I just changed my timing belt/water pump about a week ago due to the bearing in the old water pump failing. Last night, this morning, and this afternoon when I start it there's a loud SQUEAK! that last for only half a second or so during startup. It started making the noice today. I just checked the tension of the belt and theres about a half inch or so of deflection on either side of the cam gears. Do I need to put more tension on the belt or do I need to look into a new tensioner? My engine is an LS/VTEC with '99 Si head and B18B1 block. I used B18B1 (LS) timing belt and water pump.

 

Try to set the tension again,
Did you turn it clockwise (incorrect) or counter clockwise (correct), was the motor cold (it should be)?

this is the procedure from the helm manual (94 integra, B18B1, B18C1)

set the #1 cylinder at TDC

rotate the crank 5-6 revolutions to set the belt.

set the #1 cylinder at TDC

loosen the adjusting bolt 1 half turn (180 degrees) only.

rotate the crankshaft counter clockwise 3 teeth on the camshaft pulley

tighten the adjusting bolt

retorque the crankshaft pulley bolt 130 lbf-ft.

and I assume your other belts are tight, right?

If you're unsure if its tight, go through the procedure again.
I think the tensioners can go bad but try adjusting it again before you replace it. a good tensioner wont do any good if its improperly adjusted.

I'm not sure exactly how much deflection the belt should have, but a half inch seems a bit excessive.

 

Check the tension of your alternator belt before anything else. Belts squeak when they slip -- if your car is running, I doubt your timing belt is slipping.

 

Yep ^^, it's going to be coming from one of the auxiliary belts that you have to remove to replace the timing belt.

 

The timing belt was too loose. I went through the procedure that "grog" posted and its fine now. But everything can't be that simple right??? When I'm driving the car and accelerating in 4th and 5th gear (5th mainly, but you can still hear it all the gears..) there's a loud rattling sound coming from the timing belt/alternator area. When I got home from school I removed the alt. belt to see if the alt. was making the noise, but it's not. But then I found out the noise only happened when your DRIVING the car, you can sit in neutral and rev it at the same RPM and there's no noise! I'm confused, big time.

 

So just to clarify, Is this a totally different sound?

Since this only happens in gear my guess would be something axel related or possibly something in the tranny. but anything that moves could be responsible.

If you get stumped one thing you could try is to get the front up on jackstands, and have somebody put it in gear (be very careful doing this) while you try to pinpoint the source of the noise,
You can use a length of rubber hose to help find the source and also distance yourself from moving parts. stick one end in your ear while you probe around with the tube.

 

Yes, it is a totally different sound. There's no squeak anymore during start up, it sounds normal. I thought that it could be axle or tranny related also, but I've driven 15 or so miles with my head out the window listening to it and im 99.9% sure it's coming from the timing belt area. I even had a buddy in the passenger seat with his head out the window and he couldn't hear anything over there. I'm going to replace the tensioner next week (because that's when I get paid!) so hopefully that will fix it. It really does sound like bearings going bad to me. Although when I pulled the water pump off when it went bad it tore my block a new a$$hole in the inlet area behind the pump fins. Maybe the pump is off balance and still nicking into the block? Who knows... I guess I'll just ride on it untill I get paid next Friday and buy a new tensioner. I swapped an LS motor in my old '95 Civic sedan and the water pump failed on it too. It never mad the noises my EF is making now though. But in the beginning (sp?) of the water pump going out on the LS/VTEC it sounded indentical of what was happening to the LS in my old Civic. I guess the water pumps fail on those engines quite easily.

 

I just want to let you know that the timing belt wont squeak. The squeaking is caused by the rubber belt moving faster than the pulley it sits on, and seeing that the timing belt has teeth and sits on gears, there's no way it will emit a squeaking noise.

Did you check to make sure your auxiliary belts are tight? Make sure you don't over tighten the timing belt.

 

I agree, no way is the squeek the timing belt. The rattle could be a heat shield on the cat or any other exhaust part.