zero by the time I arrive, aiming to still be running in EV mode at the time I reach the destination. If it looks like I switched back to EV too soon and I won't have enough battery to make it, I will switch back to HV mode, run a few more miles on gas, then switch back to EV and complete the trip. You might "waste" a couple of miles of EV mode (arrive with a couple of miles still on the battery) doing this, but you won't have the loud gasoline engine operation, and you will have adequate power available if you need to pass a car or climb a small hill at the end of the drive.
The goal is to not operate the gas engine with a depleted or nearly depleted HV battery.
Hope that helps.
Robert
Click to expand...
thats a problem and Honda should have never let it go to zero in first place.

I am ok with the workaround since its normal for this car
 
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