Ok, I've got a 98 Honda Civic DX. I just realized it was doing this today, while I was at a stop light and it started bogging down. So I pulled it into a parking lot to see if I could figure it out. Popped the hood and it started getting worse the motor was idling at low RPMs and it started making this fairly loud ticking sound. All the fluids are where they should be, but the longer I let it idle the worse the sound gets. When its just regular driving there is no problem whatsoever, just at idle. Also I just got it out of the shop last week for a replacement Catalytic Converter/ O2 Sensor. And previously had to get it worked onto due to the Head Gasket, the new Cat has a 12 month warranty on it. And the previous owner tampered with the instrument cluster so I can't tell if the check engine light is on or not. On top of that too I ran a can of Seafoam through it as well right after I found out it was doing that, no difference at all. Any suggestions or comments on what could or is causing this, any help will be much appreciated.

 

Need to know if the check engine light is on. You can use the jumper method or you can pull the cluster out and borrow the bulb from the seatbelt light. (Really easy to do, just lower the steering wheel, take out the two screws on the top of the bezel, take out the 4 screws that hold the cluster in place, angle the cluster down to get it out, unplug the 3 plugs in the process. The plugs are specific fits to their socket so putting it back together is easy. The bulb sockets come out with a quarter turn. Really straightforward.)

Uh, or you can take it to Autozone or wherever and ask them to scan the codes.