hey all im new to this forum..so hello...anyway i have a '01 Civic EX and it recently started making an odd whining noise around 1200-2500rpm...sounds similar to a noisy power steering pump, but the PS pump seems fine. It just rolled over to 108000. The engine in general seems to make alot more noise, especially above 4500 rpm. any ideas?

 

Have you changed the timing belt, done a valve adjustment, replaced spark plugs lately? If not, the engine may not be running that well. Just a possibility.

Could also be alternator, or the clutch bearings on your a/c compressor whining.

 

Mine does the exact same thing, it is definitely the PS pump. Mine has done it since about 70k miles. I am at 84k now and it has not gotten any worse, nor does it seem to affect the operation of the pump.

Regarding being noisier in general, hard to say. As turbo said, the most likely source of addtional noise would be valves that needed to be adjusted. Can you hear the lifters clicking at idle? If so, they need adjustment.

 

yeah i replaced the spark plugs at 104K when honda said to do so, i believe the water pump and timing belt (they're done at the same time, yes?) were changed at 100K by some mechanic....but is it possible to mess up a timing belt install without having big problems? could that cause the noise, i mean the engine, i think is overly loud, like 4500 rpm sounds like the engines gonna fly apart. as far as the valves go, i havent touched them and i dont think any mechanics have before, so ill check it out, but at idle the valves tap a little bit, but not any more than any honda engine ive heard.....any tips on valve adjustments....thanks again for the reply's you guys might save me a trip to a honda service dept.