meitzner

1997 Civic LX manual, stock everything. I dont know if the noise is related, but I drove through a huge puddle yesterday morning, probably knee-deep. The car didn't stall, nor did I hear anything out of the ordinary yesterday morning or evening when driving. Today the noise was noticable when I first started the car and is a whining/whirring noise - not incredibly loud, but noticeable with the radio turned off. It increases in volume and pitch when I engine RPM's go up. I popped the hood after 5 min of driving and it sounds like it's coming from the driver's side of the engine, where all the pulleys and belts are. I drove to work, about 40 min on the highway, and couldn't hear it while on the highway - but then again everything's louder on the highway. When I got off the highway, there it was again. When I push in the clutch, the noise gets quieter, but I think it's still there - just lower volume since the RPM's go down. If I rev the engine in neutral, the noise is there again. Blowing the fan or A/C doesn't do anything to make it louder or quieter.

Any ideas? Is this something I should get checked out or is it not likely to progress or leave me stranded somewhere? Any help is appreciated as always.

19.3secS2K

is there alot of rain or moisture in the air? might just be squeeky belts. I get that every now and then when it wet outside.

how many miles are on the car?

meitzner

I just turned 100,000 last week. It rained a LOT yesterday, so there's probably plenty of moisture in the air, but it's rained at least that hard a couple times in the past year, and I never heard a similar noise. Also - wouldn't driving the car for an hour warm up and dry out the belts?

I went out to the car at lunch and had a friend rev the engine. It definitely sounds like it's coming from the front drivers side of the engine and it occurs regardless of whether the car is in gear, neutral, clutch in, clutch out, etc. Doesn't get louder when I turn the wheel to one extreme or the other, just when the engine is revved. I'm just hoping it's not going to turn into a $1,000 repair or leave me stranded somewhere with a catastrophic failure.

thanks

19.3secS2K

when did you do the timing belt last?

meitzner

Timing belt and water pump were done about 4 months ago.

meitzner

Yeah, I actually took it to the dealer today, and they said it was the A/C idler pulley. The bearings were wearing out and the mechanic said that sooner or later the pulley would seize up and either break the belt or throw it off the pulley. He said it could be a week or a month or a year until that happened, but it would sooner or later. When it did he said sometimes the belt just falls off and that's it, but sometimes it can get caught in other belts, break them, cause them to come off, or bend pulleys on them. I just got it fixed - $191 out the door and they had the part in stock. Hope that helps someone

imnot4n

Sounds like a problem I have been having. I have this whining noise when decelerating/ down shifting. I think its the speedometer cable...but I dont know if it could be the AC idler pulley since I dont have any AC, assuming that when I got the car 2 years ago since it didnt have AC that its completely ripped out. :thinking:

project_hatch

I have the same whining on my EK hatch with GSR swap but i don't have AC so can't be that pulley...

t3t4delsol

does it sound like crickets churping really fast

imnot4n

No. It just sounds like: when you're in 2nd gear going about 30mph and you completely let off the gas the car begins to decelerate quickly. Except the sounds comes from the last stage of braking just before Im completely stopped with the clutch in. Its kind of loud and the noise goes away quick after coming to a stop.