1997 Honda Civic Chirping, clicking noice upon acceleration

SUSAN FAUSNAUGH

MEMBER
1997 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
134,000 MILES

Upon acceleration, my honda chirps, clicks, whistles under the hood. Noice stops when egine levels out or when a step off the gas pedal. AC is not on at the time. No noise when idling. Car has relatively new stainless exhaust. Former owner says check engine light on because of after-market exhaust conversion. Please help. I'm just a single mom trying to fix my son's car.
Sue

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi Sue,

Noise problems are almost impossible to diagnose without physically listening to and locating the source and understanding the type of noise.

From what you have described, it could be anything from valve clearance noise, piston conrod or crank pulley.

If the noise only occurs with abrupt acceleration, it most probably is from the con rod bearings. If the noise occurs with slow and constant revving up of the engine, it could be the valve clearances requires adjustment.

But if the main noise is with the whistling and chirps, the most likely cause would be the beltings and crank pulley.

Autozone provides free scanning services for the CEL, get it done and let me know the exact trouble code. If it is related to the exhaust conversion, it most probably is a fault with the catalytic converter or HO2S sensor.