i just bought a 200 honda civic today for 4 grand. i noticed a rattling noise in the back of the car. im almost positive its coming from the underneath. it happens when i move from park to reverse neutral or drive or vice versa. and it also happens when i am going slow and push on the gas or from a dead stop. it sounds like a tapping on sheetmetal noise and only taps 2 or 3 times and goes away. i did not see anything out of place underneath the car. also my speedometer was jumping as i was driving. i need to figure out what these problems are. please help!!! its a 2000 honda civic automatic, 4 cylinder engine.
Update:ill look but im pretty sure its not the exhaust hitting the car because it doesnt do it when i go over a bump. just when i take off from a dead stop or when i change driving gears or when i am going slow and speed up.... and does anyone know where the speedometer cable is located and can i do that myself? i dont have much mechanical experience
Answers & Comments
This sounds like the rubber support loops that tie your exhaust pipe to hooks welded to the bodywork are perished or one has snapped off, this will cause the exhaust to rock about when the engine moves or the car goes over a bump and can cause it to hit the bodywork. Have a look at them to see what state they're in, replacing them is only a few minutes work and you can easily do it yourself.
The speedo cable jumping is usually because it's in need of lubrication or bent too tightly somewhere. Either of these will trap the cable and cause it not to rotate smoothly, this will make the speedo needle jump.
The speedometer cable will be connected to the gearbox - this is a mechanical cable with a rotating inner cable, not an electrical one with a sensor on the end. As this car is front wheel drive any noise from the back of the car has nothing to do with your transmission. When you put your foot down hard the engine will rock and will pull on the exhaust pipe (which is why it's soft mounted rather than being bolted directly to the car), this could explain why it happens when you accelerate but not when you drive over a bump. It could also be worth checking that your engine mountings are okay, if the gear lever moves a lot when you accelerate then this is a sign that a mounting needs to be fixed. A broken mounting would allow the engine to move excessively in reaction to the force that it's applying to the driveshafts.
The air filter out might want to reason that difficulty,even if the perfect time I had a vehicle do this it became the throttle position sensor even if it became on different sort automobiles so i do not locate out about Honda's.