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OK the car is a 1991 Honda Accord with 180,000 miles and yesterday for no reason this sound started. It starts as a chirp and then escalates to a whine and then it starts to gurgle. It almost sounds like it is coming from around the timing belt/ water pump area. It is not any of the accessory belts that was the first thing I checked. Today I removed the upper timing belt cover and the belt looks good, no cracks.
1991 Honda Accord Engine Bay Noise – YouTubeThe car is NOT overheating. Is this what a failing water pump sound like?
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How many miles since the timing belt and water pump was replaced ? I assume that with 180k this has been done at least one time. There are a couple of idler pulleys under the timing belt cover that might be suspect as well if these are the original pulleys. Could be water pump, but a little hard to tell without some more information.
Ya I have no idea when the timing belt was last changed. And the only other piece of info I can give is that the noise is not persistent, it comes and goes. It starts quiet then gets louder, then gurgles, then stops and starts all over again. I can even hear it when I’m driving.
It sounds like I’m being chased by birds when I’m driving the chirp is consistent.
On another site, someone said maybe it could be lower timing belt cover bolts rubbing on the crank pulley. Does that sound like it could be that? Either way i’m going to check tomorrow.
I doubt that the cover bolts and crank pulley are interfering with one another. If you remove the lower cover you will see what I mean. The 2003-2007 V6 Accords did have an issue with the lower cover and crank pulley rubbing. Perhaps that is what that person was reffering to ? The timing belt(actually two belts under the cover) and water pump should be replaced every 90,000 miles on that generation Accord. So with 180,000 on your car you should be considering doing this maintenance unless you have records that tell you otherwise. I think the noise that you are hearing is related to either the pump or one of the idler pulleys.
[quote=”fitone” post=32939]I doubt that the cover bolts and crank pulley are interfering with one another. If you remove the lower cover you will see what I mean. The 2003-2007 V6 Accords did have an issue with the lower cover and crank pulley rubbing. Perhaps that is what that person was reffering to ? The timing belt(actually two belts under the cover) and water pump should be replaced every 90,000 miles on that generation Accord. So with 180,000 on your car you should be considering doing this maintenance unless you have records that tell you otherwise. I think the noise that you are hearing is related to either the pump or one of the idler pulleys.[/quote]
I think your right. But just as an update it is no longer squealing, it is now growling all the time.
I think I finally narrowed the sound down to the crank pulley, but would there be any quick tests like remove the belts and see if the noise is still there.
It is no longer squealing, but it is still clicking, growling.
I really think that the noise that you hear is either coming from one of the two tensioner pulleys and the bearings are worn or water pump bearings are failing. Removing the lower timing belt cover is required to check both of these. If you have the tools and DIY skills to do a timing belt replacement I think that would be your best course of action in solving the noise that you are hearing. Eric has a great step by step video for your generation of Accord for about $11.00. It’s a job well within the skills of a experienced DIYer if you follow his video exactly.
I recommend you remove the drive belts one at a time and restart the engine after each removal, if you remove a belt and the noise is gone then you know the noise is coming from that accessory. If you remove ALL the belts and the noise is still there look to the timing belt and water pump components.
My bets are on the AC idler pulley bearing.
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