2000 ACURA INTEGRA GS-R NOISY Distributor – ONLY ON START-UP

Hello, I have a 2000 Acura Integra GS-R with 120k miles on it. The car is in mint condition, runs very smooth and strong, perfect in pretty much every way except one issue. Upon cold start up, the distributor sounds unusually noisy, it emits a loud crackling /ticking/ rattle type sound, the sound is in sync with the rotation of the engine at idle. The engine itself is very quiet and smooth. I have adjusted the valve clearances a few months back installed a new timing belt with water pump and tensioner in recent months. The noise I am hearing is coming from the back of the distributor. I put my ear to a long screwdriver to verify. The most odd thing is that it becomes dead quiet after about 3-5 minutes of warm up. You don’t hear a peep of noise once warmed up. I tried swapping out the distributor cap, ignition rotor, and coil just for good measure, everything in the distributor looks really new , it might be an aftermarket distributor as it looks too new to be the original. I have owned the car for 1 year. There is no odd sound coming from anywhere around the engine, and most parts have been replaced with new – injectors, spark plugs, alternator, ignition wires ignition timing set, valve clearance done, plus the other replacement items I’ve noted above. The engine runs and sounds almost brand new, you would never guess it was 19 years old, tranny and clutch feel great. Noisy distributor for about 3-5 minutes on start up then it goes dead quiet. Any idea of what might cause such an issue. I’ve owned 20 Hondas in the past and never had anything like this. If it was noisy all the time I would totally understand and attribute it to the bearing, but it runs great and is quiet once warmed up. The noise is not coming from the engine, only the distributor housing.

I’ve taken the distributor completely out of the car, there are no leaks internally in the distributor, no red dust or metal shavings. The oil seal o-ring does not leak externally, the rear shaft bearing feels tight – the one with the c-clip on it, so nothing out of the ordinary and nothing feels loose or worn. It looks rather new and no signs of obvious wear. The issue doesn’t bother me much other than me worrying about the distributor self-destructing and wearing out later down the road, I do hate the noise on cold start as it gives an otherwise pristine motor an odd diesel like sound. It goes completely away after warm up and is perfectly quiet when driving down the road even to 8k rpms. A bit stumped, thanks for any advice on this, hopping someone has heard of this on other integras or Hondas with distributors.

Seeing as Eric has an identical GS-R and has worked on them for years , hoping he might have some insight on this odd issue.

Thanks for reading

Joey