1997 Honda Prelude Annoying Squealing/Screeching Noise *Ple

PRELUDEKID97

MEMBER
1997 HONDA PRELUDE
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
108,000 MILES

Hi, I've recently bought my car about 6 months ago. I am an amateur when it comes to fixing cars. My prelude is working fine except for the annoying screeching/squealing sound coming from something under the hood. The noise usually occurs when first starting and gets worst when I turn on the heat or a/c. It gets louder as I accelerate. Also the dash lights will dim as the noise gets louder. Though the noise will go on and off during my drive. Once the noise goes away, my dash lights will return back to normal. Please help as this noise is disturbing both me and the drivers around me. Thanks for any help possible.

Friday, February 5th, 2010 AT 9:57 AM

3 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi preludekid97,

Thank you for the donation.

Either you have a loose belt or a bad crank pulley harmonic balancer.

Check the alternator belt tension and adjust if necessary. If the belt tension is good, start engine and note if the crank pulley is moving in a wavy pattern, if yes, the harmonic balancer is bad and the crank pulley has to be replaced.

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Friday, February 5th, 2010 AT 10:20 AM

PRELUDEKID97

MEMBER
2 POSTS

First off, thank you for such a quick response.

I forgot to mention that, I've taken the car to a small car shop and the mechanic said it is the A/C compressor and it could just be the clutch on it that is bad. But I should replace the entire A/C compressor to avoid any problems down the road. Is this true? And how much should I expect to pay to fix the crank pulley problem?

Also I just bought a brand new battery for the car so there should be no electric/power issues. But how come my dash lights go dim when the screeching gets louder?

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Friday, February 5th, 2010 AT 11:09 AM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Unless the compressor is seizing up, it should not be the cause. A bad clutch would not cause the dimming of the dash lights.

If the compressor or the belt is slipping, the alternator turning speed would be affected and that would cause the dash lights to go dim due to insuffiient charging.

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Friday, February 5th, 2010 AT 11:19 AM