'98 Civic LX Auto: Finally finished my Timing Belt + Cat replacement but...

Nosepicker

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5+ Year Member
...there's a weird noise coming around the P/S pulley and lower right valve cover. I can't really pinpoint it. Heck, it could be the crankshaft pulley itself for all I know since it's directly below. I don't know.

But what I do know is my timing is right on. Idles perfectly, pulls hard and shifts (auto) smoothly. A/C is working. Temp is dead middle. Coolant is not fluctuating. No leaks. Timing belt is tight but not too tight. I read somewhere where it said you shouldn't be able to twist the belt past 90 degrees.

Belt deflection is right on except for maybe the alternator which I'll tighten later tonight but check this out...I replaced the catalytic converter first and test drove it to make sure everything was perfect before I moved on to the next project. And it was spot on. No rattle, no anything. Bolts were torqued to specs.

Then I moved to the timing belt/drive belts/water pump. I tighten the drive belts as best as I could and put everything back together. There was one bolt I couldn't put back in on the lower timing belt cover. No big deal..everything else was secured tightly. I tried moving the cover around and it wasn't moving. It was secure.

I start the car and fill the radiator with coolant for obvious reasons. Anyways, fast forward, there's a weird noise coming from the lower right valve cover / P/S pulley. It's not a squealing noise. It's more of a soft rattle/squeaking (easy on the squeaking, more of a rattle) type of noise. It sounds like something is loose. I checked the P/S bolts/nuts and everything is torqued down. Heck, even loctited!

The noise only evident during idle. So, last night, thinking the belt's too loose on the P/S, I tightened it. Also tightened the A/C belt. In my eyes, it's within the deflection spec. I start the car up this morning and the rattle+squeaking noise is even louder. What gives? If I was to loosen the belts back to where it was the night before and loosen them some more the belt would be way too loose.

I'll double check the tensioner again but it was spot on so I didn't bother checking them again after I placed the timing belt covers (top & bottom).

One thing I failed to do is torque the crankshaft bolt/nut. I was following the 14 ft lbs + 90 degree method per manual service and only managed to get it a little past 45 degrees. That sucker was on there tight! Surely that should be at 130 ft lbs of torque, no? IDK. I'll double check again.

Anyone experience the same type of noise? I know you can't tell if your experience is the same as mine since you can't hear the noise but if it resembles anything like it please chime in and tell me how you fixed it.

Any suggestions on how to rectify this noise?
 

2slo4u

wait4me
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Is there fluid in the ps fluid resevoir
 


Nosepicker

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Okay, I re-tightened the alternator and that's not it.

I took off the top timing cover, and the noise is definitely coming somewhere from the exhaust manifold, power steering and/or a/c compressor area.

It sounded like it was coming from the exhaust manifold so I removed the heat shield and nope...the sound is still there.

I then found a washer stuck in between the skid plate and some kind bar (transaxle???...IDK). It's a goldish washer.

Hmm...I remember taking off the idler pulley so I can get to the two bolts holding the lower timing belt cover. Could someone tell me if there should be a washer behind that center nut holding the idler pulley plz? And if there is is it gold color?

Could that be where the noise is coming from?
 


Nosepicker

New Member
5+ Year Member
RonJ and/or other experts, I really need your help.

So, after placing the washer back on the idler pulley nut I tightened every belt and turned her back on. Damn, same noise was there! It's definitely not a squealing/squeaking noise. It's more of a rattle. Like a loose bearing I have read from others. But I can't pinpoint where it's coming from. It's definitely not around the alternator area. I took off the top timing belt cover to see if the timing belt is rubbing against the lower cover and it's not.

I hear it around the P/S and A/C area...so I thought. I go underneath the car and I can hear the same rattle by the transmission (auto) area. WTF?

All this from just changing the timing belt/drive belts/water pump? You gotta be kidding me.

Plz help me out here guys
 

Nosepicker

New Member
5+ Year Member
Since I'm not getting any help here I'm posting this to help others who may come across this problem:

First off, a little more detail--The rattle sounds like a washer is loose or something and is rolling around loose. But the noise is not continuous. What I mean by that is as if a metal piece is loose spinning in a washer, if you will.

Re-installed alternator belt and turned on the car...no rattle noise.
Re-installed the Power Steering belt and turned on the car...no rattle noise.
Re-installed the A/C belt and the rattling noise reappeared.

I tweaked/adjusted/etc.the tension on the belt and idler pulley center nut every possible way you can imagine but the noise just won't go away.

I'm led to believe it's the bearing in the A/C compressor...or the idler pulley (is there even a bearing in the idler pulley???). But how could this be? The rattle noise wasn't there before until I replaced the drive belts.

Any ideas why this could be? How much do these A/C compressors and idler pulley run?

Anyone else experience this?
 

Nosepicker

New Member
5+ Year Member
Update:

The last few weeks have been hell. The rattling noise is not only annoying but it's very embarrassing just driving around town. After spending 20+ hours in the past month or so trying to find the source of the noise (I was convinced it was the A/C bearing or the idler pulley) I pretty much just gave up. And decided to live with the noise.

Until a friend commented last night just how horrible the car sounded, and that pretty much sparked the fire within to give it a go one last time.

Tonight: It was a success! The problem was, believe it or not, the tension of the A/C drive belt--it was too tight! I can't really explain it because I still don't understand how the tension (with spec) would cause it to rattle. Squeak, okay I can see that. But a rattle?

Anyhow, just wanted to give you guys a final update.
 

Nosepicker

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5+ Year Member
FINAL, FINAL UPDATE:

My car made a horrible squeaking noise over the weekend when I started her and I figured I must have loosened the A/C belt too much. So, when I was underneath the car I re-examined all the belts and the alternator belt was really loose. So I re-tightened both the alternator and A/C belts.

While I was underneath I decided to tinker around with the idler pulley nut but tightening her up and lo' behold, the rattling noise reappeared. I loosened the nut and the noise went away. So, it's not the A/C bearing nor is it the A/C drive belts. It was the stupid Idler pulley nut.

Again, the odd thing is, why does tightening the nut to spec cause the rattling noise? Weird. I'm thinking the crankshaft pulley and idler pulley aren't perfectly in line so the belt is rubbing against the pulleys causing a rattling type noise. Just a wild guess.

Well, at least now I'm 100% sure where the noise is coming from.
 

JoEX

New Member
Sir, I applaud you for pressing on despite the lack of help from the forums. I've been having the exact same problems and your posts have helped tremendously.
 


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