dc5 strange noise when its wet

[crazyazn]

Hey all. I am having this strange issue with my DC5R when its only wet. When i hit a puddle or its really pouring and water gets up into the engine bay there is sometimes this strange vibration and rattling noise coming from the gearbox? Has anyone else experienced this? Really bizzarre! Also when i accelerate there is a light knocking sound from the gearbox too!. I just had the driveline and wheel bearings replaced so its not a driveshaft issue. RevZone told me that it could be a gearbox mount? Any help would be great in diagnosing this problem.

[m0nty ITR]

I know this sounds silly, but are you applying the brakes at the same time? The DC5R has uber sensitive ABS. Just unweighting one wheel makes the ABS engage and giving a clicking/vibrating feel to the pedal and entire car. It happens on my car all the time.

[prusso]

HA YES SOMEONE ELSE WITH THIS PROBLEM

ok ive had it for a year and we havent found the problem or a solution yet

things ive tried

removing cold air intake - FAILED
sealing crank angle sensor - FAILED
bent my exhaust heat shield away - FAILED
checked all mounts - FAILED
checked all electrics - FAILED
sealed up ecu - FAILED
taped up everything so water cant get into the engine bay - FAILED

been to toda, powerplay imports, pro concept, local mechanic, honda brookvale, honda eastwood and we havent found a solution yet

when i get it the auto gearbox shakes violently at idle and i loose power

i spoke to honda australia and we have identified problem cars in america through clubrsx and other forums, but without another australian car that has the problem they reckon its something i did to it

[crazyazn]

Damn, thats not good if u havent found a solution yet. Do you think that it is damaging the car in any way? It just sounds so bad when it happens. I dont think i want to drive my car in the wet ever again. Yeah it happens when heaps of water gets in, i loose power and it vibrates on idle and when cruising, just for a bit, then goes away until more water gets in. Do you know what clubrsx have said about this issue?
Thanks guys for the quick relpes too!

[VTAKYO]

happens to mine too. i can feel some vibration on rear right wheel, maybe its the abs i dunno happens all the time in wet.

[SAMBO456]

Also to my EU Civic - very strange noise around the gearbox...

[prusso]

wen i loose the power it feels like sum1 is pulling you back, the more gas u give it the quicker it goes away but im reluctant to do so incase i blow something up

i still think its the crank angle sensor because when we sealed it up at first it didnt do it but over time it has happened again
by sealing i mean removing it and putting silicon around it, but possibly the wires, over summer im gonna buy a new unit and see how it goes

i dont drive my car in the heavy rain anymore and i avoid puddles completly
there is a massive post on clubrsx - search "rain problem" it has hundreds of posts and alot of ppl pointing me in strange directions but nothing has been proven yet in my mind

[Zilli]

i thought u fixed ur problem bro

[prusso]

we thought we did with the crank angle sensor
then one night a few weeks ago in the huge storms it happened again and i had to limp it home from manly :S

[Zilli]

that sucks man... w gotta get a photoshoot hapenning after i detail my car

[crazyazn]

well my car needs serviced at 100,000km so i will get my mechanic to look into it then. Thanks for all your help man.

[prusso]

bump any1 else suggest anything?
can a mod please merge 2 threads?
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65345
and this one

[Tofu]

I had the exact same problem as you prusso! when i had my auto dc5 i get the same symptoms, but not with my TypeS tho.

i just thought it was water on my exhaust so i just ignored it.

[Chi]

ooh, im experiencing the exact same problem

It only occurs upon rain especially when its heavy


Car feels like its knocking and vibrating to the shit house undeneath my seat.


but when its dry it never does it.


Im dying to find out wot the prob is as Ive jacked up the car and tightened everything and checked for holes frmo scraping.

[prusso]

if u guys dont mind
could you please private message me a report on what your experience
and if u no any1 else who has it can u link them to this
i am currently dealing with honda australia re this problem

[Riced_Civic]

this happens to my civic
very bad vibration when it rains

[2002 TeGgY]

i used to get that in both my dc5 base auto and my dc5r, but it turned out engine mounts were broken...

[Riced_Civic]

if it was the engine mounts wouldnt it be all the time not just in the rain???

[2002 TeGgY]

yeh, but for some reason i only noticed it in the rain, but after a while it happened all the time...

