BACKGROUND INFO:
Year: 1998
Model: Civic HX Coupe
Mileage: 103xxx
Transmission: 5 Spd.

I'm having very confusing transmission problems that are really starting to bother me. About a week ago, I started getting a noise like a heat shield rattling. It's progressively getting worse. The noise sounds like a throw out bearing would, a "clunky" noise coming from the transmission area. The sound occurs when the clutch is not engaged, but when I engage the clutch, it goes away sometimes. This is what is confusing me.

If its the throw out bearing, it should occur when the clutch is engaged, right? I get the noise when I am feathering the clutch during take offs also and it becomes especially apparent around 2k in first gear.

I did a test this morning that I found on here. Apparently, the throw out bearing is always spinning whether the car is on or not whereas the input bearing isn't, so I was driving down the street and I shut the car off in neutral. The sound continued without the clutch pressed in even when the car wasn't on.

The sound also occurs in low RPMs under acceleration. My car is too loud to hear the noise in high RPMs so I'm not sure about that range. I've talked to several people and I'm getting different answers from every person I talk to. Some say input bearing; some say throw out bearing, some say I should just get a new clutch.

The problem with this route is the cost. I don't have the money to spend right now on a clutch as I'm moving into a new house soon, but I CAN get a good deal on an EX tranny ($125) and the work can be done for free to put it in. I know this will also help my track times improve greatly, however that is just an added bonus to getting this fixed. This car is my daily driver, so I need it to not be down for any longer than a day and it needs to be dependable until the end of the summer, when I plan to swap the entire engine. Also, with doing this upcoming swap, it would be pretty much pointless for me to buy a new clutch for a couple of months.

So, guys... I need some opinions on what this could be. These are the symptoms and like I said, I'm confused as heck. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

I might add that I have searched the topic and only confused myself even more with the crappy results that I got.

 

well make a long story short! Get a new clutch, its gonna cost the labor work to get it fixed, just replace it and your tranny and you will be very happy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by *****est_raver &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well make a long story short! Get a new clutch, its gonna cost the labor work to get it fixed, just replace it and your tranny and you will be very happy. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't mean to be rude, but did you even read it?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mistamike17 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Some say input bearing; some say throw out bearing, some say I should just get a new clutch.

The problem with this route is the cost. I don't have the money to spend right now on a clutch as I'm moving into a new house soon, but I CAN get a good deal on an EX tranny ($125) and the work can be done for free to put it in. I know this will also help my track times improve greatly, however that is just an added bonus to getting this fixed. This car is my daily driver, so I need it to not be down for any longer than a day and it needs to be dependable until the end of the summer, when I plan to swap the entire engine. Also, with doing this upcoming swap, it would be pretty much pointless for me to buy a new clutch for a couple of months.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

bump