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Bought my civic about 3 months ago. 2004 Single owner car, previous owner picked it up with 3 miles, sold it with 225k when I got it. Spotless car inside and out. Have had no problems up until now.


Started out as a high pitched screeching when started up until warm. Now its turned into this grinding noise heard in the video.



http://vid1357.photobucket.com/album...ps6gowneme.mp4
Note, I was revving the engine slightly when sitting in the car.


Sounds like its coming from the crank pulley/harmonic balancer area. Any ideas what it could be? Belts look fresh, no cracks or marks on them. I have bought a new power steering belt, ac/alternator belt, and harmonic balancer pulley. Have not gotten around to putting them on yet. Wondering what everyone thinks first

 
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i can't hear the video,

but going by your description it sound like something in the timing area,

water pump or timing belt tensioner would be my first two guesses,

could also be alternator, a/c, or power steering pulleys

remove your two drive belts and start the engine while cold, does it still make the sound?

 
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Video is quiet but when I step out of the car you can hear the noise.

It won't effect the car starting without the alternator belt attached? Ill try this and see what happens. Sounds like its coming from the lower part of the engine. Hoping its an external belt and not timing related..

 
Rep Power: 129

Short answer, no. A good battery at normal outside temps should crank and start a car 4~5 times minimum, usually more.

Long answer, a car always starts on the power stored in the battery. During the time the starter is engaged and engine cranking, all of the power required by the starter electric motor (this is a LOT of juice), is drawn exclusively from the battery. Under normal circumstances (alternator working and all connections good), when you release the key after start, the starter disengages from the engine, the alternator is driven by a belt, and supplies power to run the electrical system and ignition in the car, as well as recharge the battery which drained a bit during a start.

You could disconnect the alternator completely, and still start the car. You can drive a car (well, most cars) on battery alone anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. Some of the modern dash goodies may not work well, but the engine WILL start and run for a while. Same as driving with a bad alternator. The battery charge indicator on the dash should light up when the alternator is not turning and charging the battery.

 
Rep Power: 211

no, not as long as your battery is in decent condition, just dont let it run too long or you could drain your battery


is your crank pulley loose? wobbling around?

still sounds like your timing belt tensioner or water pump

remove the drive belts one by one, start the engine after each belt is removed, process of elimination

just dont try to start it with the timing belt removed

 
Rep Power: 211

Could also be the a/c clutch bearing. Can make similar noise whether the compressor is engaged or not engaged. For now just remove the PS and A/C belts..leave the ALT belt on. If the noise persist with the A/C and PS belt off then remove the ALT belt. If noise persist after that it's most likely timing belt tensioner or harmonic balancer.

 
Rep Power: 211

how is that possible?

the alt and A/C are on the same belt

 
Rep Power: 211

Oh... I am use to working on 6th gen. Thanks for that info.

 
Rep Power: 230

You can also use a long screwdriver and place one end on the component that may have a bad barring and the other just bellow your ear. This isolates the sound a little better and you should be able to hear the "grinding" or feel the vibration through the screw driver.

or you could check prices on a mechanics stethoscope.

 
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Have tried the screw driver trick, problem is the sound was happening at slightly above idle for the most part. Couldn't isolate it. Strange thing is, I went to work on it today and remove the belts one by one and boom, noise stops... Still a high pitch whine on cold start ups but the other noise is gone for the most part. Happens 1 out of 5 times. Drove the car hard just now and still nothing.

 
Rep Power: 211

Did you take the timing belt off?
Have you checked the harmonic balancer?

 
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I didn't even open the hood. Drove with the strange noise and squeaky start since I started this thread. Then it just stopped. Didn't happen for maybe 4-5 trips, now its only occasionally. Noticed that there was nothing on a warmer day as well.

 
Rep Power: 211

My previous(have another now) '98 Civic EX used to do the same thing: intermittent squeal at startup, dissapear after driving a bit, worse in cold weather. I didn't know enough about engines back then so I never checked the harmonic balancer and drove it for about 15k miles before I sold it.

Harmonic balancer:
http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/273

and:

 
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Replaced the belts yesterday. Harmonic balancer will be next, already have it just didnt have the time. I know all the work was done with the belts to do the balancer but I was short on time. No difference with ps belt off, or with alt/ac belt off. With nothing it made a slight vibrating/rattling sound and same sound as before with new belts.

 
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Hopefully, that will fix the issue..let us know.

 
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Did not fix the issue. Noise is still there on start up and idle after warming up.

 
Rep Power: 211

Just to reconfirm through process of elimation you have tested and ruled out noise(s) emitting from:
a. drive belts
b. a/c tension pulley
c. harmonic balancer
d: a/c compressor bearing
e. alternator

If, that is correct then it's pointing more towards the items Mikey1 mentioned previously:

"still sounds like your timing belt tensioner or water pump"

 
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drive belts are new
no tension pulleys that I know of, just the manual adjustment
harmonic balancer is new
removed belt and there was no difference on compressor bearing
no difference on alternator with belts removed

Looking into timing belt/water pump at the moment. Not sure when the last time it was done. Also had a friend of mine say it sounded like his camry when he had water pump issues, and isnt a very technical person so thats just noise experience.

Tedious job to do those two though, not looking forward to it

 
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Ex_Rubicon,

I'm not trying to beat a dead horse but I was having a similar issue with my 1998 LX. I read that you have done all the belts, and ruled our the AC/Idler pulley, I was just curious if you replaced it or not? (sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread). But I changed my pulley out and the problem went away. There is a service bulletin from Honda about a noise coming from the AC/Idler pulley due to a faulty pulley bearing. Just a thought I know it only covers 1996-1999 models but I thought this might help. Sorry if it does not. Here is the link if you want to read about too.

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x00-003e.pdf

SYMPTOM
A growl from the air conditioning idler pulley at, or just above, idle.

PROBABLE CAUSE
The A/C idler pulley bearing is faulty.

CORRECTIVE ACTION
Replace the A/C idler pulley.

 
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Well I'm going too feel stupid now, but I drove it the other night and decided to check the alternator again. Occasionally when turning the radio on/off or doing something else in the car my headlights briefly dim/flick.

Look at that, alternator was going out.

 
Rep Power: 211

It's okay...you took the scenic route.