[prusso]

i doubt it would be engine mounts
its def an electrical problem
my voltage meter on my head unit drops from 14v to 11v when the problem happens and it only occurs during heavy rainfalls

[2002 TeGgY]

yeh maybe, i was only saying that cause someone said they felt vibrations under their seat which is usually engine mounts, as exhauste slaps under the driver seat wen they break...

[slidetaker]

i doubt it would be engine mounts
its def an electrical problem
my voltage meter on my head unit drops from 14v to 11v when the problem happens and it only occurs during heavy rainfalls

so we have lost of power, knocking and gearbox vibrating and under the seat too.

---Do they all happen at the same time?
---How long will they last from the second it occurs, I assume it only happens during acceleration?
---Does the voltage keeps at 11v during the whole occurrence of the symptoms?
---Do dealerships check whether it registers any DTC?
--- Does it happen to both manual and auto box?

[prusso]

---Do they all happen at the same time?

no it doesnt, it happens and when you give it more gas it goes away

---How long will they last from the second it occurs, I assume it only happens during acceleration?

it happens at idle, happens under acceleration and happens downgearing

---Does the voltage keeps at 11v during the whole occurrence of the symptoms?

no it spikes

---Do dealerships check whether it registers any DTC?

doesnt throw any fault codes, checked it twice

--- Does it happen to both manual and auto box?

yes it does

[FEL12X]

well how many DC5 experience this problem in here?
so all DC5 / R /S will have this problem but just ppl didnt notice it or just a few happening?
i start to worry mine ...but i rarely drive it out when its raining so i cant find any problem and hope it wont happen...

does it related to high Kms when it get older or even happen when the car still quite new?

[prusso]

well how many DC5 experience this problem in here?
so all DC5 / R /S will have this problem but just ppl didnt notice it or just a few happening?
i start to worry mine ...but i rarely drive it out when its raining so i cant find any problem and hope it wont happen...

does it related to high Kms when it get older or even happen when the car still quite new?

well sydney hasnt really got rain this bad in years so i guess people are just noticing now

my car has been doing it since 50 000kms and its been a year that ive had the problem and i thought i was the only one...

it has to be really really bad rain, like rain that you need the quickest wiper setting for :)

[FEL12X]

hm..in that case....keep it in da house when it rains...i drive my forever reliable DC4 when it rains

but seriously no one can fix it?

[prusso]

i bought the car from brookvale mazda and they tried, failed
i took it to col crawford honda at brookvale, eastwood honda and rang scots honda and honda australia, they tried reluctantly, failed
i took it to my local mechanic a good 3 or 4 times, tried alot, failed
ive taken it to my mates auto electrician, he has tried a bit, and failed
ive taken it to toda, powerplay, pro concept, they tried alot aswell, all failed

a whole lot of fail
its been a year now that ive been trying to get it fixed
but its hard working and studying full time to find the time to pull the car apart

[Chi]

we thought we did with the crank angle sensor
then one night a few weeks ago in the huge storms it happened again and i had to limp it home from manly :S


I missed this bit.

Well basically my car never did it at all in the rain with stock exhaust.

I had new Toda zorst and jdm headers in stalled with a new secondary O2 sensor installed.

Now the funny thing is i scraped teh zorst a couple of times and then it started pouring very hard.

Then the problem occurred.

So im assuming its to do with teh exhuast/ sensors.


prusso pm me ur msn details.

[prusso]

pm sent
i really dont remember if i got it without my fuji exhaust, but saying that i got my exhaust within a few weeks of buying my car
if it was a faulty o2 sensor wouldnt it throw a fault or an engine light?
we tested both my o2 sensors and they were working fine
pm sent with my msn

[FEL12X]

heavy rain today, anyone experience that problem again?
i didnt drive it out to test it today

[slidetaker]

[QUOTE=prusso;1529800
---Does the voltage keeps at 11v during the whole occurrence of the symptoms?

no it spikes

[/QUOTE]

Need clarification on this one. So the situation is let say it happens on idle, when the vibration occurs, you look at the voltage, it drops to 11v, then half a second later, it jumps back to 14v. But is it still vibrating?

I know you can stop it by giving it more gas, what if you don't give it more gas? will it keep vibrating? for how long?

