LeadPipeFill

Hey all,
I've been having a periodic noise coming from my engine, but it only happens at idle.
But recently it has gotten worse and I'm worried as to what it's building up to.
As soon as I put the car in gear and drive away it stops making the noise.

I'm no mechanic, but I can remove and replace things as needed with some instruction, but I don't know where to start with this noise. I had a friend look at it and he thinks it's a pulley bearing that's wrecked and the pulley wobbles when it's not under tension from the motor.

I've attached a short video on the noise it's making.
The car is automatic, with the 1.7 SOHC and it was 248,000 KM (or 154,100 Mi for my southern neighbors).


Thanks.

ezone

I assume you mean the compressor pulley wobbles while making this noise.....?
The bearing inside that pulley is worn out.

If the AC system still blows cold air, I would just replace the clutch/pulley set along with the field coil.

If you can't afford that, you can get a shorter alternator belt (for a DX without AC) and use that belt to bypass the compressor until such time as you can afford to fix it right.

LeadPipeFill

I'm unsure if it's a pulley or not, I can't visibly see a pulley wobbling. I was hoping someone would have experienced the same noise. Based on what I'm reading on the forums it could possibly be timing belt related.
Has anyone experienced a similar noise?

NDNV

Maybe the timing belt tensioner is faulty. Find out ASAP.

mikey1

maybe take a better video with light?

with hood open? by the belts area?

LeadPipeFill

Yeah, my phone was dead and I didn't have a light for under the hood.
Honestly you can't see anything wobbling or moving, all the pulleys that the belts are spinning against seem to be spinning true.

LeadPipeFill

Have you had experience with a timing belt. I asked the mechanics at Canadian Tire and they said "if it's the timing belt it would be an $800.00 fix".
Has anyone heard anything similar?

LeadPipeFill

Hey all,
Thanks for the replies, I'll try to take a better video with some more isolated areas.

I'll get back to you when I can.


Thanks,

Colin42

Do you know how old your current timing belt is?
You can remove the top belt cover and take a peek at it.
Canadian Tire is going to try and get as much money out of you as they can, and they wont use oem parts, which is a good idea for something as critical as the timing belt.

mikey1

its more for sound,

if you move your phone around to different areas around the belts area we might be able to tell where the sound gets louder and where its coming from

ezone

Seen this a hundred times if I've seen it once.

If you know what you are looking for/at, the wobble of the pulley can usually be seen with the naked eye and will coincide with the noise intervals. There may not be much to see though.

Turn the AC ON and note if the noise changes or disappears completely during the times compressor is engaged.
That the noise changes is because the compressor clutch plate is held tightly to the side of the pulley and alters the loading of the bad bearing.
This usually confirms the issue is in the compressor pulley.

Remove the alternator belt then you can spin and wiggle the pulley in question by hand, listen for the rumble noise and/or feeling for excessive free play.

Remove the alternator belt then start the engine. If the noise is completely gone, the problem is EITHER the in alternator OR the in compressor pulley.

If the noise is still present with the alternator belt removed then you may have an issue within the timing belt area that needs further investigation and teardown.

Sounded to me like the compressor pulley though.

Good luck.

LeadPipeFill

Hey all,
Here's an update with the situation. It has been a long day and I want to thank you all for your positive and helpful advice.

First and foremost, the timing belt was probably 500 km from snapping, and unbeknownst to me, my car is a 16-valve SOHC, I didn't know that existed but ok. The mechanic said it just runs a greater risk of hitting a valve if the belt were to snap while driving. One of the noises I was hearing was the timing belt rubbing against the side of the cover plate. I guess over time the rubber stretches beyond what the tensioner can handle and the belt begins to wear against the side then it snaps. The mechanic said that he has never seen one that has stretched this much without breaking (and that I shouldn't buy anymore lottery tickets as this situation probably used up most of my luck).

Seeing I bought the car with 78,000 km and it is now 248,000 km and has never had the belt replaced, I was very much on borrowed time.

I guess in conjunction with my timing belt, my A/C compressor is pretty much dead, seeing I'm in the dead center of a Canadian winter, I won't being needing it. So to save this starving student a few bucks the mechanic is putting on a smaller belt to bypass the compressor until I can afford a new one.

Long story short, don't delay your timing belt, check the maintenance schedules of your vehicle and keep an eye on them. I'm a student, this car is no spring chicken, but I can't hold anything against it if the fault is on me.

Thanks for the help, the car is currently at the shop getting a new belt.

Wankenstein

This is geat news! This means that on my mom's 2004 civic VP which currently has 75k miles (120k kms) and the original 12 year old timing belt, tensioner and waterpump.. that I can hold off on changing it for another 12 years/75k miles..

I plan on changing it within 10k miles.Recommended replacement is between 75k and 100k miles depending on climate and driving style. It's already over the recommended age limit (10 years IIRC) but, from reading several post similar to yours throughout the years, it seems they are very durable and I'm not that concerned yet. OP: your mechanic is correct.. if it were to snap while you're driving it's possible it could bend valves. As far as timing belts streching..this link states otherwise: http://www.youngsgarage.uk.com/timin..._and_myths.htm

"Contrary to what you might think, rubber timing belts do not stretch with accumulated mileage and wear. They are reinforced with strands of fiberglass which makes them virtually unstretchable. After making the crankshaft to cam drive circuit millions of times, the strands can become brittle and may begin to break. Eventually the reinforcing cords give way, the belt snaps and the engine quits. If the engine lacks sufficient valve-to-piston clearance to free wheel under such circumstances, a lot of expensive damage can result."

I hope your mechanic replaced the tensioner and waterpump too during the timing belt replacement.

ezone

I hope it's a Honda part, not aftermarket.

Wankenstein

Who makes the 6th and 7th gen tensioners for Honda? Is it the same company that originally produced them? 25k miles ago I puchased and installed a Japanese made Koyo tensioner and it's doing well so far but, I don't know if it's an OEM part or not.

ezone

6th and 7th don't use the same styles.
6th uses a fixed pulley, locked with a bolt after tensioning is done.
7th uses a floating pulley that is free to move all the time and under constant spring tension..

IDK who makes either.
I saw your question this AM and intended to see if we had one on the shelf to check, but I got busy and forgot.

BTW on the timing belt stretch idea....I think any stretch is very minimal during the intended service life span.
Far beyond the intended lifespan, they may stretch more.
I know it happens, I've seen it and seen many that slap the timing cover and/or jump time because of the stretch.
The gears and pulleys didn't move to let the belt get loose, the belt stretches or wears. It probably happened more in the past than nowadays due to improvements in materials, and the shift away from timing belts in general.