i know this is not the 03 forum, but ive always found all my help from here and figured the engines are for the most part about the same, and am a little desperate for some help.

my gf has an 03 civic and it sounds very sick.
its coming from the engine area but its hard to pinpoint, to me it sounds like its coming from around the exhaust manifold area, but to my dad it sounds like the oil pan area.

i left a link to a sound clip that i recorded of the noise. you cant hear it very well but theres a squeaking that happens every so often also.

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ddarga2/sick.wav
i think you might have to download it, thanks for everyones help in advance. i just was looking for some information so i dont end up tearing the whole engine apart.

::edit:: on my computer it is playing as a quiktime file

 

I do not have an answer for you-

Interested, I started searching the web.

Here is a site that offers some tips on finding where a noise is coming from, and diagnosing it.

http://remanufactured-engines.com/page4.htm

I was looking around to see if there was any car sound libraries with explanations of the problems- it would be neat to have some kind of reference to learn from.

I haven't found one, and trying to figure a sound just from listening is a bit of a guessing game from what I have read so far- a person more experienced would probably be able to verify that.

 

That doesnt sound good at all. Where, around the motor, did you record that clip???...

 

i know i recorded that right next to the exhaust header, im gonna tear it apart next weekend when i get back from school. i just wanted maybe some pointers what to look for before i do that. at first i thought it was coming from the piston area, however the car has not lost power which makes me beleive that it hasnt lost any compression, so i dont beleive that it has to do with the pistons.
so that makes me think that its a bearing in the bottom end.
but from that sound i just have no idea what it could possibly be, so i thought maybe there might be someone on here that recognizes the sound.

 

How is the engine running though does it rev normally or does it look like it wants to shut off?

 

it runs perfect, it just sounds like garbage. it hasnt lost any power at all, does not smoke, moves smoothly throught the rev range.

*edit : earlier today i unplugged the plugs one at a time and the sound was constant.

 

That motor is purring!!!! just pull the pan and see if u can find anything!!

 

yessir next weekend thats what is going to happen. thanks for the replies. if anyone knows offhand what to look for that would be awesome.

 

up for a few more opinions happy "got to go to work the day after labor day" day

 

it sounds like a pulley to me. but maybe you should take a image shot of it. but i would have to look at to be sure

 

wow that sounds bad. I would do what ^^^ said and remove the oil pan and check it out. If nothing there, try to locate where the sound is coming from. If nothing still, do a compression and/or leak-down test to see if anything is going on there.

What ever it is, it doesn't sound good at all. Def recommend not driving it until it's fixed. good luck with that.

 

im actually at school right now, and my gf lives at home. so come this weekend im gonna take the pulleys off and if its still making the sound im going to drop the oil pan.

 

Maybe it's just my speakers, but for some reason I was expecting the BlueManGroup to start playing.

to add to what's all ready been said...
over full on oil?

 

no i was checking it for her regularily, but it wasnt me that did the changing. her dad has a thing about taking it to honda to change the oil
but it looked pretty good. it just suprised me becuase her dad is very on top of preventative maintenance and her car is not driven hard, oil is changed every couple months.
thanks again for all the input tho thats why i posted it here

 

One thing that will help locate where the sound is coming from is to go and get a stethoscope for like 15 bucks and then just probe around the motor looking for the sound!!!!!! Stethoscopes work WONDERS!!!!
http://www.twistingwrenches.co...=6946

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by egcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i know i recorded that right next to the exhaust header, im gonna tear it apart next weekend when i get back from school. i just wanted maybe some pointers what to look for before i do that. at first i thought it was coming from the piston area, however the car has not lost power which makes me beleive that it hasnt lost any compression, so i dont beleive that it has to do with the pistons.
so that makes me think that its a bearing in the bottom end.
but from that sound i just have no idea what it could possibly be, so i thought maybe there might be someone on here that recognizes the sound.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If its recorded by the exhaust manifold, first thing i would check is the valves. You write that it doesnt decrease performance but it does read correct compression for the motor, maybe its a floating valve. Before i took a motor apart, id carefully inspect the head to make sure you dont have to take all of it apart, and if the head isnt the problem, then by all means take the rest of it apart. For the time being id do a simple valve cover off inspection, then go from there...

 

honestly to me it just sounds like a really bad exhaust leak. like a bad manifold gasket or down pipe or something. maybe a broken exhaust bolt and its loose and rattling and leaking. i would start with the easiest things first before pulling **** the like oil pan and belts to check pulleys off. im gonna assume that the car is stock and she doesnt beat the hell out of it so correct me if im wrong. but i really dont see why it would be an internal engine problem on such a new car. do some inspecting and give us some more info about the car your area, and driving habits. i really dont think its anything major but i dont know the whole scenario.

 

its not driven hard at all, my gf drives daily drives it. she is by no means a racer. the oils been changed every few months, im in chicago so it does see winters but i dont think thatll factor too much into it. it is completely stock.
i am not actually by the car at all right now, but i did pull the sparks one by one and the sound did not change at all, i was fudging around with the exhaust manifold becuase at first i thought it was loose but the sound did not change at all.
it does sound like its coming from the block part of the motor so i may have prematurely ruled out the head in my mind. but i can check it.
i am not unfamiliar with heads but what would i be looking for if a valve was floating?
ill be back to check on the car this weekend also.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DCSportEJ1Civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">honestly to me it just sounds like a really bad exhaust leak. like a bad manifold gasket or down pipe or something. maybe a broken exhaust bolt and its loose and rattling and leaking. i would start with the easiest things first before pulling **** the like oil pan and belts to check pulleys off. im gonna assume that the car is stock and she doesnt beat the hell out of it so correct me if im wrong. but i really dont see why it would be an internal engine problem on such a new car. do some inspecting and give us some more info about the car your area, and driving habits. i really dont think its anything major but i dont know the whole scenario.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Very true, a better diagnosis would be if we can physically look at the car. My input was just a suggestion. Im only going off past experiences when i heard a sound comparable to what is made in the clip. I can be COMPLETELY wrong in my prognosis, but you can only see when its apart or your actually with the car inspecting it. Although, ive seen new off-the-lot cars do some wacky things before that a motor with multiple thousand miles would do...

 

sounds like a spun bearing

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by obuhmyuh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sounds like a spun bearing</TD></TR></TABLE>

a few others said that also not another

 

in this thread?

 

lol no i put this in the 03 section also, i just put it here cuase im here the most.
got a reply there, and my dad thinks its a bearing.

 

happened to me. slight oil starvation

 

doh, i unknowingly bought an engine with a spun bearing i just hope its not one of the mains