strange civic problem

hi, i need some help... i dont know much about car repair or anything,
and i had this strange problem, i wanted someone's advice. i have a 99
civic ex, and today when i started driving, there was this strange
sound, a tinny sound like a piece of metal was dragging on the ground
or something. not too loud, but still very noticable. i stopped the
car and nothing appeared to be scraping, and as far as i could tell,
the car was fine. i started driving a little more and the sound
stopped altogether. now, a few minutes later, i got onto the freeway,
and once i started accellerating to much higher speeds, the sound was
very loud, once again like something was scraping. there was no
turn-off so i kept going but after about 20 seconds it stopped again
and has been fine ever since. i just know that the sound was VERY BAD
and i'm not sure what it could be or what to look for. i believe the
car made the same noise once before, about a month ago, but i was
driving city streets and it was not loud. and it once again stopped
very quickly. any advice?? thanks

 

Sometimes the splash guards on the disk brakes rust and come into
cotact with the rotor and make a sound like that. Easy to fix, just
bend it away from the rotor a bit.

But check your brake pads and calipers just in case something is
sticking.

 

Daniel,
If your model Civic has ABS brakes, you might be hearing the module
'charging' itself. This would be explained in the owner's manual. I'd
describe it like a noisy windshield washer pump under the hood, running
for three seconds, then stopping. Have you performed the lamp test so
you'll know if your warning lights on the dash are all able to get your
attention?

If the sound ever happens again, try tapping the brakes to see if it's
brake related. Could just be a pebble wedged between your brake caliper
and the tin guard. Backing up will sometimes free it.

'Curly'

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I've had this same problem with my 2000 SI (non-ABS). Stopping and backing
up a few feet cures it. It's an awful sound - never experienced it with
any other car, but it happens quite frequently with this vehicle. I would
describe it as a screeching, metal-on-metal sound. I also get the loud
clunk sound when backing up for the first time in afternoon each day.
M.Paul

 

If it's a metallic rattle sound it could be the heat shield by the
Catalic Converter (the little muffler like unit that is located on the
exhaust pipe between the engine and the muffler).

There are two ways to fix this:
(1) put metal o-rings around the unit to hold it in place (This may
still produce some rattling; or
(2) pull it off completely.