I've been hearing this squeek from the front of my car. I believe it to be the engine itself. I hear a moderately high-pitched squeak at low rpm under load. If I'm in second, say, doing 5 and I push the gas I hear it. It could be there at higher rpms and just covered up by the road/engine/exhaust noise. Any ideas what this could be? I'm at a loss here. I'm worried it could be a bearing in the engine threatening to go out. I'm right near 190k miles. Any ideas even how to diagnose this would be very welcome.

 

Loose belt?

 

I checked it.. and I swear the belt is fine.. but I guess.. after all the miles I've put on it.. it's probably worth changing anyway. I'll give that a shot and keep my fingers crossed.

 

190k... yea time for a belt...h:
spray little water on the belt and pulley. see if sound goes away.

 

Are you sure it's a squeak?

Obviously it's hard to tell when it comes to sounds, if you can't actually here it...

You say you thought it might be a bearing, is it sort of a high-pitched whine, somewhat similar to a hair-dryer? Not the best analogy but only one that comes to mind, if that's what you're hearing my first guess would be the alternator.

I have yet to get around to replacing mine, it has 130k on it, makes that noise every once in a while but it's very rare these days. I found replacing my dizzy cap and rotor (had already replaced plugs and wires not long before) made a surprisingly noticeable difference. Eventually it will need to be replaced though.

I once drove a prelude that made a loud squeal but it would come and go, turned out to be the bearing on the power-steering pulley. I assume it was due to a mechanic replacing that belt w/ one that was one size too small.

No way you're hearing noise from an engine bearing on a Honda, unless it was severely abused.