2 Problems: Clicking and Dimming

[Saracen]

Hey people

As per the title, I've got 2 problems with my Civic ES1

Problem 1:

When I get into the car in the morning (or after its been cool for a while), everything is normal. I start her up, and sit for a few minutes as the engine warms (slightly). Then as I'm backing out, the first time I brake I hear a loud *click*. Almost a *thump*.

It doesn't necessarily always happen on the first brake in the morning, but it definitely happens within the first km of my trip, only once, and always only when braking.

Problem 2:

When the lights are on (so at night), I notice that sometimes my headlights dim slightly for half a second. It only happens if I depress the clutch, or shift gears etc. I have crystal vision bulbs, and I don't remember it happening before I changed the bulbs. Then again... I did change them quite a long while ago, so it may be just a coincidence. Or I may have not noticed it pre crystal vision.

Any ideas on either of my problems?

Thanks!

[silver_screen]

Where abouts r u from?

[bennjamin]

sounds like your brake pad shims are seating in first thing in the morning (since not used over night). Its common while reversing out of driveway etc.

Also the light dimming is probably from the load put onto the engine ~

[newmski]

yeh man when your taking off or even changing gear say changing up 'too quickly' ie 3rd at 15km/h u'll put stress on your engine = electrical power dissipation

[silver_screen]

That is very unheard of in new cars. Not even my old civic does that shit. Although.. maybe the globes u have installed have a higher wattage rating?? what other loads do u have on at the time??? eg. heater?? a/c??? system blaring?

The pad shims, yes... Common while reversing. Happens at work often enough

[Saracen]

Where abouts r u from?

I'm from Melbourne.


sounds like your brake pad shims are seating in first thing in the morning (since not used over night). Its common while reversing out of driveway etc.

Ah ok. So nothing to be worried about?


yeh man when your taking off or even changing gear say changing up 'too quickly' ie 3rd at 15km/h u'll put stress on your engine = electrical power dissipation

Hmm. I do try to keep the noise down when I'm around home so I don't wake up the neighbours. I'll do some experimenting, see if that's causing it.


Although.. maybe the globes u have installed have a higher wattage rating?? what other loads do u have on at the time??? eg. heater?? a/c??? system blaring?

No other loads. The globes are rated at 12V 60/55W. They're the Philips Crystal Vision.

Thanks for all the help, guys!

[aaronng]

The light dimming happens if you have air conditioning on. Try again with the air cond compressor off and see if you have dimming. All new accords also have this dimming problem because the alternator is not strong enough to cope with the current draw when the compressor kicks in.

[krogoth]

The light dimming happens if you have air conditioning on. Try again with the air cond compressor off and see if you have dimming. All new accords also have this dimming problem because the alternator is not strong enough to cope with the current draw when the compressor kicks in.

yep true

i have an 05 ES civic, i have the break issue in the morning

typical little sound, nothing to be worried about at all

and u can avoid it if u are very gentle to the breakes in the morning

i have the light diming problem, as will many other cars, wen u switch on the AC, or use move all windows up/down at the same time, the headlights dim a tiny bit for a split second and thats it

[silver_screen]

Where abouts in melbourne?

The a/c will dim ur lights.. but he didnt have any loads on the car at the time

[JasonGilholme]

Check your caliper bolts. Hopefully its not the caliper moving around when you apply the brakes. As said it could be the pads/shims.

Maybe you should check all the bolts on your LCA and swaybars etc. They maybe slightly loose. never know.

As for headlights, does it only happen when you change gears?? Thats weird, You could be changin wayyyyy toooo early as said.

[Saracen]

Ok,

Tonight I paid extra close attention to the lights, and I noticed them dim a couple of times when I was simply cruising along with the engine at about 2k rpm. No shifting or clutch movement etc.

Also, regarding the brakes, I was parked for about 15 minutes and they clicked shortly after that, so they must not need a long break to settle in. Either that, or there's something else at play here.

[krogoth]

Ok,

Tonight I paid extra close attention to the lights, and I noticed them dim a couple of times when I was simply cruising along with the engine at about 2k rpm. No shifting or clutch movement etc.

Also, regarding the brakes, I was parked for about 15 minutes and they clicked shortly after that, so they must not need a long break to settle in. Either that, or there's something else at play here.

1. There may be an issue with ur alternator, have it checked out
-also, for how long do they dim for and how much do they dim wen ur cruzin at 2000rpm?
-did u have ur AC on wen doing this test?
-depending on the outside temperature, the engine fan turns on and off frequently to keep the radiator cool, this could cause a tiny diming of the lights
-if u had ur AC on, its most likely the compressor that causes the dimming of the lights, coz it sucks up that extra bit of current

2. With my 05 ES, i only get this cliking break noise the first time i use the breaks in the morning, because they havent been used in ages and have cooled down
-the noise from my breaks only hapens once, and only if the car has been sitting around and cooled down for a long time
-if i park it somwer and come back a couple hrz later, generally the click doesnt happen
-i still think thrz no real danger or issue with ur breaks, in the end get them checked out, it could be simply a part in the break mechanism that is getting old and worn out, and needs to be replaced in order to get rid of the noise

[Saracen]

Well,

A mate helped me take off the wheels, and we had a look at the breaks. Everything seemed fine. He thought it might be the axle slowing down when I brake, but he moved it a bit with his hand and it made a different noise, so that's not it.

