1997 Civic Harsh unknown engine noise

Tiny
LEECASON
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 HONDA CIVIC
I have a 1997 Honda Civic with a 1.6L L4 PFI SOHC 16V engine and 98,000 miles. Up until yesterday it was running fine. Now it has a horrible engine noise and I don't know what is causing it. I'm mainly concerned about whether it is safe to drive to the dealer, who is about 7 miles away, without causing damage to the engine.

I made a short video of the engine to capture this noise, and put it here so you can listen to it and see if you can tell what is wrong from the sound:


http://video.fotki.com/leecason/25073

Thanks in advance for any suggestion you may have.

Regards,

Lee Cason
Fairfax, VA
Sunday, March 18th, 2007 AT 6:46 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
2CARPRO JACK
  • MECHANIC
  • 11,533 POSTS
Great idea with the video. Not sure if I would drive it, sounds like an accessory might have locked up. Sounded like a belt screaming
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Monday, March 19th, 2007 AT 8:01 AM
Tiny
BRUCE HUNT
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,754 POSTS
That is a great job with the video and posting it. Almost like being there. That is something in the belt area and could be a bearing going out. Check the pulleys on the accessories like power steering, alternator, and the A/C. The harmonic balancer should be looked at. Excessive heat on a pulley, loose and wobble, tight pulley movement, etc are examples of what to look for. Removing the belts should help you check out the problem. If you do pull of the belts and they are off, start the vehicle and you should find that the noise is gone. You can reconnect them one at a time to see which is causing the problem. Good luck.
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Monday, March 19th, 2007 AT 1:40 PM
Tiny
LEECASON
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
A couple of mechanic friends listened to the video and they all guessed the same thing as you did here: pulleys. I went ahead and drove it into the shop. It's going to cost $900 to repair--mostly labor at Northern Virginia rates (Washington DC drives the cost of living up).

Thanks,

Lee
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Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 AT 7:31 AM

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