Mechanical Problems & Technical Chat - Rumbling/Vibrating Noise

I kind of talked with Ron J on another thread about this problem. so when i accelerate from a complete stop the car makes a rumbling/vibrating noise. it seems like the noise starts from the front and gets to the rear of the car. this was the conversation with Ron J, i'm going to check my exhaust tomorrow or have my exhaust shop check it on monday

Definitely replace the cap and rotor. Almost everything is more expensive for the HX. You recover the cost in excellent gas mileage, which you are currently missing out on. Pull the CEL code again and post it. A bad O2 sensor could throw a CEL code.

If the rumbling noise is in the rear, then it is likely a loose exhaust system or exhaust heat shield. Put the rear end on stands and do a careful inspection of the exhaust system.

so i got it checked out by a mechanic, and they said that it's most likely the transmission slipping. i really hate the auto CVT transmissions now. now i have no idea what to do since it cost around $1000 to drop in another used HX transmission and they are hard to come by. i guess these are my options now and i have no idea what to do

1. sell the civic and get another car but think i might be away from the civic world. looking for a more family friendly 4 door car. thinking about a matrix or an accord

2. find a used hx transmission and replace the transmission

3. rebuild the transmission

4. keep running with the current transmission

anyone know if anything worse would happened if i keep driving with a slipped tranny?

I really doubt it's your transmission. You haven't reported any power or acceleration problems, nor feeling of lagging between shifts, etc. My guess would be:

a. exhaust system--maybe a hanger came loose or something or hole in the resonator
b. more serious, but still cheap to fix, you might have cracked a motor mount, or the mount may have come loose.

those were what i originally though, the exhaust system loose or motor mounts, but the mechanic test drove my car and said he think its the transmission slipping. should i have him take a look at the exhaust system and the motor mounts? if i were to check the motor mounts how do i do that? also, does a crack motor mount and a loose exhaust system make the same sound as a slipped tranny?

The CVT is not your ordinary thing. When the driver steps on the gas harder, it is programmed to change (continuously) to a lower ratio, which lets the engine rev up for more power. Ordinarily the engine revving up without the car going faster means the transmission is slipping, but not so for a CVT.

You could get under the car or just reach underneath to shake the exhaust system to try and make it clunk and rattle. If the noise is definitely from the back it almost has to be that.

Bad motor mounts typically make a loud clunk or bang upon starting or stopping the engine, or shifting between neutral, forward, and reverse with the car stopped.

The CVT is not your ordinary thing. When the driver steps on the gas harder, it is programmed to change (continuously) to a lower ratio, which lets the engine rev up for more power. Ordinarily the engine revving up without the car going faster means the transmission is slipping, but not so for a CVT.

You could get under the car or just reach underneath to shake the exhaust system to try and make it clunk and rattle. If the noise is definitely from the back it almost has to be that.

Bad motor mounts typically make a loud clunk or bang upon starting or stopping the engine, or shifting between neutral, forward, and reverse with the car stopped.

are you saying that most likely its not the motor mounts and the transmission? seems like the sound starts from the front and gets to the back. do i try shaking the muffler end or get into the middle of the exhaust system?

i'm just wondering, this problem started about a year ago, and it feels like the problem did not get worse, so can i rule out that the tranny slipped?

not sure if this caused the problem or not. i drained the tranny fluid myself using honda auto transmission fluid, later i found out that HX uses the CVT transmission fluid so i took the car 2 months later to honda and did a transmission flush using CVT transmission fluid and the problem went away for about a week and came back., not sure if this info points out to something