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So my 98 civic started to whine during acceleration and from inside sounded like a bearing in the transmission going bad, particularly around 2000-2100 rpms.
Had more than one mechanic check it out and they all attributed it to a transmission issue, one suggested input shaft bearing. Price to rebuild or install used was quoted $1000-2000
Fast forward a month and noise seemed to progressively get worse, was screeching at a high frequency around same rpms.
Talking to a buddy about it last night while he was outside the car, I rev to 2000 so he can hear it and he instantly notices that the sound was from the exhaust. In disbelief I have him hold the muffler as I rev and sure enough the sound was gone.
We traced it back to the muffler spring bolts, for whatever reason they were screeching at said rpms and resonating inside the car giving impression it was from the transmission area. I spray some pb blaster on them and haven’t heard it since.
Imagine I replace the transmission and drop all that money to end up with same original problem?
Now my question is, why did those bolts develop such a noise? I know spraying them will only be a temp fix. Anything I can do to permanently eliminate it?
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Finding noises are tough sometimes, Eric has a video on hunting them down.
Look on the bright side, not did you only save money but you found and lubricated the notorious muffler bearing.[quote=”Walt jr” post=118414]Finding noises are tough sometimes, Eric has a video on hunting them down.
Look on the bright side, not did you only save money but you found and lubricated the notorious muffler bearing.[/quote]
Lol. Any clue why those spring bolts developed such a sound? I know it’ll come back as its metal on metal but never experienced that issue with exhaust.As you car runs everything is not in perfect balance and vibration is created, automotive manufacturers have tried for years to “balance out” as many vibrations as possible thru the use of everything from counterweights to balance shafts. Everything else has to be “managed” thru the use of soft motor mounts and a sprung exhaust system. The friction points on these systems experience very harsh conditions, from temperature extremes to moisture and everything else that hits the bottom of the vehicle. What you experienced was a dry condition that caused a high frequency vibration at a specific rpm. I would examine the part for wear and replace as necessary, the lube may just be a temporary fix.
Any thicker long lasting product like anti seize should do the trick. I would inspect the part first making sure it is not about to wear thru.
I have had cars in here that got new exhaust systems and the hangers etc were not replaced due to budget or part availability constraints. Your exhaust could also be binding due to incorrect installation, I did one over the summer on a Taurus that a guy had taken elsewhere and the fix was to loosen all the fasteners and “relax” the system and retighten. When installing an exhaust system all parts have to be hand tightened (think thumb ratchet) then adjusted to not bind and then tightened to spec.
I had to have the flange end of the cat converter repaired/replaced with a welded one. Think it threw the geometry of the exhaust off creating this issue?
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