Rep Power: 0

Need some assistance with two part troubleshooting recommendation:

- am I able to place my 02' civic lx coupe on 4 jack stands w/ wheels removed and placed under the car? My reason for this is because I need to run the engine and shift it into different gears to find the engine bay noise culprit? Where exactly do I place the jack stands for this method to work? Just in case the car might possibly fall from the jack stands giving way due to the vibrations I'm assuming.

- Maybe someone with excellent hearing can give me some insight on what this engine noise I'm hearing is. This engine noise I'm referring to are possibly one of the following: Fan noise, heat shield?, exhaust piping loose, catalytic converter cover loose?, and/or something rattling like a soda can being hit with a metal wire when I'm switching gear. That's the best description I can come up with.

Why I think it has something to do with the fan is this... However, I'm not really sure which one... the fan works when I turn on the ac and such but does not kick in when I turn off the engine. The temp gauge needle is always sitting in the middle when I drive if that means anything. Not exactly sure if it's suppose to but I'm sure from watching other cars fans come on when the engine gets turned off I'm guessing mine is suppose to come on too. Another reason is because when I drive and switch gears it feels like the fans are spinning freely and since the wind are blowing into the car from the vents up front by the bumper I'm guessing it's spinning faster than it's normally rated to spin?... lol is that even possible? Well, it sounded good in my head.

Why I mentioned the heat shield is because if you get a metal wire and tap rapidly against it that would be like the sound I'm hearing. But the heat shield in my car seems to be bolted on tight but nevertheless, that is one of my guesses.

Catalytic cover and exhaust piping falls under the heat shield too but I have no experience if this is such the case because when I'm driving I'm hearing the sound come from the front end and right front passenger side when the window is open. Never from directly beneath the drivers side of the car.

This is why I'm inclined to put the car on all four jack stands so I can remove the wheels so the car doesn't drive off on me if it does fall off when I run the engine and switch it into gears. But in order for me to do this I need some guidance on how to do this from some more experienced owners and mechanics.

Thank you in advance for any responses I get and if I don't reply right away I apologize because that doesn't mean I won't.

 
Rep Power: 367

from the sides, you will find under the car the frame rails. the flat portion is where the stands should be. Tires/wheels under is a good insurance.
i found a zip tie on mine that would get in the way of the fan and make noise from time to time.
a common issue is the header cracking, so best remove the heat shield and check it? unsure if that is common on the lx, tho i think so.

 
Rep Power: 518

Not on these.
You cannot feel the fans from the drivers seat.
No.
Yup.



Got video of the noise?

 
Rep Power: 0

I'm not sure about getting a video. I'd have to come up with something like go ghetto and duct tape an old droid phone into the engine bay or something and running the car up and down the street. That's the only way I'd get it to rattle. For some reason it won't rattle while parked and idling. But as soon as I get video I'll post it as soon as I figure how to... lol. Thanks for the response.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yeah, I thought about those sides but honestly, they don't look too trustworthy... hehe. But I guess that will do. With just the hood up I did inspect the heat shield and the cat shield although it's a tad rusty on the bolts and surrounding area it doesn't look like it would cause the rattling nor was any part of it loose or falling off. I'd have to go underneath and look under there. I also did try to remove the bolts by spraying some PB Penetrating Catalyst Lubricant but I guess it didn't help because all it did was strip the bolt when I tried to loosen them so I just left them alone before it gets any more stripped.

Anyways, I'd really have to look on the fan to see if anything is hittin it.

BTW... thanks for the response.

 
Rep Power: 518

The reinforced tabs on the pinch seam lip on each side are where you are supposed to jack the car.