DigitalEvil

Hi. I am not sure if this is exactly the right place to put it, but I own a 2000 Honda Civic Si with about 100,000 miles on it. All has been running smoothly until just this week. I hadn't driven it for long distances for a while, but this last weekend I drove down to Long Beach which is roughly 25 to 30 minutes away from me by going on the freeway. When I came back later that night I noticed that my AC was not working properly anymore. It simply won't blow cold. When I press the AC button on, I can hear the compressor kick in and such, then turn off after a few minutes and then come back on again after a little while (continually).

This is also connected with the rattling noise I am hearing. It is prominant especially when I am idling or driving slowly through a parking lot, not so much at higher speeds. There are three belts situated on the right side of my engine. The top one seems to be working fine, as is the next one after that (from what I can tell). However, the largest one, which I believe is the bottom belt is around where the rattling noise is coming from. That is where I think a type of "pully anchor"(sp?) might be loose. The rattling noise is more of a squeeky rattle that goes "chi chi chi chi chi" whenever that large belt is running. I believe it is coming from the small metal anchor that sits between the ends of the belts, the part that is used to keep them taught.

When I turn on the AC, the large belt stops briefly (as does the rattling) and what I believe is the compressor turns on. (It is a large brief humming sound that picks up and then stops). Then the belt starts turning again and the loud metal rattling sound continues. While the belt turns though, especially during the start up, it seems to slip some as if it were loose (caused by something being wrong with the anchor?). The metal piece that sounds like it is making the noise looks somewhat tilted and a little off from the correct position, but I am unsure if I am just seeing things or not.

I don't have a photo of my specific engine or the specific area, but after searching the internet for the last 30 minutes, this is the closest image I can find of my vtec.



and



You can't really even see where the noise is coming from in these photos. But they would be located a little farther in than where the arrows point. The arrows show the large belt involved that I am talking about.

My engine is a little different as well, as when I bought it, the original owner had modified it with a cold air intake.

Anyways, I am thinking of taking it to a mechanic for some help but I wanted to ask you guys about it some and see if you might have some information or advice on:

What the problem might be exactly
How to fix the problem
Any other helpful information such as cost of parts or something.

Thanks in advance guys for any help you might offer. The section I am talking about looks kind of hard to reach, but is doable. I am mainly concerned about the noise, but am also pretty concerned about not having working AC, as it gets so freaking hot around here during this time of year.


Modified by DigitalEvil at 3:19 PM 7/17/2007


Modified by DigitalEvil at 3:20 PM 7/17/2007

DigitalEvil

Bump

DigitalEvil

You people are no help at all.

Archidictus

So, before you made this thread, did you actually take ten seconds and look down at the side of your motor to see whether or not your AC belt tensioner pulley was loose or did you expect us to use our precognitive powers to determine that on our own?

Stop being a lazy **** and go put your hand down the side of the engine to feel if the pulley's loose. Yeah, it'll get dirty, but I have faith that your will to live will pull you through. You may report back when you have data that will allow us to do anything other than bitch at you.

DigitalEvil

First off, Archidicktus, a simple and polite reply requesting some more details on the problem would have sufficed instead of replying in the way that you did that made obvious your amazingly short temper and extreme lack of reasonable conversation skills. Seriously, I hope you don't work as an actual mechanic or anywhere in a service or customer relations position because your additude simply sucks. I would hate to have to deal with you in any of those areas as a customer and I am sure if your online personality carries over to your real life dealings, that is probably the case for a few, if not a lot, of the people you interact with.

Or perhaps you are simply one of those internet "tough guys" who feel that by being unreasonably harsh and rude, you can compensate for your extreme shortcomings and problems in real life. Please, using an excuse for being a dick toward people because of a lack of intelligence on their part in a forum that focuses on an applied knowledge such as mechanical know-how is simply put - plain stupid. It has little matter of actual intelligence, rather it is how applied you have been in learning and adapting your knowledge in a specific area. You can't call people stupid for being ignorant at how their car works. It is one of the reasons that blue collar mechanics exist. Because those people have chosen to apply their knowledge and understanding on a subject toward another area or niche, does not make them any less intelligent than you. To understand your car better, you don't have to become smarter, you have to take the time to apply your experience and learn from it to expand your knowledge. You get what I am pointing out? Knowledge is much much different than intelligence. If you don't understand the difference then maybe you are just as stupid, if not more so because of your blatant ignorance to it, as the people you put down on here.

I did post some information about looking at the problem.

