Over the past few days, I have noticed that the engine on my '99 Honda
Civic is much louder then before, particularly when accelerating and the car
feels slower/sloppier, so I need to push gas pedal more to get the same
acceleration.

Any ideas on what to could be causing this or what to check.

Thanks,
Rale

Mainly to cover the bases... how many miles/years since the last timing belt
change? Jumped timing normally makes the engine hard to start, but it isn't
always apparent. It also causes the acceleration to be noticably poorer and
makes an odd hollow sound from the exhaust. My concern is that if the belt
has jumped, you are on the ragged edge of timing belt failure with a great
likelihood of severe engine damage. If the timing belt change interval has
been more than the mileage or time specified in the owner's manual, it needs
to be done now!

Mike

can you detect that without taking the timing belt cover off? if you
check the ignition timing with a timing lamp and of course jumper the
service check connector to siable the ECU timing adjustment? can that
be spot on if the timing belt jumped?
I am asking because my 97 Civic does the same and I already replaced
spark plugs, checked the wires and the distributor, and I adjusted the
timing spot on. I still have to check the PCV valve though.

Exactly - the ignition timing will be significantly retarded if the belt
jumps, so if you didn't have to adjust the distributor more than a bit the
timing belt isn't your problem.

I realize timing belts fail completely more often than they jump, but
jumping is such a dire warning that it's good to check that first. If the
belt has jumped, you don't want to run the engine until it's fixed.

Mike

i have a really hard time believing that a correctly tensioned belt can
jump. but based on what i've seen with my honda, and the fact that you
/have/ to have the timing cover mostly back on before tightening the
tensioner [making it impossible to "see" if the belt is right], i'd say
that there's a significant chance any belt that's been changed is going
to be loose. and if it's loose, it's much more likely to jump.

Manifold/vacuum leak would be my guess only because of the increased noise
level. Timing belt (as suggested) may be a culprit, but I don't think that
would make the engine louder. Of course, it's hard to tell without hearing
the difference.......

my expirience was on '98 civic that missiong oil can cause that

explanation i get from dealer is that vtec isnt working (i cant reach more
than 5000rpm , motor was lauder and performance degraded)

check oil

b.

Thanks a lot to all of you who replied! I will make sure to make a posting
as soon as I figure out
what the actual problems is.

Thanks again,
Rale

When was the last time you had the clutch replaced? A worn out clutch
will result in slower acceleration while the higher engine revs will
result in greater noise. Just a thought.

And thanks to you (in advance) for following up. Our collective advice gets
better when we get more feedback.

Mike