no no no.... It could be either one. About 6 months ago I had my clutch replaced on my 97 honda civic lx and some of that noise did go away. But I still had this tapping noise under the hood and I was told it was transmission but that as long as its still going to not worry about it but they recommended I replace it within the year. I went to an auto dismantler and got one for $300 (only 70k on it) and found a place to drop it in for only $200 labor. Now I have no NOISE other than the engine just running. More likely it is the transmission which I have found is cheaper than the clutch, if you can find a good deal. Look @ ebay or a local dismantler. I found mine through ebay and it was a place about an hour from me. Picked it up in my civic and took it to the shop. Finished in 1 day. Hope that helps. But I had the same problem and I would say the noise is more from the transmission especially if your clutch is still working correctly.