[prusso]

ok say im rolling up to the lights and my gears downshift (auto) the vibration will start to occur, the voltage will drop to 11v then pop back to 14v then drop back again and it continues to do so for a good 10-15 seconds or so unless i put it in neutral and rev the car out

[siksivic]

hello there ,
i experiance the same noise as you, only in the wet also, however not often , as it has been said i believe it to be your exhaust hitting against the chassis (or as CHI said the sensors). i only noticed the noise after i got the headers + exhaust , my friend who also has the same mods experiances it as well.

[prusso]

ok the vibration is causing the exhaust hitting the chassis
but the rain is causing the engine/gearbox to run badly hence causing the vibration
i doubt the exhaust is the root of the problem, its only showing us that there is a problem because of the larger pipe size

[twofruitz]

I have this problem too!!! We should start a support group :D

Will keep reading this thread, maybe find some answers.

[prusso]

hey mate
can you private msg me your name, mobile number and car information (mods, year, kms etc)
once i get a good amount of ppl i will go back to honda australia
last time i went through them they didnt think much of it cos i was the only 1, but they said if i found quite a few ppl they can look into it

[vtec-dr]

i have this prob but when i accelerate my exhaust sounds very deep and the car looses power i was thinkin the o2 sensor on the cat

[prusso]

yeah the exhaust sounds deepish and backfires
my o2 sensors were fine wen tested and they would normally throw a check light

[vtec-dr]

but when the car is stationary and i rev the car the note of the car become so deep that i always get out of the car to check the engine but found nothing. when i get the cat service next week ill ask my mechanic to do a few tests

[Tiger]

if u guys dont mind
could you please private message me a report on what your experience
and if u no any1 else who has it can u link them to this
i am currently dealing with honda australia re this problem

I had the same problem, it's when water splashes on the exhaust from the pattern of your treads. After I changed the tyres it never happened again.

You can try that.

Cheers.

[Chi]

Question for you guys,

are your cars lowered a fair bit?

And what exhaust systems are you guys running?

[azn_k3nt]

hrmmms i was abt 2 say...any chances the power wiring is getting soaked by those "puddles" or "heavy rain" because if so then the electric current will tend to follow the water n that will take the power from ur car...if ur engine is recieving the right amount of power it could lead a vibration or jerking??? :D

hrmmms one of my suggestion is lift the car up, spray it wif heaps of water n chuck it on the dyno n see if there's any vibration or different reading in the car power

[aaronng]

hrmmms i was abt 2 say...any chances the power wiring is getting soaked by those "puddles" or "heavy rain" because if so then the electric current will tend to follow the water n that will take the power from ur car...if ur engine is recieving the right amount of power it could lead a vibration or jerking??? :D

hrmmms one of my suggestion is lift the car up, spray it wif heaps of water n chuck it on the dyno n see if there's any vibration or different reading in the car power

No, doesn't work that way. The only wire under your car is the O2 sensor wire. You'll be surprised how poor a conductor water is when you are looking at a scale of 12V.

[azn_k3nt]

No, doesn't work that way. The only wire under your car is the O2 sensor wire. You'll be surprised how poor a conductor water is when you are looking at a scale of 12V.

awww =/ ta...no help then

well maybe u guys should be like americans n leave ur fast cars at home during the winter/cold period :D

[prusso]

I had the same problem, it's when water splashes on the exhaust from the pattern of your treads. After I changed the tyres it never happened again.

You can try that.

Cheers.

had 2 sets of tyres and still does it

[prusso]

Question for you guys,

are your cars lowered a fair bit?

And what exhaust systems are you guys running?


happened wen my car wasnt lowered and base height which is about 1 inch higher than dc5r

exhaust happened stock and happened with my fuji

[prusso]

hrmmms i was abt 2 say...any chances the power wiring is getting soaked by those "puddles" or "heavy rain" because if so then the electric current will tend to follow the water n that will take the power from ur car...if ur engine is recieving the right amount of power it could lead a vibration or jerking??? :D

hrmmms one of my suggestion is lift the car up, spray it wif heaps of water n chuck it on the dyno n see if there's any vibration or different reading in the car power

done this on a jack sprayed water from a hose for about 30 mins and the car didnt miss a beat once

[prusso]

awww =/ ta...no help then

well maybe u guys should be like americans n leave ur fast cars at home during the winter/cold period :D

we get more rain in summer in australia than we do in winter...

