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first i just want to post a disclaimer: yes im new, and this question may have been posted before and i tried searching for it in the forums but to no avail...

now my question: i noticed that sometimes taking off in 1st gear in my 95 civic theres a bit of a rumble. the car kind of vibrates a little bit. and no, its not the "im about to stall out cuz i dont know how to drive a 5-speed" kind of rumble. :P my old beat-up accord did it too, so i thought maybe it was the transmission or the clutch was starting to slip, but my civic started doing it today and i know the clutch is fine on it. its not REALLY bad (yet) but i was wondering if anyone's encountered this problem before and what it means. thanks!

 
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maybe mounts? . Clutch chatter? Axle going bad? Although I think that one would be much more noticeable. Its tough to say. Id wait and see what the other guys have to say.

 
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cv axles were just changed, and one of my buddies said his 97 civic did the same thing but "nothing was wrong"...and idk about any of the other things you said, its possible i guess but definitely weird.

 
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and what exactly is "clutch chatter"?

 
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yeah it does sound like motor mount(s). see if yours are torn by inspecting the rubber legs inside.

 
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ok cool, will do...how common of a problem is that tho?

 
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Motor mounts don't last forever. They usually aren't too hard to replace if it's the front pass. and driver ones. Just make sure you use some penetrating oil before you work on them because those bolts can sometimes be stubborn. I broke one of my bolts off into the frame and still haven't replaced my driver's side because they have to mess with the frame. Nice design, Honda. As for clutch chatter, you'll feel the car shake as you begin to engage the clutch. It's not the same as when you don't give enough gas as when you launch. I've never experienced it, but I've heard from fellow manual drivers it isn't unnoticeable.

 
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yeah, sounds like clutch chatter. the whole car shakes. like i said, its not that bad, but on my accord that i just got rid of, sometimes it VIOLENTLY shook. what causes clutch chatter? is it a serious problem?

 
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breakin in a new clutch, bad pressure plate, latteral runout or OOR clutch. Clutch chatter is most noticeable on initial take offs, but generally youd feel it going into all gears. It depends on which of the things listed above are causing it really, whether if its serious or not. Can also be caused by malassembled trans and or parts. Have seen a single bolt cause the worst clutch chatter

 
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Well i definitely only feel it on takeoff and its occasional at that...my old accord probably did it because I know the clutch was going bad on it. But, the clutch on my new civic is fine. So is clutch chatter mostly an annoyance? Or can it be serious depending on the symptom?

 
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so im pretty sure i found the problem..lately ive been downshifting to avoid putting strain on my brakes. So there must have been some sort of scoring on the pressure plate from it because on the highway, with steady pressure on the gas, I pushed the clutch in a little. Just enough for the the rpms to rise a little. And after a couple times, problem solved! I just thought people would wanna know

 
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That's weird. Well, if you're gonna downshift, make sure you rev-match . At least you fixed it. Haha.

 
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yeah, i wasnt rev matching, so thats the problem!