Rep Power: 267

I've had this since I bought the car 4 years ago and I could never figure it out. If I press the gas, I hear a whining noise from the engine compartement. If I let go of the gas, the sound goes away. If I'm idleing and reving in neutral, there is no whine.

 
Rep Power: 0

supercharger?

 
Rep Power: 257

alternator whine maybe ???

 
Rep Power: 0

mine does the same thing i think its the alternator

 
Rep Power: 0

Yeah, I'd go with alternator as well. I have a persistent grinding noise from the alternator that only appears in drive or reverse.

 
Rep Power: 813

ive heard that sound before from a worn timing belt tensioner. sounded exactly like a supercharger whine and increased frequency with rpms. changing the tensioner fixed it.

 
Rep Power: 267

Oh ****, I had that grinding noise too. It went away for some reason but still. Yeah it's gotta be alternator. But... what does it mean that it's whining/grinding? And why does it only do it when in gear and not in neutral reving?

 
Rep Power: 267

My tensioner was replaced at 115k though along with water pump, timing belt et cetera.

 
Rep Power: 0

Try this..This is how to diagnose it.....INPUT SHAFT BEARING
-Start your car.
-Roll up the windows, turn the radio off, and turn the blower motor for the AC/heater off.
-put the car into neutral, and take your foot off the clutch pedal
---- if you hear the noise now, it is the INPUT SHAFT BEARING. if you press in the clutch, the noise should go away.

 
Rep Power: 267

I already replaced the input shaft bearing, and I've even run a different transmission. It's not transmission related. But thanks.

 
Rep Power: 267

Gearbox, can I test the alternator by taking off the belt and driving it to see if the noise is gone? I think this is the real reason for my power issues, as the coil didn't help so I'm taking it back.

 
Rep Power: 813

yeah, just dont drive very far.

 
Rep Power: 267

I check the voltage from the battery with the engine on, it reads 13.7v. Isn't that a little low?

 
Rep Power: 213

Is it a whine or more of a whistle? D16Y7's are known to have a slight whistle from the throttle body under acceleration. I noticed the whistle on mine got a little louder once I put a K&N filter in. I can only hear the sound while driving/accelerating just like you.

 
Rep Power: 267

It's more like a whine I would say.

 
Rep Power: 223

i heard the same problem in my civic. thought it was alternator but found out it wasn't (the belt broke off the alternator oops!) and it is the tensioner for me. i'd imagine that dirt and general age use/abuse can make the bearing the alternator pulley spins on wear out just like any other part on your car that sees service

 
Rep Power: 267

I just don't have time to test it now. But I'm wondering if one of you guys can hook up a multimeter to your battery while the car is on with no load and post your voltage, because I don't know if 13.7 is on the weak side.

 
Rep Power: 223

my voltage gauge in my car says 14 volts when i have the car running so i guess thats normal

 
Rep Power: 0

The sound that I had coming from my car was also "whining sound". After months and months of research I found out that it wasn't the isb or the alternator or the transmission...The problem was that my alternator/serpentine belt was not properly tightened.

The way the belts are supposed to be tightened are first use the tensioner to tighten(butterfly ****) then screw it down to lock.

Once you screw the bolts in, tightening the butterfly ***** any further does absolutely nothing to tighten those belts. Once I loosened the bolts just enough to allow the butterfly ***** to actually tighten the bolt, the belts tensioned properly. Rule of thumb, you should just barely be able to turn the belts 90 degrees if you don't have a belt tension guage.

Again, I spent months researching this same topic and almost did some major work on my car, aka isp, new clutch, alternator(failed right after I diagnosed the sound Hehe!) After I properly tensioned, the noise never came back. The noise was always there too, when it was cold, in the mornings, when I would rev my engine, when I was in first, second, and third gear building up momentum. Lets just say I was very relieved when I found out where the sound was actually coming from

If you have any questions feel free to pm me.

 
Rep Power: 267

Thanks JD. I doubt that's it but I will look into it and other possibilities.