[vtec-dr]

lol, could we say its the o2 sensor?????

[prusso]

lol, could we say its the o2 sensor?????

my o2 sensor was tested twice
and no fault codes are thrown
the only thing that we have noticed is voltage drops wen the problem occurs
i still havent got enuf ppl to take it to honda yet
need at least 10 before they will take me seriously...

[vtec-dr]

Come On Ppl N E Else Wit This Prob Let Prusso Know So He Can Take It To Honda!!!!!!

[azn_k3nt]

we get more rain in summer in australia than we do in winter...

off topic-

do we??? ahahahaha never noticed ><

[vtec-dr]

i washed the car today, cleaned everything and the noise started so it must be something to do wit water

[APYDC5]

i never had this problem until i got an aftermarket exhaust :( (Fujisubo PG)

[prusso]

it happened with me stock...but because the base exhaust is quiet as u could hardly hear it, only feel it
once i changed to fuji u could hear it plus feel it more violently

how the hell did u get it to happen after a wash!
normally it only happens to me in heavy rain

do u even drive a dc5?
if so can u send me ur details via pm

[Waggy]

Hmmm, this concerns me as I have a DC5S on the way.

Does anyone with a Type S have this problem, or only Base and DC5R?

[vtec-dr]

prusso u got pm

[prusso]

Hmmm, this concerns me as I have a DC5S on the way.

Does anyone with a Type S have this problem, or only Base and DC5R?

i have two base, two dc5r and one type r having the problem
so i guess its a dc5 problem :)

[aaronng]

i have two base, two dc5r and one type r having the problem
so i guess its a dc5 problem :)

So 1 out of 4 has the problem? Or all 5 DC5's have the problem?

[prusso]

i have 5 ppl who have msged me that have the problem...
i cant go 2 honda unless i have at least 10

[Waggy]

Any progress on this?

[Chi]

I know of a few more ppl who arent on the forums who had same probs.

I have installed Stiffer engine mounts and that doesnt help.

so can take that out for ideas.

Now another thing I have noticed is taht the vibration / rattling can be felt mainly on the drivers side.

when I have passengers they dont notice it.

And this is only in heavy rain.

[prusso]

i cant do anything about it unless i get peoples names, car information such as year, mods etc and location with contact details

and i need at least 10 ppl

[6000rpm]

so far an aftermarket catback and rain seem to be the consistant factors.

i use to have a loud rattle at traffic lights in wet weather.
crawled under the car and noticed that the heat shield around the resonator/ b-pipe was a bit close to the exhaust.
i just bent it away to give it more clearance.

havent had it occur ever since.

[VTECMACHINE]

Now another thing I have noticed is taht the vibration / rattling can be felt mainly on the drivers side.

when I have passengers they dont notice it.

And this is only in heavy rain.

Is that because you are holding onto the steering wheel, and that is vibrating. In that case, it would explain the pasenger not feeling it so much.

[Chi]

Ricki you obviously don't read the previous posts before posting.

The rattling is coming from underneath the chasis as stated a many times in a few posts.

[VTECMACHINE]

Yeah yeah... but wtf man... such a weird problem hey? Rattling when raining, WTF?

[SuperSteve]

dam i have a ep3 and i think im getting this problem now after getting my toda exhaust put in. Sounds exactly the same as u guys have stated. I was at the lights and switched my car off and turned it back on and the problem went away. This all started when i was driving down a street and went through a puddle >_<

[jaseDC5R]

just reading the thread....ive got the same prob with my DC5r....has anyone found a solution yet?

[Chi]

Theres no solution guys, its a common problem.

Guys in the UK also experience it with JDM headers.

Some reckon its the heat shield expanding and reacting to the water splashing on it.

[jaseDC5R]

the weird thing is that I took my cousins DC5r out in heavy rain...theres no issues.
Is it only happening to some dc5's?
Now, i got modd's on my car and my cousin's is stock standard, could it be the after-market exhaust/headers?

