fmhwong

I own a 97 Civic EX 4 door. Now, I have 82,000 km on it. The engine has started to developed a ticking noise when it was cold started. It goes away when the engine gets warm. I took it to a local dealership. They have adjusted the valves clearance but that did not help. The verdict from the dealership was the rod bearing inside the engine has been damaged and it is not replaceable unless I replace the whole engine.

A Honda engine shouldn't break at 82,000 km. I would consider to replace the engine if I had 182,000 km on it.

Does anyone have similar problem before? Any advice will be appreciated.

vtecvoodoo

spun bearing would knock/tick all the time. If that`s the problem, you just need to replace the shortblock. You could find one used dirt cheap.

Ryan

hondachick81

well...I am not sure how much 80 KM is but do you still have warranty on it?
...and they might just be telling you to replace the engine cause they are *****!

I don't know what the ticking could be but get it checked elsewhere...or try the tech forum too

sivik2nr

My stock motor went bye bye at 72,000 miles... I was pissed , i had no intention of swapping.. but I figured why not....I always up on oil changes...didn't beat on it, just daily driver... but i believe my problem was the rod bearings as well...

I'm not gonna waste my time flaming their engines aren't too bad... but they aren't the shiznit either... just my opinion..

yell at me if you want

Plan B

I would take it to an actual mechanic. Sometimes honda people can be goons. They might have been having a bad day, or something and just didn't want to deal with you at the moment.

Not saying that everyone that turns wrenches for a honda dealership is an idiot. But look around for a honda specialist in your community. They know hondas forwards and backwards.

jdmsol

My sister had a problem that sounded identical to yours. She owns a 97 as well and the verdict was a cracked exhaust manifold. Noisy when cold, fine once warm. Check it out...I'd almost be willing to put money on it. Take the heat shield off to see it. Honda replaced it under warranty only because we bitched about it so much. Make sure you do the same and things should be for you! Keep me posted on your mysterious problem. Good Luck.


[Modified by jdmsol, 3:33 PM 10/14/2002]

Plan B

Matter of fact, the shop i work for has had 2 cracked exhaust manifolds in the past couple of months. Good shot.

jdmsol

Apparently from this is somewhat of a common problem on the 97+ civics, but I've never heard of it until it happened to my sister's car

fmhwong

The heat shield started to rattle a couple weeks ago when the engine was idling and it was removed by the dealership already. If the ticking noise is from the cracked exhaust manifold, it shouldn't vanish when the engine gets warm.

Chiovnidca

Maybe not, but it can if the noise you are hearing is an exaust leak. The metal expands when it gets hot and closes the leak. BTW, if it is cracked it is covered by the 14 year 150,000 mile emmision warranty extension.

fmhwong

Can I find/see the crack easily myself? I want to show it to the service advicer at the dealership and they will not have any excuse not to fix it or fix something else.

Thanks!

Chiovnidca

Remove the heatsheild on the top of the manifold. (Two bolts.) They usually crack in the middle by the o2 sensor.

krazn

i have ticking too..but someone told me it was just my fuel injectors...

jdmsol

IT'S THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD, NOT THE HEAT SHIELD. Fuel injectors will not make this ticking noise either. Some of you sound like you need to find some new mechanics/techs that actually know what they are doing.

krazn

yeah....ok

jdmsol

Not trying to flame you man, just trying to help you out. If I sounded like an ***, I'm sorry. I broke my jaw over the weekend and it is probably just the drugs making me the the way I did. Once again...sorry, only trying to help.

krazn

dont worry bout it. sorry bout ur jaw. im guesing typing is ur only means of communication at this point. i dont take it offensively... i mean..my car is not the one having the problems...haha

jdmsol

Yeah, pretty much for now just wanted to make sure.

fmhwong

Just came back from the Honda dealership. They have examined the exhaust manifold and didn't find any crack.

jdmsol

Don't know what to tell you then.

Chiovnidca

So the noise goes away when the engine is warmed up, right? Is it just a light tick, or louder, almost a knocking noise?

HF2ZC

I'm not sure about the rod bearing. I had an 89 Civic that would always tick from the top end when cold. It was definitely from the valvetrain, and valve adjustments didn't seem to help the ticking problem. It didn't really affect how the car ran (perfectly) it was just kind of annoying. I don't know about the newer cars, but you are supposed to adjust the valves every 15k miles on that engine. If it isn't a cracked exhaust manifold, I wouldn't worry about it. The rod bearings make a big expensive sounding clunk that doesn't go away, if it's just a small tick, it's not the rods.

Dr. EKology

Well if they said that the exhaust mani is fine then i don't know what to tell you. My friend had a 98 DX and it was also making a ticking sound that we thought would go away when the car was warm, when in reality it wouldnt. his problem was a crack in his header. My dad's car also began to make an extremely loud ticking noise, that was also a cracked exhaust mani.

fmhwong

The noise was developed since last year. It was a light tick and about 4-5 times per second. It goes away when the engine gets warm. Now, it seems to be louder and takes longer to vanish.

EG6-SiR

Loose cambelt causing chatter on the dizzy?
Maybe the dizzy is on it's way out?