I have a 2002 Civic EX. There is a rattle or soft knocking on the driver's side of the front end. Most pronounced when it is idling in-gear with my foot on the brake. Some related single "pops" when starting or stopping. (A single-event version of the "rattle.")

Everything that I can put a hand on seems tight. The belt is tight. The car has about 84,000 miles on it.

I seem to remember an '88 Accord that I used to own having a rattle when the CV joints needed replacing, but I thought that noise occurred when it was cornering.

Any thoughts?

 

yeah a rattle noise could be anything or a chirping noise i would check for loose belts. another thing to check would be your heat shield's either on the engine or under the car to make sure there tight when they get loose they can rattle.

 

It could be a motor mount. See if you can get it to make the noise consistently by shifting from reverse to drive and back while holding down the brake. If it does, get someone to shift for you while you watch and listen under the hood. (Stand to the side so you can't be run over).

 

if it were a motor mount i think it would be more of a clunking then a rattling but worn mounts would cause more vibrations which would cause things to rattle so who knows ?. also make sure your exhaust hangers are all there these cars have no exhaust tunnel so everything is tightly packed under there with very little room for movement at some points near the frame and around heat sheild's like i mentioned before.

 

Thank-you for the responses. I'll check into those things.

 

I looked at the engine while my wife went back-and-forth from drive to reverse with her foot on the brake. To me, the engine was moving a fair amount -- maybe up & down a half-inch in the rear. Is that normal?

How difficult is it to replace the rear engine mount? I replaced the front engine mount myself a year or two ago -- is it harder than that one?

 

its more difficult because of its location and the engine needs to be lifted.

 

I looked all under the engine compartment and I visually checked all four engine mounts and did not see anything amiss. I finally gave up and took it into my mechanic. He tracked it down to the front engine mount. That's the one I replaced a couple of years ago. Oh, well, noise is gone now.