My car makes a ticking sound, is this normal?

I recently bought a 2003 Honda Civic Ex Coupe Manual Transmission, about 106,000 miles on it, engine runs great, purrs, no lights are on, everything seems PERFECT about the car, except, I notice a ticking sound, and I'm wondering if it is normal or not.





For a better description of the ticking sound, it only does it about 1/3rd of the time I'm slowing down or accelerating, and it ONLY makes the noise if I'm taking off from a stop, or slowing down to a stop, and not all of the time, about 1/3rd as I said. Now, it seems to do it more often in reverse, from a stop starting to back up. It sounds like it is coming from the center of my car from front to back, and maybe a little to the passenger side, its a definate click sound, there is no car movement from it, no shake, or jar, or anything, just a click. It could be perfectly normal, idk, just seeing if anyone has an idea.



Loose heat shields on the exhaust system.





They spot weld them on at the factory, the weld breaks, they vibrate, they warm up and expand with exhaust heat, "Tick" , then cool down, "more Ticking" .





Honda loves putting heat shields on the exhaust system to lessen the transferred heat between the exhaust and the undercarriage of the car, and the ground, in case you park in a pile of dry leaves or something.





Locate the offending heat shield, remove it, tack weld it back on, etc.




I wouldn't worry about it. It could be something shaking around in the AC, could be a part just hitting against something, a loose bolt... It could be a million things. If youre worried about it, take it to a mechanic. Sullivan Tire is really good about just looking at things and giving free estimates.




Sounds like it might be your valve lifters.They might need a slight adjustment or sometimes a slightly thicker viscosity oil will quiet noisy lifters.




Check your exhaust flange gasket, often a leaking gasket at the head or the collector will make a ticking noise.




Check the oil and transmission fluid, that ticking could be the last sound your engine makes before it seizes up.




Check your brake pads. They have a clicker mechanism that alerts you to replace them.




NOOOOOOO check oil now