Help! noise from bad timing belt tensioner or water pump bearing???
 

got a dc2 w/ 89k on a b18c1 motor with bolt ons and cams. timing belt and water pump was changed around 60k. i'm running a toda timing belt and oem water pump. i bought the car with 60k on it and have put almost 30k on it since then. for a couple of months, i've been hearing this strange/loud sound coming from the timing belt side of the motor. perfect way to describe it is taking a tape measure pulling the tape out all the way and letting it go back in. it makes almost the same exact sound but its very loud and annoying. only makes this sound while the car is in idle, never while i'm accelerating. i've had a couple of my honda "guru" buddies try and listen to it. one said it could be a bad water pump bearing, even though the pump might be new. the other one said it sounds like a bad timing belt tensioner. i don't know if the previous owner changed the tensioner when he replaced the belt. this was almost 30k miles ago... i've heard of tensioners going bad less than 10k miles after replacing the belt. i want to fix this ASAP because i know the consequences if the tensioner goes bad and the timing belt slips https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...s/emthdown.gif

i don't want to have to completely rebuilt the motor due to me being lazy and not fixing this problem because whatever it is, its not good... all i know is, replacing either one of those is a bitch! http://images.honda-tech.com/set1//smile/emcrook.gif

any help is appreciated.
thanks

Re: Help! noise from bad timing belt tensioner or water pump bearing??? (B18C1NMotion)
 

hahaah a bitch?! hahah try doing a waterpump on a w8 vw passat! haha thats a bitch!. yeah sounds like the guy who had it before u either tightened the tensioner too much or the bearing could be bad in the water pump. Just take off the covers for the timing belt lift the car and remove the drivers wheel and listen, yeah keep urself on the safe side, water pump and tensioner are cheap and easy to replace. Also make sure u torque the tensioner bolt to oem specs, crank bolt ect, ect.

Re: Help! noise from bad timing belt tensioner or water pump bearing??? (db1_jdm)
 

My water pump made an almost identical sound to what you are describing when it went bad, but I would rule out the easy things first. Try taking the power steering belt off first and then the alternator to make sure it is not the bearings in either of those (and A/C, if you still have it).

If it still makes the noise after all of that then you might as well change the water pump and tensioner, assuming you will keep this car for a while, you can skip changing the water pump at your next timing belt change in 30-50K. Kind of wasteful, but I don't really know a good way to test bearings on water pumps...

Re: Help! noise from bad timing belt tensioner or water pump bearing??? (91DA9)
 

its not power steering or a/c related, because i just recently deleted both of those. i'm only running a crank pulley belt. i guess i'll have to take off the cover and do a closer inspection. whats a oem water pump running anyway these days? never had to buy one before. i know a tensioner isn't cheap but not expensive.

thanks for the help so far https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif

Re: Help! noise from bad timing belt tensioner or water pump bearing??? (B18C1NMotion)
 

I think I paid about $70 for mine 4 years ago, although this was a Napa part, which worked just fine or my car for quite a while (until I sold it)

Props, from a fellow Ohio peep. https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif, that is, until I move to New Mexico in about 9 days. So freaking tired of this lame ass state.

If you are lucky, you will be able to zero out the sound by removing the covers from the timing belt, but the water pump and tensioner are so close to each other that it really makes more sense to "throw parts at it".

Re: Help! noise from bad timing belt tensioner or water pump bearing??? (91DA9)
 

probably going to change both tomorrow. only thing i'm worried about is setting everything to TDC. i'm not very good in that department just yet but i like to do things myself (considering i have a decent amount of tech knowledge) so i can learn. https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif

Re: Help! noise from bad timing belt tensioner or water pump bearing??? (B18C1NMotion)
 

ttt

need more opinions.

Re: Help! noise from bad timing belt tensioner or water pump bearing??? (B18C1NMotion)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C1NMotion &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">probably going to change both tomorrow. only thing i'm worried about is setting everything to TDC. i'm not very good in that department just yet but i like to do things myself (considering i have a decent amount of tech knowledge) so i can learn. https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif </TD></TR></TABLE>

The valve springs do try to push the cam off of TDC, so it can be tricky. They make a special service tool to lock the cams together before you take the old belt off, but I think it is expensive. I have never used one, and after changing 3 timing belts have not had timing problems, but it can be tricky.

i have this problem too and don't know what to do..sounds just like a tape measure when you let it go over and over again...replaced both belts and have aftermarket power steering, alternator, and lightweight crankshaft pulley...problem occured right after install...

any suggestions?

bump

Re: (lmike6453)
 

got the tensioner. going to change it and see if that solves the problem https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif
other than that, ttt!

Re: (lmike6453)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lmike6453 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have this problem too and don't know what to do..sounds just like a tape measure when you let it go over and over again...replaced both belts and have aftermarket power steering, alternator, and lightweight crankshaft pulley...problem occured right after install...

any suggestions?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Put your stock pulleys back on. They don't make enough of a difference in power to warrant the problems they can cause.

My brother's D16Z6 del Sol actually had a problem right after we changed the timing belt and accessory belts where the A/C tensioner pulley was rubbing against the black and making some nasty scraping and whining sounds. Turns out we had the bearing installed incorrectly in the A/C tensioner pulley.