[SuperSteve]

the weird thing is that I took my cousins DC5r out in heavy rain...theres no issues.
Is it only happening to some dc5's?
Now, i got modd's on my car and my cousin's is stock standard, could it be the after-market exhaust/headers?

when my car was stock, which was 1 week ago, ive had it for 8 months b4 hand and in heavy rain periods i didnt have this issue. Now that i got the cat back exhaust installed im having it so for me the exhaust has definately got something to do with it

>_< this sucks

[iversonruls]

same here
had it like 2 weeks ago..

i think the first heavy rain i went through after i got my toda exhaust

[prusso]

Theres no solution guys, its a common problem.

Guys in the UK also experience it with JDM headers.

Some reckon its the heat shield expanding and reacting to the water splashing on it.

interesting post
ive installed jdm headers in the last 3 months and since then i havent had the problem
spent the entire day at oran park yesterday driving thru puddles and alot of rain and the problem did not occur once
it may even have been the o2 sensor....even tho it didnt throw a code it was extended wen i installed the headers

common problem with no real solution
honda have refused to touch any modified cars...so if u have a dead stock dc5 and it does it, take it to them and tell them to diagnose the problem, however they will ask u to replicate it in the rain and it gets awfully embarrasing wen u cant :) plus they will charge u for a scan and it never threw a code for me

[Amusevtec]

Man after the bad weather in Sydney in the past few weeks, i've noticed this too. But it's only recently, i never had this problem before

I thought it was just my shitty tyres. I feel a vibration under my seat, and it makes a sound as well.

[prusso]

yeahh u can feel it violently, read my posts before to see if its the same

[crazyazn]

I am planning to install TODA headers soon. Do you think that this would solve the problem the same as installing JDM headers? My mate has a buddyclub exhaust and TODA headers and the rain has never been a problem for him.

[prusso]

well some ppl claim its the stock heatshield, but that cannot explain the power loss...

[nakz]

i think the problem is caused by an after market exhaust.. this problem started to occurs when i have installed my new exhaust system "Greddy Evo II"

[prusso]

there are ppl out there that have said it happens with stock aswell...

[SuperSteve]

hmmmm mayb because the aftermarket exhausts are light weight and thin all round compared to the stock ?? not sure i could b wrong

but i can say that my problem is definately caused by the exhaust (toda cat back)


My car sound like a v8 tractor when it happens ! ! hahahahaha

[EK4R]

I am planning to install TODA headers soon. Do you think that this would solve the problem the same as installing JDM headers? My mate has a buddyclub exhaust and TODA headers and the rain has never been a problem for him.

i have the same setup , toda head + BC catback

never had this problem. never had it with stock or with my old setup either

[RedCod]

I've been following this thread closely and have gone through virtually every single posts on the web that I could find using the following keywords as the search criteria -
dc5, rsx, exhaust, rattling/vibrating, heavy, rain etc..

From all this, I found that the general consensus out there is that the problem is caused by the aftermarket exhaust (with the larger diameter) hitting on the under side of the car when the exhaust expand/contract in heavy rain.

The threads below illustrate this well.
http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=542845
http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/mechanical-problems-technical-chat/113463-help-exhaust-rattling-w-pics.html (not DC5)

What I would like to know is -

Has anyone managed to fix the problem? There are countless posts of suggestions/fixes from heating and bending the problem area away to using heat wraps but has anyone tried any of them and fixed the problem?

Cheers.

[2002 TeGgY]

i've never experienced this problem and i have a custom 3'' catback and toda headers...

[EK4R]

wrap ur exhaust :) or cover bits that comes in contact with your chassis ???

i know my rear hits my LCA sometimes due to the height of my car, i just put couple layers of thick cardboard and cable ties....vibration gone.

[SuperSteve]

anyone getting this prob with the rain 2day ?? any lucky anyone has had with this problem lately ??

[crazyazn]

Hey guys i am getting TODA headers installed in November so once i get these on ill take it out on a rainy day and test out the theory. It should work as alot of ppl with headers as well as a catback say they dont get the noise. Its an expensive solution but at least ill get some power gains from it too.

[minircc]

I have never experienced this problem.
My car is lowered with bigger rims, all else stock.

[jaseDC5R]

i just resorted to leaving my ride at home, when it rains i take out the Mrs Suzuki swift. No vtec but better than listening to the noise (like my gear box/exhaust about to fall off).

