I just replaced the timing belt in my 92 dx hatch today, started it up and idled it when we were done and it started and idled fine.. turned it off, put everything back on and let it down. Put it in reverse to back down the driveway, and with no gas at all (automatic tranny ) it's shoving me down the driveway, i'm thinking ok, looks good. Once i got on the road and hit the gas, it'd barely go, i hit it more.. nothing. I'm thinking we messed up the timing somehow, but when a buddy looked at it, he noticed a whine when i hit the gas. I've heard it before, only recently however. I'm fairly sure the lack of power is from the timing being off, but he seems to think we may have nocked a vacuum hose loose somewhere or something along those lines... any thoughts?

PS: The whine doesn't sound like it's from the tranny, and it's there when revving engine in neutral as well, just quieter

 

Yes, you need to verify cam timing is correct. Sounds like you ended up being a tooth or 2 off...

 

Fairly sure I've got it retarded one or two teeth. Just curious about the whine, as far as I can remember it started after i bought the car and changed the transmission fluid.. (the automatic tranny fluid was so old it was just about black, gotta love people that don't take care of their cars.) can hear it in first, quieter in second, then nothing past that. Doesn't do it all the time either.

The buddy that looked at it is good with old school cars, big block chevys and the like. He doesn't know much about hondas, but he got me wondering about the whine now.

On top of the tranny fluid needing a change about 50,000 miles ago.. the oil filter was so old it was rusty. We pulled it off and no oil came out... WOOOO! Hold it upside down.. wait... wait... glop glop glop, sludge comes out. I thought old people were supposed to take care of their cars?

 

Typically, the whine comes because the timing belt is too tight. Make sure you follow the service manual to a T or you'll end up smoking the bearing area on your head. loosen tensioner, turn engine until the cam gear moves about 3 teeth. Tighten tensioner. DO NOT push on the tensioner to make the belt tighter!!! A lot of people do that because they think the belt is too loose and that's bad.

 

1) Sounds like the belt is too tight
(follow what RyanA said to tension your timing belt correctly)

2) Check your timing to make sure it is dead on

 

Fixed the timing today.. it was one tooth off. Car runs good, whine is still there and yeah, i followed belt tensioning procedure. Ended up getting a helms manual (chilton and haynes suck). Anyway, the whine started before any of the timing belt nonsense. As far as i can remember it started after i replaced the ages old tranny fluid with new stuff (and yes i used the proper fluid) It doesn't whine all the time, seems sporadic. I did notice some droplets on a couple things behind the distributor, haven't figured out where that's coming from yet, and all my hoses look good... started it and couldn't see anything spraying either.

Got more running around to do today, i'll try and listen to see where the whine is coming from.. It's not a very loud whine, and come to think of it it seemed like it was a little louder when the timing was bad. Heard it driving home, but quieter, also didn't hear it a few times, like i said it comes and goes ?

 

So is the whine coming from the transmission or the engine? And when you revv it in neutral the car does the same, only a little quieter? When you drive does the whine increase in pitch as RPMs increase, or is it a constant whine regardless of speed or RPM?

 

It increases in pich as rpms go up, i didnt hear any whining at all when i was revving the engine under the hood, it doesn't always whine. Seems to come and go. can't quite tell where it's coming from... usually only hear it when in gear


I'll go screw around with it and see what i hear

 

No clue how i didnt notice before, but it sounds like it's coming from the alternator. Havent had any battery problems yet, seems to charge fine

Probably needs replacing, should have figured that just judging from how crappily taken care of everything else was.

 

Make sure the alternator belt is not to loose or tight, either will make a good squeal. I was going to suggest this when you said you heard a whine that increased with RPMs and wasn't consistent but i was originally thinking tranny . Check the belt tension and let us know man.

 

it's not the belt squealing, it's definately a whine... looked at the tension again, looks good, but the alternator adjuster bolt and through bolt are both frozen in place so we couldn't adjust the tension when we put the new belt on the other day. I've heard plenty of belt squeals from my integra, it's a different sound :-/ hmmmmm probably a bearing i'm guessing


Modified by 92gs...92dx at 3:46 PM 8/14/2007

 

"2) Check your timing to make sure it is dead on "

Actually i've got it advanced slightly.. seems to have a bit more power slightly advanced.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92gs...92dx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">"2) Check your timing to make sure it is dead on "

Actually i've got it advanced slightly.. seems to have a bit more power slightly advanced.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That would make sense.

Do you have another alternator around you can try? I wonder if the internals of the alternator are going? Is it grounded properly around the alternator?