Hello,

My wife owns an 07 Civic LX and I have an 07 Civic Hybrid. I noticed something recently that may be normal for the Hybrid or maybe it is something to be concerned about. When my car is in park and idling, the engine makes a distinct gentle "clackety-clack-clack-clack" noise. I have heard this sound in some 4 cylinder engines on idle but this seems unusual for a Honda 4 cylinder. My wife's LX makes hardly any noise on idle at all so my question is, is this normal for the Hybrid's 1.3L ICE to exhibit a noise like that when idling? Does anyone else have this on theirs? I know the description of the sound may not help much but it sounds like a very very light "diesel tapping" noise which I have heard as I mentioned in other four cyclinders - especially Subaru's. Maybe it is just the nature of this engine to sound like that?

I have had my car for over two weeks now and it may have been doing this since day one. It's so quiet than you can only hear it when the engine is idling and standing in front of the car. Under normal operation I would never have noticed this. It was only this morning when I happened to get out of the car for a moment while my engine was idling - and I was at work so the car had been driven 45km.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

My engine is very quite. Are you using 0-20 oil, I hope so! Are you low on oil.H

 

What kind of gas are you using? Is it the same station you have been using? Did the station change brands or sources of gas?

Sounds to me like a low-octane gas issue. If it sounds like a diesel, then it may be engine knock and the anti-knock engaging at idle.

You could try mid-grade gas or a different gas station next fillup to see if it is better...

Or, as Harold said, it could be low on oil.

 

Thanks for the responses. Well I can say it isn't low oil as I checked that about 10 minutes ago and the oil level is right where it should be.

As for the gas, I suppose it could be bad gas as I am using the usual 87 octane regular unleaded but it is the same station I always use for gas and it is possible that they changed their supplier or got a bad batch.

Another thing I was thinking was that it could be old oil. The reason I say this is that I bought an 07 model with less than 2,000km on the odometer so it is almost a year old. The dealer told me they checked everything out on delivery but when I called them today they advised me that they did NOT change the oil. So my assumption is that the old oil (almost a year old now) is possibly the cuplrit? Is that a possible reason for slight clacking/knocking at idle? I have an appointment to bring it in tomorrow morning to have a look and have requested that an oil change be made. I know it is still the "break in" oil but if it is about a year old, I think it should be changed even though the oil life indicator still says 70%.

Ron

 

It is a good thing you are taking it in, because it should not be making noises like that. I don't think a oil change will help, but it is worth a try! Good luck and keep us posted,H

 

Well I just a call from the dealership and, not surprisingly, they told me that the valve tapping is very mild and "within normal spec." They said they compared it to another Hybrid on the lot and said it made the exact same noise. I was told that the 1.3 should not be benchmarked to the 1.8 in my wife's LX as they are totally different engines, fair enough. So they will not be doing any adjustments unless it gets worse which they do not think it will. Could be that the quality of my latest tank of gas is making it a little worse because I never did notice this on my last tank (only on my second since I got it). I may be a little too picky because I always seem to notice small noises that I believe should not be there but seeing as this is the first Civic Hybrid I have ever owned, I have little to go by. They also checked out the oil and everything was ok.

I mentioned that other owners, as in this forum, mentioned their vehicle is very quiet on idle and was told that there will always be some mild variances between the engines and also what may be quiet to someone else may be noisy to the next...blah blah...

So I guess there is no concern based on what they said unless of course it becomes louder. I am a little disappointed though as I would prefer to have one that is pretty silent on idle. There is definitely a very mild valve tap that I will need to live with unless it gets worse. Man I hate hearing "that's normal" when I bring a car in. Funny how you always hear that when it is under warranty but if it's out of warranty, they will not only present you with several costly resolutions, but they will also find other problems you didn't even know existed.

Sigh.

 

I have the same tapping noise you have been talking about. I think its normal and agree with the dealer. If not I will let you know what happens to my hybrid. I have heard it since day one and I have 50k on it since then.

 

Funny my car makes a lot of noise too.. Loud idle noise and this loud A/C sound that sounds like there is yard work going on outside my car (or possibly a small engine jet flying near by)... I took it to dealer, and they didn't hear anything wrong/abnormal about my idle noise. And the AC sound they said they compared it with another vehicle and that the other car made the same sound even LOUDER!. So my car was "within normal spec".. I dont know how I feel about them merely using another car as comparison, because the other car could have the same "defect", if in fact it is a defect.. It makes me feel like they don't know my car as well as they should.. I mean, I could have driven my co-workers hybrid too, and made a technical decision based on that! I agree with you about feeling the disappointment over a loud car.. I mean, my car still runs fine, its just so loud

 

This is likely the cooling fan, as I tried to explain in your other post on the same subject. It is noticeable, as it spins at high speed to cool the engine.

It probably does not make this noise when you first start the car until it warms up, right? Check and get back to us.

 

I have never owned a car that even comes close to being as quite as my HCH2. It does have sounds not fimiliar to old school cars, but you get used to these sounds in time H