[chinesewhisperz]

had just experienced the vibes underneath with the rain we had recently. anyone know if whether its the headers that needed replacing and if it fixed the noise?

[SuperSteve]

had just experienced the vibes underneath with the rain we had recently. anyone know if whether its the headers that needed replacing and if it fixed the noise?

yeah rain over the past week in sydney brought back the noise. Im getting toda headers installed soon and ill post here when i test my car through heavy rain. I find that if u dont drive hard in the rain (1/4 throttle all the time during ur trip in the rain) it prolongs the problem :thumbsup:

[chinesewhisperz]

drove from the city towards liverpool this mornin at 1 & it was rattles galore again. i tried wedgin a thick piece of rubber between the heat shield & body, underneath close to the b-pipe but still no good.
anyone get this rectified? or should i just bend the heat shield and hope for the best.

[DC5-S]

Felt it today, was wondering what it was lol.......

[Red]

When anyone finds out wtf makes that sound can u guys let me know. Im experiencing the same thing with my DC5. When its wet the sound is just unbearable. I took it to the honda dealership and they said it might just be water getting into the spark plugs but i havent had it checked yet.

[SuperSteve]

Hey guys just thought ill post an update on my car. I just recently got my new headers installed n luckily it rained for 3 straight days after which gave me the opportunity to drive my car through the rain. Havent yet had the problem i had b4 occur yet ! so far so good ! if it does come back i will post back here but ill also post a update next time it buckets down here in Sydney n tells yas if its problem is definately gone.

[TOUGE-ITR]

Hi guys,

Long time reader, first time poster. lol.

I recently just got an EP3R and its got a catback and it seems to be doing the same thing that you guys have been describing.

its got a cat-back exhaust and injen CAI, i spoke to the previous owner and he told me
it only started happening after he did the catback and intake.

Im not sure but ive also got a faulty IACV i think, it idles at like 500 rpm which i know is way too low.

Not sure if this have anything to do with the problem.

[white_ep3_civic]

Been readin the thread about how aftermarket headers fix the problem. I got j's racing headers installed on my ep3 and the sound it still there. I'm going 2 try the heat shield trick and see if that helps.

[WuackR]

Hey all. I am having this strange issue with my DC5R when its only wet. When i hit a puddle or its really pouring and water gets up into the engine bay there is sometimes this strange vibration and rattling noise coming from the gearbox? Has anyone else experienced this? Really bizzarre! Also when i accelerate there is a light knocking sound from the gearbox too!. I just had the driveline and wheel bearings replaced so its not a driveshaft issue. RevZone told me that it could be a gearbox mount? Any help would be great in diagnosing this problem.
YES !! OMG, just recently I've had the exact same issue..

I haven't read the whole thread, but will do =P

[WuackR]

i cant do anything about it unless i get peoples names, car information such as year, mods etc and location with contact details

and i need at least 10 ppl
Hey Prusso,

Any luck with resolving the issue ??

Do you reckon its doing any further damages ??

Keep me posted yeh..

Thanks.

[TeMp]

i've never experienced this problem and i have a custom 3'' catback and toda headers...

Same. Weird problem. I am the first owner of my car so I know every single thing that has been done to my car. I have gone through two cat backs and shortly after I had TODA headers. Been easily 3 years+ now and never experienced this before.

[bungsai]

had it with x force headers and spoon catback.

change to toda headers and spoon catback and the noise is gone gone gone.

[amurray]

thought i was going insane... im having the same problem with my FD1 did anyone find what it might me?

[blk_shadow]

so, no solution as yet I'm guessing. I got it twice too now on the DC5R, the sound of the engine changes (much rougher and vibrates).

got HKS catback, EP3 headers, and Mugen intake. only during heavy rain.

[DC5-23NVI]

lol strange i got exactly same problem aswell. however only started happening after i installed the jdm dc5r header. and only happens on heavy rain. must be a common problem. i think its got to do with the headers

[V8KLLR]

Hey guys,
I have this problem too. I have a k24 though, my power does not fluctuate but my gearbox or engine makes faint deathly noises in the rain as i ease of the acceleration. But seeing how this is a common issue has got me as ease. No bad incidents as of now.