The civic rattle problem

[jadziasman]

Well, it could be the pressure plate of the clutch has very little friction material remaining on its surface and hence is slipping. I replaced the clutch in my VX because of the bearing problem in the trans. It needed a new clutch but was not slipping too bad. It isn't easy to replace either. If you are not an amateur mechanic like me who is basically fearless and isn't reluctant to spew an unlimited amount of swear words during the 12 hours it takes to do the job - let a professional do it for about $500 or maybe less. It is soooooooo nice to have a brand new clutch in an old car. AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

[1993CivicVX]

$500?? ouches. big job. well, apparently I can buy the clutch for $140. 6hours X $60=$360. $360+$140=$500. Something like that, huh?

[jadziasman]

Well, yeah.

You have to disassemble a lot of parts just to get at the clutch. Most of the labor involves taking apart stuff that is "in the way". It's not too difficult with the right tools and a garage. I needed to lift my VX over two feet off the floor so I could remove the trans from the engine and lower it to the floor . It's easier to take the engine and trans out of the engine compartment altogether and then separate them but that still is a lot of work.

When you consider that the clutch probably won't need to be replaced again, then $500 over 5 years isn't so bad.

Better to have a car that takes you where you want to go instead of one just taking up space.

[1993CivicVX]

Saw the mechanic today. Confirmed that it was rattle in the exhaust and is an easy fix.

[RobbieVX]

can you elaborate on the easy fix?

i just found this thread, and my VX has been suffering from the same problem for the past 6 months.

Mine has gotten progressivly louder and is pretty embarassing when at lights. It is exactly what you are describing.

I got under the car thinking it was a heat sheild, but they were all fine, then i shook the exhaust pipe with my hand and the sound is coming from inside the piping. it sounds like its coming from both the rear muffler and the resonator. My guess is that they are both corroding and just rattling to death.

[1993CivicVX]

well, the mechanic replaced the resonator pipe which is inside the exhaust pipe. $200 for him to do that. He offered a cheaper but temporary solution of patching the hole, but I didn't want the problem to come back so I ponied up for the part to be replaced.

He said the metal was very thin in the resonator. But I've also heard that what happens is the resonator breaks free from the exhaust pipe and that's what causes the rattle. But my mechanic said it was a hole or very thin metal in the resonator- he actually wasn't very clear as he said the metal was very thin and he also said there was a hole -- so which was it?? but I didn't press him to the issue-- he fixed the problem.

[Mentalic]

A few years back I had a Toyota Previa that developed a huge rattling noise at idle, nothing at speed. It seemed to be coming from the exhaust system. One day after parking and letting it cool down I took out the big rubber hammer and started working over the exhaust system. After a few good hits here and there I determined that the noise was coming from inside the first catalytic converter. Its was like the core broke off and was bouncing around inside the shell.
Turns out the emission controls have a very long warranty period and it was covered completely. Good thing too, as it was a very expensive part.

[Danronian]

Originally Posted by RobbieVX

can you elaborate on the easy fix?

i just found this thread, and my VX has been suffering from the same problem for the past 6 months.

Mine has gotten progressivly louder and is pretty embarassing when at lights. It is exactly what you are describing.

I got under the car thinking it was a heat sheild, but they were all fine, then i shook the exhaust pipe with my hand and the sound is coming from inside the piping. it sounds like its coming from both the rear muffler and the resonator. My guess is that they are both corroding and just rattling to death.

Only cheap fix to the inside of the resonator rattling, is to have a new one welded up.

[RobbieVX]

what about just having a muffler show weld in a straight pipe in place of the resonator?

this shouldnt do anything to milage.
maybe make the car a tad louder, but i dont see anything else wrong with it since the resonator is so far down stream anyways.

[Danronian]

It wouldn't affect gas mileage I think, but a Honda without a resonator sounds awfully annoying from my experience. A resonator to weld in the place of the stock one should be very cheap. No more than $30 I think.