Rep Power: 0

I had what I thought was a rattling noise from my 96 Civic AT 270,000 mile rebuilt twice engine. I got out my stethoscope and did hear some noise coming from the valve cover which will have to be investigated, BUT when I put the stethoscope on this round protruding part {the large round part with the horizontal indents on the right side of the pic} from the timing belt cover WOW really noisy, a combination of clicking and clacking, really loud when I raced the engine.

I am thinking this protruding covers the water pump?? Yes? Has anyone else put a stethoscope on this protrudence? If so, was it loud like mine? I truly cannot hear this sound without the stethoscope, only the sound coming from the valves.

Any helo/info/sarcasm/mockery is appreciated. Thanks, Philharmonic

 
Rep Power: 221

Not a DIY,
loosen/remove the valve cover and pull the cover off and have a look.
Timing belt is in there, very important to make sure it isn't damaged. If something is rattling around in there and it damages/breaks the belt it will destroy the engine

 
Rep Power: 0

So I took a video of the timing belt on both sides of the cam pulley. In the video the best shots are from 15-21 for the radiator side and 32-40 for the firewall side.

Have those of you who watched this belt spim in your engines, seen it wiggle this much? It does smooth out at higher speeds. I am wondering if the tensioner spring isn't sprung.

Thanks for taking a look.

 
Rep Power: 221

I'd say your tensioner is shot

 
Rep Power: 0

Follow-up on "noise in engine".

I guess I should have thought that noise coming from under that "bump' in the timing cover would be water pump related, but ignorance is bliss. Three nights ago I was our running doordash and the Civic overheated, badly and quickly. After pulling over I realized that all my anti-freeze was running out from under my timing belt cover, which meant a bad waterpump seal. So, DUH, all that racket was the water pump disintegrating. MAN that took a LONG time to finally go bad.

So it's back to tearing down the front of the engine again. {I took off the valve cover and top timing cover to check the timing belt tension a couple of weeks ago, but could not loosen the timing belt tensioner bold with the bottom timing cover still on there}.

Just so you know, when I fixed the head gasket, 30,000 miles ago, I used Chinese gasket, and timing belt, and water pump, So I guess it's not too smart to use Chinese parts. LOL
On the other hand, 30,000 miles isn't chump change either, and at the time, I was NOT sure I would ever get the thing running again, and my money was TIGHT then, and the timing belt and the head gasket are still going strong.