Here:

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The metal piece that sounds like it is making the noise looks somewhat tilted and a little off from the correct position</TD></TR></TABLE>

Kind of obvious that it is loose or at least something is wrong with it if you ask me, which qualified some of my questions for answering. The way that the entire engine is positioned, it is rather difficult to reach in to that specific section and actual reach that specific part to feel it. The main reason I hadn't been able to check fully at the time was the fact that I can't sit around and dick with my car all day, I am busy working and **** until late after nightfall and don't have a proper, lit garage or anything to work in. Thus why I asked for ideas on the problem, to save me time and help me in my diagnosis (the whole point of my initial post!).

No thanks to pompous ******* number 1 (arch), I went through when I had more time this weekend and checked my car out a little more closely. My assessment of a loose tension pulley was correct. In fact, it was beyond loose, it was basically disconnected.

What ended up happening was the main bolt snapped. I'm not sure how it did, but when I reached in there, I found the bolt hanging there, loosely suspended as well and lifted it out (no need to unscrew or anything). When I did, I found the bolt had snapped around halfway down the thread. Not sure how it happened, but that def. would be the reason the pulley came loose. Since I was already in there, I also lifted out the tension pulley as well. I could not get the belt off, so it is sitting loosely in place around the two remaining pulleys.

Now, since I have provided some more information, I would like to re-ask some of my questions.

Particularly the:

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How to fix the problem

and


Any other helpful information such as cost of parts or something.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I guess this addresses:
What it will take to get the other half of the of the bolt out. (The part still stuck screwed in)

How to get access to this section of my engine without taking half the thing apart. (IE: Do I have to take the front left wheel off and then unscrew the plating underneath? etc...)

Also, where would you say is the best place that I could find an appropriate replacement bolt from (store wise)?


Additionally, I am considering whether or not I will just bring it to a mechanic or not. Originally, I planned to take it to an airconditioning specialist because it sounded like it was related to AC, but now that I have taken it apart, I don't think that is the case and believe that a standard mechanic could handle it easily.

So some additional questions:

If I take it to a mechanic, does anyone have any idea the average labor rate a place in southern california (L.A) might charge for a job like this?.

Does the mechanic always need to inspect (and specifically charge for the inspection) the problem first if I explain it in detail and show them before hand what looks like needs to be done?

Also, how long do you think, if the mechanic has the appropriate tools and parts for the job, that it might take to fix this problem?

Finally, I was looking at my alternator belt after lifting the pulley out and noticed that about exactly in the center of the belt, along the entire loop, is a solid indented line. It looks symetrical and evenly spaced from the edges throughout the entire belt, but I am wondering if this is normal for a Goodyear alternator belt for a Honda Civic. I am asking because I am wondering if the pulley may have worn against it for a little while and eventually carved a line along the top of the belt. It is hard to tell from visual inspection or touch, so I figured that maybe someone with more experience with those types of belts might be able to answer the question.

Again, thank you in advance for any one who seriously, and kindly, tries to help me out with this problem.


Modified by DigitalEvil at 4:22 PM 7/23/2007

gamby

My guess is that the AC compressor is shot. The one on my EG started squealing over the winter--the sqeal was coming from that same pulley. Eventually the sqealing stopped, but I know it was gone. AC doesn't work now.

Same situation happened to a friend of mine on a 97 DX coupe a couple of years ago. Same sound, same spot, same outcome.

My car is too cheap to dump the money into. Yours probably is worth fixing.

Also, be more patient in waiting for responses.

DigitalEvil

Thank you Gamby. You have been of some good help to me. So if you think it is the compressor itself, you think I should take it to an AC specialist then?

They were wanting to charge me 49.95 for inspection alone, plus cost for labor and parts after. I was unsure of whether or not this was worth my money or not.

noss88

bump, same problem with my car...

h22a1_julien

AC specialist?........last time i checked its called a MECANIC......and why not put it yourself and stop wining about you ac belt/compressor/ pully or wtv the problem may be ...cuzz we obviously cant see the car run through a forum...go to a local shop and pay 50$ ...your problem will be solved...

and archidictus.....good point by makin the guy work on his car a little...
have some confidence in your car...it wont be fixed by its self....so if your crying about 50$ to replace a part witch is NOTHING by the way...then dont post useless threads...

gamby

Personally, the farthest I've gone with working on an AC system is recharging it with that Autozone recharger in a can.

Realistically, it's a Civic, so it's probably an easy task to swap out the compressor unit for another one. If you were able to do that successfully, you could then take it to a mechanic to do a full recharge/inspection.

Otherwise, you could pay a mechanic a couple hundred bucks to get it repaired--like non-car-people would do.

The $49 special is a shop charging you $49 to recharge the refrigerant, which you could do with a $20 can of refrigerant from Autozone.

