gsaldana10

Hi,
recently i got a used manual 2004 EX with a bit over 93k miles. Yesterday while driving, I noticed that the car has started to shake and stutter when launching from 1st gear from a complete stop. It happens right before I Iet the clutch go all the way, no matter how much gas i give it, it would shake. I does not happen when I shift from others gears. Though i noticed that the car rocks when going from 1st to 2nd more violently than before, shifting from other gears seems fine. If the car is moving very slowly and I engage the 1st gear and attempt to give it gas, it would not shake. The shaking only occurs when the car is attempted to be launched from 1st gear AT rest. Also, the RPMs of this car seem a bit exaggerated. At 60mph the car on 5th gear is close to 4200 RPM. Finally and im not sure if this may be related, but when downshifting from 3rd gear to 2nd, the car makes a weird noise. The noise comes from the front of the car (from the engine maybe) and sounds like if someone took a piece of paper and held it inside one of those plastic fans, kind of like TAP TAP TAP TAP but not a metal or hard kind of TAP and goes up in intensity if I rev up. I have noticed this tapping sound from 1st gear but it isnt always there. I can reproduce it when downshifting almost 100% of the time. Any help would be appreciated

bandit67

Sounds to me like your clutch is slipping. 4200 rpm at 60 sounds way out of the norm. My 2005 auto is like 2500 at 60, and I would assume a manual should be closer to that. 93 K for that car is pretty low, but clutch wear and tear is based on usage and not mileage. Stop and go s add up. I have replaced several manual trannys and clutches in the 93-95 Civic models. I have never had one to just tear up inside.....usually what happens is the internal bearing began to get louder and louder from wear , forcing a replacement. These trannys NORMALLY can see over 200k to 300k miles before these bearing start roaring. I would expect the same type of miliage from the 01 -05 models also. Replace with a clutch kit, clutch disc, pressure plate and throw out bearing. Most kits even come with a new crankshaft end bearing.

I NEVER downshift. Unless you are on a racetract trying to get your lap times down, down shifting puts additional wear and tear on your tranny it does not need. Brake pads and rotors are WAY cheaper to replace. JMHO

gsaldana10

Thanks for the reply, Im going to take my car to have a tune up and will bring with me a clutch kit for them to replace. I was wondering how would that explain the tapping sound I hear when down shifting ? I thought slipping happened in higher gears first... Home come I only feel it in first gear

bandit67

Better check with your tune up folks, installing a clutch is not a normal tune up and not all tune up shops do clutch replacements. You do understand the engine requires bracing / supporting as the complete tranny is removed. The gear ratio to get the car moving is so low the rpms of the engine quickly exceeds it. the higher gears are easier in the rpm band....which is why you usually feel it in 1st gear first.

gsaldana10

​​​​​​yeah they aren't regular tune up, they are regular mechanics who also do tune ups my bad. Also, I felt a bit of burning smell coming out the vents, k read online that the flying wheel could also cause vibrations, if my rpms weren't that bad, would it be the flywheel causing the vibrations and weird tapping noise? Just trying to learn, thanks!

gsaldana10

I've been hearing this tapping noise on up shifting now and regular driving, it's driving me nuts !! (no pun intended)

bandit67

About the only reason the flywheel could be causing a vibration would because the bolts were not torqued correctly and have come loose. Now if the pilot bearing was not installed or failed, could cause your problem, as well as throw out bearing becomes unsecured. Can t imagine a tapping noise coming from the tranny or drive train.......now are you sure it is not a rod or crank bearing failure....that would cause a tapping sound....and change with rpm s......

gsaldana10

I may have exaggerated a bit about the rpm, today I drove the car and checked and at 60mph the rpm reads close to 3200 (sorry have 3 cars), is that normal for an 2004 ex w/ VTEC? Also, I'm gonna try to explain what I noticed today as well. It seems to me that this car has a very narrow clutch and gas range at which the car would launch with no stutter. In other words, I have to press both clutch and gas at very precise point so the car doesn't launch with stutter, if I miss either one by a bit the car launches with a varying degree of stutter (when i say a bit, i mean very small differences in length). It seems that no matter how much gas i give for instance, if the clutch isnt in that particular spot, the car will stutter. I honestly can't get that smooth start all the time and it's very frustrating. I don't think it's my driving technique cause I never had any problem driving my Elantra and Audi both stick shift and never experienced this, plus I have started experimenting this very recently with the Honda and its most noticeable after the car has been driven for a while (car is very warm) when cold, the car seems to launch fine with varying clutch and gas combinations. I hope im making sense. The reason i ask about the flywheel is cause recently i came across a video with a very very very similar sound I hear coming from my car when I drive. (Video = ). This is very similar to what i hear sometimes when down shifting and when rev'ing up in first gear. (can 90% of the time reproduce this sound when rev'ing up on first gear, sometimes 2nd gear). I honestly dont know whats up with the car, it certainly didnt feel like this when I first bought it 2 weeks ago. thanks for your help.

bandit67

That is not a flywheel........automatic transmissions have a torque converter attached to a flex plate. And that one does sound cracked. they crack sometimes where they bolt to the crankshaft mainly but sometimes at the tq bolts. Manual trannys have heavy, thick flywheel that houses the clutch plate and has the pressure plate bolted to it.......never seen one crack. If they were worn really bad, we used to have turned, like brake rotors.