Engine noise due to timing belt tensioner ?

[Vanboozin]

Just bought a 99 dx coupe 5 spd with 116,000 km's / 72,000 miles for $3,800 CAD Its my first Honda and i really like the car (had it for a month now) The car runs well although underpowered and kinda slow on the highway (seems like i could use another gear) O.K. now to my Question i have a noise coming from the engine at certain rpm's (no tach in dx) my rough guess would be between 900-1400 while shifting in the bottom 3 gears its more pronounced due to the fact of less road & wind noise at lower speeds ,but does occur in all gears when i hit that rpm range Also if i just park in neutral , pop the hood and flip the throttle cable by hand it happens. It sounds like its coming from the timing belt side of the engine or area. hard to describe the sound for you but its not a knocking,squeaking,or bad grinding its more like a combination of chattering and rubbing with a faint whistle noise mixed in. unfortunately i don't have any service records on the car i don't mind taking the car to a mechanic for repairs but i found this great forum and figured i might be able to narrow it down a little first (maybe even isolate & rectify the problem) Had another look and listen this morning and there is some carbon colored deposits on the manifold side of the valve cover close to the timing end , could this be an exhaust leak ? Thanks in Advance for any suggestions

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[sql_civic]

The chattering could mean that your valve lash is out. You could try doing that adjustment first since it's not a bad idea to do it and all you have to do is take off the valce cover. As far as the carbon deposits are concerned - why not post up a pic?

[Vanboozin]

O.k. i'll try the adjustment on my next days off
and will try to post pictures of the carbon deposits

I have a D16Y7 , so should i use these specs below ?

Intake: 0.18 - 0.22 mm (0.007 - 0.009 in)
Exhaust: 0.23 - 0.27 mm (0.009 - 0.011 in)

thanks again

[ScottDR]

Yes, those are the correct specs for valve lash adjustment-and I highly doubt they need adjustment already (should have been done at 30,000 miles).

Sounds possibly like your timing belt could be tensioned improperly. Is it a whirring sound? Be sure to check the bolts in the area to possibly indicate someone just replaced the timing belt. I recommend re-tensioning it to factory specs as well.

[Vanboozin]

here is a couple pictures of the carbon deposits which has been slightly wiped with a cloth the other day



looks like i'm missing a screw here

[lilmidget08]

the missing screw is normal. nothing goes there. and by the looks of that carbon i would say that possibly your manifold is cracked and blowing the exhaust on the valve cover. do you have a cat rite there or just the exhaust manifold?? but it looks like an exhaust leak to me.

[Vanboozin]

yes i do have a catalytic converter attached to the manifold (looks really rusty)
man i dunno where to begin with this thing,i wish i knew where the noise was coming from(i really think its got to do with the timing belt & tension) as for the carbon i can't see any obvious crack or loose point on the manifold (i'm going to clean it right up and keep a close eye on it )
if i had a garage this thing would be in pieces along time ago, but that's not the case and i'm not doing it on the side of the road either , so i'm taking it to a reputable mechanic in the morning. it cant be that bad (hope hope) it only has 116k kilometers

[lilmidget08]

well if the cat is cracked and sorry but it most likely is that might be a little pricy. i see them come into the shop cracked and makin noise all the time.. but if it isnt the cat i would love to know what is causing that black carbon on the valve cover.

[Vanboozin]

ok , i'll take some better pictures of the valve cover and surrounding area including the cat, and when i find out exactly where the carbon is coming from
and whats causing the whirling noise i will post back. i'll try to get the pictures taken in the morning before i take it to the mechanic (maybe even post some audio of the noise if i can get a good recording )

thanks again for the feedback

[slikman003]

Hey i caught sight of ur post and was curious about the noise u were having. I just rolled over the 154,000 mile marker on my civic. I noticed a rather loud knocking noise coming from the engine three nites ago as i was driving home from school. Sounds like it could be a rod knocking, but it only rather loud at 2 thousand rpms and between 2 and half and 3. I recently had it checked out and they were certain it was a rod knocking, but i dont understand why only at certain rpms, wondering if u guys had any ideas. So that brings me to the point of now what do i do. My 96 civic has a D16Y8 motor in it, I purchased it with 100,000 miles and have put 50,000 on it was considering doing timing belt soon, but then heard this noise. So now if it is a knock and the rod is bad, its only going to get worse. I read up lastnite and tried a oil additive earlier today, but it didnt seem to help, i tooled around the block a couple times and let it just idle to mix it into my oil. Do i need to drive it for a little bit and see if it helps. im thinking the worse though that the motor is going to need to be replaced. So that brings me to my next point. Where should i start looking for motors and will i have the same problem with another D series motor. Have read from other people they had problems with the same thing in D series motors My family lives and breaths by them we have never had a problem, i t just got shit outta luck. Wondering if u guys could give a poor college age kid some advice in what would be the next best route, or some checks i could do on the car. I will be looking forward to your guys suggestions. Thanks for your time.

[Vanboozin]

I had a mechanic look at my car today ( turns out he's an old friend from my graduation class)
i started the car and had him listen to the noise first off (he wasn't overly concerned to my surprise,"just regular engine noise" but did say the timing tension may be a little off and just shrugged his shoulders slightly)
while listening to that he pointed to the carbon deposits and said "you got a bad gasket there eh", he's pretty sure its the valve cover gasket.(now that i think of it ,why is it carbon looking and not oily then ?)

then i asked him to just give the car a good once over inspection(since i have no records on the car whatsoever),left it with him for a couple hrs and this is what he recommended:

replace timing belt + tensoiner
replace water pump
replace crank & cam seals
adjust valves & replace valve cover gasket
replace drive belts
replace spark plugs
replace fuel filter

The estimate including labour is $467.31

he also recommended a tranny oil change,cooling system flush and a new battery soon.
so i'm going to take it back next week and have the work done.

i did record a video this morning of the engine noise( which turned out pretty well actually) but i'm tired off trying to upload it on youtube(it just says "uploading" forever.(is there another site i can try)
also after having another look at the cat this morning, its rusty in color like the header but not all that bad, and the mechanic never mentioned it so...

anyway after all is said and done it will cost me a few bucks for piece of mind,but hey,i paid $3800 CAD for a descent car,the mechanic never found anything major wrong with it so i'm happy ( i did take a chance not knowing the cars history).

[lilmidget08]

wow hes charging you like 480 for all that work. thats a steal and like you said if it was the valve cover leaking why isnt it oily. maybe it is the exhaust gasket they are cheap enough maybe you could just change it yourself.

[civboman]

i have the same motor and carbon leak and am startin to notice this slight whirling sound wondering if vanboozin had any luck with the work done? thanks.

[gearbox]

does it sound sortof like supercharger whistle? it could be the belt tensioner.

[Deksinjo]

It's belt tensioner think , don't worry for about deposits.
Are U hear pitching noise about 1200 and 2300 rpm wen you accelerate slowly ?