DigitalEvil

thank you gamby, that was very helpful. I will look into that. You are a very helpful member and luckily it is people like you who help balance out the ********* like the member above you.

@julien: How ******* retarded are you? You obviously don't even bother to read the post, either that or you are just too stupid to really understand it. I will assume the second because you are too stupid to even know how to spell mechanic. Good job Einstein.

Some mechanics do not work on AC. So often if you are having problems specific to that area, you have to go to a mechanic who specializes in it as well. Sure, they are still a mechanic, but they can handle the stuff standard ones can't, thus they usually will charge you a little more.

btw: I said that they were charging me 50 dollars just to inspect it. That did not include ANY parts or labor at all. So no, it won't just be 50 dollars to fix the car.

You can tell how sad you are just by who you sided with. By the time you had posted, I had already started working on my car so it wasn't a matter of not wanting to deal with it myself. I asked on here for people who might have more experience than me. Obviously, while that is the case with some members on here. It isn't for you. Otherwise you would have actually given me some useful information instead of simply spouting the same retarded crap that arch said. Go get your nose out of his *** man. It is brown enough.

muhaMan

i have the same problem with my AC, let us know when u get it fixed

wiZCo

Good lord you whine a lot. There are a lot of individuals who have little to no patience for people who aren't mechanically inclined on this board. If you can't learn to shake them off you're not going to last long here nor are you going to be able to learn much.

Anyways, what I've gathered is that the A/C pulley tensioner bolt snapped off. If there are still threads left in the mounting location, it's going to be a PITA for anybody (yourself or a mechanic) to back it out or drill and re-tap, and will cost you (time and $$) accordingly. If it's a quick fix, so be it, shouldn't take very long or cost much if you go to the right place.

In terms of finding the right bolt, use this diagram and just get it from a dealership:

http://www.hondaautomotivepart...83%29

Lastly, you should just replace the alternator belt if you think it is suspect. They are relatively cheap and can be changed out when the pulley bolt is replaced.

DigitalEvil

There is a difference between sticking up for yourself and telling ******** off, and whinning. Hell, I could say that those two guys were whinning about people not being as mechanically inclined as they are. In fact, they didn't even offer any help, they just bitched about me. If that isn't whinning, I dont know what else it could be. I guess it is all a matter of perspective.

But thank you for at least helping me, I am looking at that diagram as we speak.

edit: Upon looking at it, I noticed number 20 is the snapped bolt, but at the same time, it looks like I will have to get a replacement nut for the second bolt in the middle of the pulley. I remember only seeing the bolt screw in and found it odd that nothing was holding it in place, keeping it from unscrewing.

B18CivicEJ8

Dude, you are going to find that a lot of people are going to reply with information that isn't too helpful. Trying to flame them on this forum will just be a waste of time, energy, and bandwidth. Just let it go and try to ignore them; they won't go away. And try to avoid flaming Moderators, too!

OK, now on to your problem. This is a fairly easy fix.



Unbolt your AC compressor from the mount bracket which is part 1 above. I believe you are saying bolt 20 (from below) snapped, right? Once you get the AC compressor off the mount, then you can remove the nut and washer (21, 22 from above). Next you can unscrew bolt 14 (from above) to remove the side mount (part 9 from above). You can then use a deep socket to remove 11. Once that's out of the way, there are only 4 bolts holding the AC mount bracket onto the block. Once you remove the bracket, you should be able to get the broken bolt out of the bracket by drilling it. Just use a smaller bit than the actual bolt which is easy cause the bolt is pretty big. Installation is in reverse order. You can do this yourself if you have some basic mechanical knowledge. If you can change your oil, you can do this. You may have to remove your left front tire to get to nut 21. Good Luck!

Jizzmaster Zero

You're a whiny baby, shut up and eat some curb.

DigitalEvil

@B18CivicEJ8: Thank you, Thank you, thank you. That was beyond helpful. Can I ask which section you found the diagram of the mounting bracket in (number 1 in the first image)? I am looking for the cost of that piece as well incase I can't drill or tap out the piece

@Jizz(sic)master: Make me.


Modified by DigitalEvil at 3:05 PM 7/24/2007

DigitalEvil

Oops. Double post somehow. Anyways, I will work on this tonight when I get off work. Thank you again, I will let those who care know how it goes.


Modified by DigitalEvil at 4:59 PM 7/24/2007

noss88

bump. did u fix the problem yet? i have the same problem and i wanna know if it fixed the rattling sound

pimpinblackcivic

either the tensioner is loose or the compressor is shot and causing the belt to jump