Chains, guides, tensioners, and possibly the right side VVT gear. I need to confirm the gear is bad once I open the valve covers.

 

Does this rattle last about 2.5 seconds and happen only on cold startups?

 

Yes, on cold starts and after sitting for more than about an hour or two. I started a new thread for the timing set.

 

It's one of the VVT gears itself....my '06 does this. I'd love to hear how your R&R goes!

EDIT: just saw your other thread, looks like you're all over it. This is for sure what my '06 is doing. Hard to determine what the harm of this is. People have put on 50,000+ with this condition and only fixed it for the heck of it. Carry on! I'll be following your other thread, for sure!

 

Good news on the cluster fixing at least a majority of issues. I finally got mine sent in, so hopefully that resolves some issues. Interesting it's an issue in the rain. For me it seemed to be cold.

 

How'd this all work out for you? I just go my cluster back and put about 20 miles on it, so far so good. now to worry about all the other things that it needs...

 

My cluster repair has been solid so far for 340 miles, mostly short drives of 20 miles or less. I have not had a single instance of a no-start / hazards flashing / doors locks / vehicle fault condition since I reinstalled the repaired cluster. I do continue to get what I believe are nuisance codes in the Cluster module for TPMS and Parking Sensor modules...both are "temporary" communication loss codes. They reappear each time I cycle the key from all the way off. I did discover while troubleshooting my temperature control module that when it was fully disconnected, the hazards were flashing and the doors locks were triggering. I can't remember if I tried to start it or not, but I did think it was curious. I did replace the temp module, not for comm errors, but because the refrigerant solenoid circuit was bad. I also replaced the brake switch that did have some soot buildup on one of the contacts inside.

I do believe the cluster was the no-start failure point in my case. I would like to have seen a repair report confirming "faults found...etc." with the cluster. No need to give up the actual repair secrets, but a confirmation of fault would be nice.

I've been interested in your result, and great to hear so-far-so-good for your first 20 miles! Keep us posted. I've done a couple of car washes with no problems. We're expecting heavy rains on Sunday for a good water test. I'll report back here good or bad.

 

When I spoke to Clusterfix they said they can't test the clusters, but they know what goes bad and how to fix them. So I think they just go through and "fix" the board; soldering joints, and making sure nothing is loose, etc. Mine sits in the driveway and it's supposed to get hot, and maybe some rain next week, I didn't notice too much of a difference with the rain, more of an impact from the cold, that would be a trigger for the no start.

 

Hey Wtrdog, how's your cluster? I have just over 1,100 miles on mine since cluster repair, and all still good! Not a single instance, rain or shine.