JDM for Lyfe

Havent started my 98 civic in a week cause Ive been putting in an exhaust and other stuff and i just start it today and i hear a wicked loud squeal on the left side of the engine and the car dies. I have to give it gas in nuetral for it to stay running. It had a bad idle before i worked on it around 200 rmps. I thought it may be the belt so i sprayed some wd40 and tried again and to no avail. There is no a/c belt on the engine also. Ive heard it may be the a/c compressor itself? maybe the a/c clutch? not sure what's going on, any ideas?? also my friends dad said before that the a/c pulley may have siezed thats why there is no a/c or a/c belt. would that have anything to do with it? thanks

ezone

If there is no AC belt, then the AC compressor and clutch have absolutely no bearing on your problems. They might as well be missing completely from the car. The adjuster pulley for the AC belt goes bad rather often, but that should be out of the picture since the belt is missing.

Loud squeal could be a loose belt, or a locked up alternator or power steering pump. Loose belt on the alternator is most common. If the grooves of the belt are full of cracks, replace it. If no cracks, then just tighten it if that is the case.

Test: Remove the accessory belts, start the engine, see if the noise is no longer present. Spin the alternator and the PS pump pulleys, make sure neither is locked up.

If the noise is still present with the belts off of it, you need to figure out where it is and what is causing it.
Pull the distributor cap off. See if it has a coating of red dust all over inside the distributor.


You probably should use water or spray silicone lube to check belt noises.
WD-40 can ruin rubber products. I'd replace the belts real soon if it were mine now.

JDM for Lyfe

thanks for the advice! now here is the wierd thing.. when I did this the car was on jack stands in the air. I let the car down onto all fours and started it again and it squealed for a second and then everything went back to normal O.o does that explain anything? the alternator does look real damn old and nasty so that may be it but right now the car runs fine so idk

ezone

You explained enough for me now...

The alternator belt is too loose.
It is slipping during heavy electrical load/low RPM.

If the belt needs replaced, replace it. If it is in fair shape, then tighten it.

(If you replace the belt and you still hear the squeal, then tighten it again. A new belt will stretch a little over the first several days of use.Tighten it so it does not squeal. Squeal = slippage = rapid wear.)

Don't replace an alternator unless it actually quits.


HTH

ezone

Oh yeah, I forgot about the WD-40. You may just want to replace it.


After this is taken care of, you can address the low idle problem.

JDM for Lyfe

awesome thanks ill do that monday