I have 1996 Civic with 120000. 5 speed. I have this sound start upon deceleration in 1st most noticeably, it is also there in 2nd upon deceleration. Any touch to gas stops it as you can see in the video. No sound in anything above 2nd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3fZ4M5LSlY

What do you think fellas?

 

It doesnt really sound that bad, it is 1st gear which has the shortest gear ratio. I dont personally downshift to slow down in 1st gear or 2nd but it is a small d series motor which are pretty noisy at higher rpms. My advice would be not to use your 1st gear to decelerate just to accelerate thats what is there for if it doesnt do it in any other gears when decelerating then i doubt you have a problem. Im sure if u keep doing that your gonna mess something up over time.

You could posibly have a rod knock but i doubt it, sounds more like you need a valve adjustment.

 

I agree doesn't sound that bad. Could be a small hole in the exhaust system.

That kind of stuff (downshifting to slow down) is hard on a car-- it's much better to just wear out a couple more $50 sets of brake pads over the life of the car instead of tearing up the whole drivetrain.

 

Thanks for the input guys, I am very new to these cars and to owning a 5 speed. Last vehicle was a '81 Mercedes 300d. I am not sure what is 'normal' 'acceptable' and 'death wish' on these cars. I live in Chicago, where there is quite a bit of shifting involved in the stop and go.

The sound is probably more noticeable than in the video, you can hear it quite loudly outside the vehicle as well. Again, I'm not sure what these cars sound like when things happen, but my first impression with the sound was it sounded like a bearing with some knock to it.

Get out of first gear quick, check.

 

X2 on the brakes, alot of people will tell u to let the motor work for you when slowing down, i 100% disagree with that. Its better to just burn up your break pads instead of your drivetrain. Also your motor and tranny mounts will suffer really bad from all that jerking from downshifting into a low gear like that.

 

I don't know much but brakes are for 'stop' and engine is for 'go'. Slowing down in first isn't something I do, but noticed it (quieter) in second and started experimenting.

 

Since I had a vaguely similar problem on my last car I decided to check the drive axle boots. Sure enough the Driver's side was split completely open. I loaded it up with grease to see if it had an affect, it removed the sound in 2nd, and quieted it down in first... at least until it sent all the grease flying. I'm going to get a new axle, I'd be willing to bet that is the sound.