Later in the day, I was backing slowly up my street and came to a speed hump, so I pushed her a bit harder to go over and I heard the same noise (only much quieter). I stopped, put her in first and moved forward back over the hump. As I was braking while coming off, I heard the noise again. Note the car was only parked for around 5 minutes before this happened, and the (quieter) noise came without applying the brakes!

I'm beginning to think it might be a suspension problem?

What do you think?

[aaronng]

Did you hear it from the suspension? If it was a little creaking from the suspension, that's normal.

[RMN15N]

That sounds like ur front lower control arm bushes,
might be worn out due to driving, thrashing etc.

it does the click noise when ur braking yes?
but if u brake real softly it doesnt happen right?
which side does it sound like its coming from?

if it is and i am right use ur jack , and jack up that side left or right
then use both hands and nudge the wheel left and right

eg; <- (RIMS) ->
left then right. if u do hear that same noise then its ur bushes from the front lca (im just talkning about the front.)

[aaronng]

It's a 2001 GLi though. You can't drive it THAT hard before it loses tyre grip.

[RMN15N]

could be factory faulty you never know.
well just check it anyway. if its not then thats better for you lol

[Saracen]

Did you hear it from the suspension? If it was a little creaking from the suspension, that's normal.

It's not just creaking. Definately a clicking sound.


That sounds like ur front lower control arm bushes,
might be worn out due to driving, thrashing etc.

it does the click noise when ur braking yes?
but if u brake real softly it doesnt happen right?
which side does it sound like its coming from?

if it is and i am right use ur jack , and jack up that side left or right
then use both hands and nudge the wheel left and right

eg; <- (RIMS) ->
left then right. if u do hear that same noise then its ur bushes from the front lca (im just talkning about the front.)

Thanks for that, I'll have a look soon and see what happens.

[Saracen]

Ok,

I jacked up each of the front two sides (not at the same time) and tried pushing the rims in and out, they didn't budge. That is what you meant right? Left and right with respect to the car? or did you mean forward/backward? like say this was the wheel: (front) <-- O --> (back)

Anyway, one thing I did notice though, while spinning the passenger side wheel, I heard something that sounded similar to the click (I might be wrong). It sounded almost like when you have a loose screw or something rolling around in a metal cylinder, but the sound only came when I changed the direction I was spinning the wheel in. So if the wheel kept spinning in the same direction there was no sound.

I crawled in under the car to try and pinpoint where the sound was coming from...

http://members.iinet.net.au/~ahmedk/01-12-06_1918.jpg

It might be a bit hard to tell, but that brown thing coming out from the left is the axle that connects to the left wheel. It sounded like it was from somewhere in or around that red circle. Of course I could just be hearing an echo.

Any ideas, if this is indeed the same clicking sound I've been hearing?

[aaronng]

Sounds like a worn bearing..

[RMN15N]

the symtoms to me sound like the bushes still but,
try driving the car at 60kmph
then just slow down really fast.
do you hear the click?
and also when ur turning left or right does it click?

try swirving slowly in a empty street to hear for any clicks

[Saracen]

OK...

So last night after work (~9 hour shift) I got into my car, turned her on and sat in it for a while, maybe 10 minutes. I took off slowly and only BARELY touched the brakes... CLICK. Tried it again immediately but no sound.

I pushed it up to 60 and applied the brakes as hard as I could without locking the wheels, no clicking or any unusual sounds whatsoever. The car felt very.. "together". She stopped well and everything felt normal.

I then tried swerving around and aside from the loose coins in my ash tray I couldn't hear anything. I was swerving pretty damn hard too lol.

Then, today I was feeling generous enough to let my sister practise her manual driving. She's still fairly new, so the car was shaking a lot. I was sitting in the passenger side, and about halfway through her journey, I realised I was hearing the click a ridiculous amount of times. Whenever she turned, accelerated, applied the brakes. Just about anything she did was followed with the same distinct clicking noise.

It happened a few times again to me throughout the day, but only when I was braking or accelerating from standstill.

It might just be the sound vibration, or my own paranoia, but it feels like whenever I hear the click, my brake pedal shakes a tiny bit. Try to imagine something is connected to a steel wire that's slightly tangled, and then quickly untangles to become taught. That's what the click sounds and feels like.

It's really starting to worry me... I like my car, I don't want it to fall apart :(

[Saracen]

I took the car to my mechanic, he checked all the bushes and said everything was fine. He also said that noise from the axle (see picture above) is normal for a front wheel drive.

We then went for a drive, and just my luck nothing happened! the car was perfect. Then of course later in the day I heard it again, repeatedly.