Hi. Not sure if I have the right place to be posting mechanical queries, but here goes.

My girlfriend recently bought a '94 civic DX sedan with 100K miles on it, no rust at all, clean title.

I put a new muffler on it a few weeks ago and did a nice job.

There's been a continuing "rattling" sound coming from the rear right panel, near the muffler, but I don't think it's the muffler.

It sounds like a metallic vibration/rattle, and changes depending on the amount of gas given. My last '98 civic did the same thing. I was convinced it was something in the panel just vibrating and rattling around. Drove me absolutely nuts and I wound up selling the car because I was tortured every second behind the wheel by this noise.

There's also a loud click-click-click when braking to a stop. Something is going on with the back brakes and I'm going to change them this weekend.

What do you guys think about the other rattling noise? Is this common in Hondas? I want to get rid of this or I will never be able to ride in my girlfriend's car.

One more thing: The stickshifter vibrates like crazy at speed. Normal?
Otherwise the car is smooth and pretty quiet. I think rotors need to be turned, and it feels like it needs an alignment.

Any ideas on how to check/fix this rattling noise?

Thanks!

 

The rattling is probably the muffler or exhaust against the frame/body somewhere.

The click when braking could be axles.

Vibrating shifter is normal... its connected to the engine.

 

Hmm.

It doesn't seem like the muffler or exhaust is anywhere near touching the frame or body, where the noise is coming from.

Axle sounds bad - is this an expensive fix?

So I'm wrong in believing somehow that by changing the rear shoes and hardware I will get rid of the clicking?

In any case, the rattling/vibrating noise is way beyond a normal "honda sound."
Do I need to take it in and get reamed for diagnostics, or what can I do?

Thanks again.

 

Do you have aftermarket piping, or just a muffler? The problem I had after i installed my exhaust was the pipes rubbing against the heat shield. Take it to a shop and get the heat shield bent away from the piping, or just do it yourself if you have jacks/jackstands.

 

just a new economy muffler with stock piping.
the noise is coming from the back right quadrant though, nowhere near the front.

should i be more worried about the axle at this point?

is this a job my friend and i could do at home?

where do i find the heat shield? maybe i will bang this thing about.

thanks a lot.

you've got a dope car (VX).