Hey guys I have an annoying problem with my 96' Civic hatch. I just swapped a jdm b18b in it with a jdm b16 trans. It has innovative billet mounts w/ red inserts if that makes a difference. Ever since the swap, its been making a thud thud thud noise as your driving. I'm going up to Xenia, Ohio tomorrow for the Street life tour at Killcare Raceway and I don't really trust driving my car that far, especially if any of you think its a major issue.

It only does it when:

Pressing the gas pedal between 20-60 mph
On the driver side

When you let off the gas, it stops completely. Its almost the sound a wheel makes when lug nuts are loose. It also kinda shakes the steering wheel when it does it.

To troubleshoot I did the following:

Raised the car up to make sure axles weren't binding.
Checked both wheel bearings for play.
Checked upper and lower ball joints for play.
Replaced both axles with Advance Auto GSP axles
Replaced both outer tie rod ends(as of today)
Switched out wheels to see if they were bent or out of balance.
Tightened lug nuts.

And even after all that, it still does it!!!!!!!! I still haven't gotten an alignment but my buddy works at Michel Tires Plus and he said an alignment would only lessen the problem a little bit. So I don't wanna waste $40 for nothing. So do you guys think an alignment would help or what should I do to fix it. It didn't do it before the swap! Im so lost so any comments are welcome.

 

too much horsepower

 

check and make sure all your mounts are tight . have you tried runing the car with the wheels off the ground to see if it's still there.. check your exhaust make sure it has enough clearance.

 

I know right!

Will double check mounts tomorrow morning asap. Exhaust clearance is good, I'm also getting an alignment tomorrow morning to see if that helps. Thanks for the reply!

 

maybe you have a bad tire. ?

 

Sounds like a wheel bearing, kick the tire and c if u get excess side to side movement. Also warped rim, unbalanced, bad tires, etc...

 

I broke a belt in tire once and it did the same thing. Id examine the tired tread and side wall for lumps, bumps, or knots. If you already covered that then get luck dude... I wouldnt be afriad of going to a trusted shop or even a certified honda dealership.

 

UPDATE:

I had the car aligned at Michel Tires Plus on saturday and nothing was found to be wrong with the suspension or steering. My buddy did the alignment since I work right next door at Advance auto parts.

Even after the alignment, the sound still persists. After the alignment I drove 150 miles round trip to Kilkare speedway for the street life tour(awesome time btw!) On the way home, it seemed to get louder. I replaced the half shaft yesterday with one that doesn't have as much play, still does it!

I'm not sure if the part of the half shaft that mounts to the block should have any play where the rod goes through it. The bearing is good, but it looks like it has a bushing in it? Idk, but it had a 1/8" in play all around.

And for you guys saying it was a bad tire, I put my steelies on and it still does it! I give up =[

 

transmission. I had the same problem under hard accel and after i put a fresh trans in it , it went away.

I believe its the differental bearing that causes it. not an easy or cost effective fix , but looks as if it could be your problem as well.

Good Luck

 

Thanks for the reply, I've had others tell me this also. I got this trans from H motors online and if that's whats bad, that's some bull ****! I guess you can't trust anyone anymore for parts. And I thought Tiger Japanese was bad :[

 

bump anybody else?

 

If your cars lowered it could be the camber kit. On one of my cars, the blots on the sides in the engine bay were the camber kit bolts on was a bit loose and it caused a bit of noise.