Today after an uphill climb I began to hear a rattle in the front of the exhaust system when I release the clutch. Sounds like a rock in the pipe but I'm sure it's probably rubbing against something (heatsheild?). The car has also lost acceleration power very suddenly.

Any ideas

 

Have your catalytic converter? If the ceramics broke apart, they could be clogging your exhaust and that might be causing your loss of power. It would also explain the rattle that you hear.

 

Friend of mine told me it may be that but I would probably smell something. The rattle sounds like the exhausts is vibrating against the heat sheild because it only makes the sound when I release the clutch in first and second, little bit in third but no sound any other point.

The power loss has me concerned about the exhaust system/cat converter. Or maybe a space or a hole. Is a catalytic converter expensive to replace?

 

Turns out it is My Cat. I have a new problem every other week now

 

Yeah, cat converters cost a little over a hundred to get replaced.....sometimes higher if you want a performance oriented one. Before shelling out the money to have it replaced yourself, check with your nearest Honda Dealer because they may replace it free of cost. I know my '97 is still covered under the extended emissions warranty and I believe they also cover converters with it. It is worth checking out, but I don't know if aftermarket exhausts void it out either. They usually last 100k miles or more, unless you like fording deeps puddles, damage your exhaust, or have something wrong with the engine. Let me know what happens.

 

got a magnaflow cat welded for 100 including 1 yr warranty. (price included the cat)

 

Drill a hole or 2 in that cat, gives you a shitty sound but you will get your power back, works at least until you afford to get a new one

 

Drilling holes in the converter will cause the exhaust to travel into the passenger compartment and choke you with fumes. Don't use it for a longterm fix and if you do, please keep the windows open. Either way, I would bite the bullet and get it replaced ASAP. You might also do well to have the exhaust specialist check to see if any of the cracked ceramics have moved back to the muffler. That happened to me and was plugging up the exhaust, causing the engine to ping and predetonate at anything RPM over 3,000. It also threw off the timing on the car. Predetonation can damage the pistons, so try not to let it go too long.

 

Good advice guys! I'm going to have a friends mechanic do it for $350. Do you believe Honda dealer quoted $677 for the part alone!

 

true dat. i would definately be careful about fumes. my cousin just died last week from carbon monoxide poisoning from her car. serious stuff.