So I just picked up a 2005 civic lx special edition 5 speed this week. It's a awesome little car except this mind numbing ticking that I some how didn't notice while test driving it has appeared! (Craigslist deal so I can't take it back for a warranty, no lemon law for me!)

It sounds like a super fast wheel of fortune wheel tick or that spinner out of the board game "Life". It is NOT a knock or rattle, and only appears in acceleration primarily in 1st and 2nd and quiets on ward and disappears totally at cruising speeds and idle (or it is so quiet I don't notice). I've already topped off the oil and it doesn't sound like a heat shield rattle.

The car sat for about 5 months(previous owner inherited a 2nd SUV) before being sold to me and hadn't been driving much in the last year and a half from the sticker from Dunn Tire labeled October 2015 and only being like 5,000 miles off of the current reading. It was parked in a driveway on concrete. The only other wonky thing is the speedometer doesn't work well if it ever works at all during the trip I'm on, which doesn't bother me I just gotta GPS one for my phone, but not sure if that would make a difference.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated and I thank you ahead of time!!!

 

The ticking could be from the valves, and it may need a valve adjustment. The speedometer could be from a bad VSS (vehicle speed sensor), which is relatively easy to replace. (See below)

 

Thank you! I will be looking into adjusting the valves!