Need help:

I’ve tried doing a search, but couldn’t find a thread related to this: I’m having a problem with bronze/rust-colored dust accumulation in my engine bay. It’s located in the vicinity of the serpentine belt, all over the accessory (pulley) area. I’ll post pictures of it tomorrow.
I think it might be a bad bearing on the face of alternator that’s causing the dust, but I’m not sure. There is also a chirping noise on startup mostly when the weather is cool and damp. It’s an intermittent problem that’s been going on for several months. When noise first occurred, I took the car to local shop (very little dusting at that time), but the technician couldn’t locate the source of the noise as it had gone away. Since we couldn’t find anything conclusive, I decided to wait until the problem got worst. Now the dust is all over the place. It’s even imbedded into the felt liner on the inside of the hood. (I’m so embarrassed.) Judging by its appearance, it probably won’t be long before something goes bang/boom/pop/snap/ka-ping. Don’t know if I should buy a replacement alternator w/ belt, and do the work myself, go back to the shop, or get fleeced at the dealership. Has anyone had a similar experience? BTW it’s a 04 TSX MT with 68k miles – off warrantee now.

Another interesting point: The alternator for an 04 (31100-RAA-A01) costs between $194-211; while the 05 (31100-RAA-A03) cost a lot more: $306-310. What gives? Anyone know what the difference is besides price? Just curious.

 

First time that I've heard of this. You can try changing the belt first and seeing if that makes a difference. Sorry, don't know the difference between the two alternators.

Does anyone know if the UR Underdrive pulley also replaces the alternator pulley?

 

I believe so - Crank, Power Steering, and Alternator. Check the following thread: "JTso's UR underdrive pulleys installation". It has a lot of good info regarding an UR pulley swap.

 

I wonder if you should just get the UR Pulley set and hop that fixes the problem. I guess it's kind of a risk. You need to change to a smaller belt with that set anyway and you'd also get a nice little power increase.

 

If its the bearings that are getting worn then replacing the pulleys won't fix the problem.

 

If its the bearings that are getting worn then replacing the pulleys won't fix the problem. Is the tension on your drive belt normal?

 

The problem is the belt wearing out (causing the dust) and the tensioner no longer providing the proper tension (causing the noise). If you look under the hood liner, you will see a band of the same dust. If you rub your fingers on the bottom of the belt (rib side), you will see black belt dust. Just replace the belt and you will be fine.

 

If it were the belt, I would expect the dust to be black. It’s definitely brown/rust-like in appearance. Here are some pics:




I also checked the tensioner (pic included).


There is a lot of dust on the underside of the belt along with a few bright flecks of metal. I’m totally clued out on this one. I’m not sure what’s causing this.

I guess I could start by replacing the belt and see if it persists. It's the least costly of options.

 

Thats dirty!

 

 

Amazing what the salt from the roads will do to metal in an engine. I'd be washing the engine bay everyweek!

That Alternator looks done for.

 

Dang, and I thought I was ridin' dirty

 

This is an old thread ... I have the same exact problem (90K on 04 TSX) ... cor6bro, how did you make out ?

 

Even though the belt tensioner showed I had life remaining on the stock belt, I replaced it with a Gates belt and upgraded to a UR pulley set. I suspect the dust from the front passenger side brake somehow worked its way up into the engine bay via the crank pulley and accessory belt. I was running on Hawk Performance Ceramic pads w/ Brembo Rotor blanks at the time. Even though it performed better than stock, this setup created more dust than the stock rotors and pads.

The noise went away when I swapped out the old belt, but dusting remained a problem. I eventually cleaned out the engine bay and went back to the stock brake setup after the aftermarket ones wore out. I'm just easier on the brakes now.

 

Although I cannot seem to find it right now, I know there was a TSB relating to the improper machining of that upper pulley on certain K-series motors-but I'm not sure that it ever applied to the TSX. Our 2002 CR-V has this exact same dusting problem that has never been cured, along with a minor squeal that occurs when the engine is started cold after a rainy period.

While I have never been able to cure the problem. the drive belt you replaced we changed somewhat early because it was showing signs of premature wear (not sure if this is related to the dusting). What I can tell you for certain is that the vehicle has had regular major maintenances and oil changes, and has well over 100K on it without issue--except for the dreaded A/C meltdown which Honda covered.