Hi, first of all a big thanks to you guys who helped me on my last topic; but unfortunately that topic has died off so I had to start a new one. I recently noticed a rattle from under my car. I could pinpoint it to the exhaust. Assuming it was the heat shield as most topics led me to believe, I removed it. No luck! So tonight after I got home I peered my head out the car and underneath. I could tell the sound was coming from the rear. The popping and crackling rattle is mainly between 1,000-1,500 RPMs. If I rev higher, as the RPMs come down I get a whistly chirping sound followed by the annoying crackle. I noticed the catalytic converter was quite rusty when I removed the shield but looked intact. The rest of the exhaust looks in excellent shape. I did see the heat shields that cover the top of the rear exhaust portion. I wasn't sure if they could be the problem. If so are they difficult/dangerous to remove? Also could it be rust chips in the exhaust pinging about? Please help, I'm going nuts here. Thanks in advance.

Ian

 

BUMP...clank clank rattle rattle....BUMP

 

It's hard to say without actually seeing the car. There are two hangers on the back of Civic mufflers that have a tendancy to break off sometimes, check to make sure they're intact and hanging properly. It's also possible for the inside of the muffler and/or resonator to be broken apart and making a rattling noise.

The only other advice I can offer without hearing the noise and seeing the car firsthand is to get under there, grab, shake, and hit everything with your fist (obviously, don't yank it hard enough to break anything). Start at the rear and work your way forward, see if you can replicate the noise, once you do, you've located the problem.

 

If you did the install yourself it may just be that the muffler isn't as tight as it could be. Meaning the "arms" that extend out need to be adjusted. Take it to any muffler shop and they can tell you whats what, and if its just the arms, they can pry bar it into place for free no problem

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spada &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you did the install yourself it may just be that the muffler isn't as tight as it could be. Meaning the "arms" that extend out need to be adjusted. Take it to any muffler shop and they can tell you whats what, and if its just the arms, they can pry bar it into place for free no problem</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's true too. Take it to a Midas or Meineke and have it checked out if you can't find anything. If it's as simple as a heat shield or something just needs to be bent a little, they'll probably do it for free or at most a very minimal charge.

 

thanks guys. Appreciate the help. First dry day I have I'll prolly crawl back under and look around again. I'll be sure to let you know what I find out.

 

Well I got underneath and started tapping away from the muffler forward. Tapping the muffler revealed the sounds but they were coming from farther forward. I finally found them in a bend in the piping before the gas tank. It sounds like chips of something bouncing around when I tap on the bottom of the piping. I have no clue about removing exhaust components. If I posted pictures, could anyone help me out?