I took my car into the dealer today, because I kept hearing a whistling sound from my engine bay. My mechanic looked at it and thought it was the a pulley. I said let me take it to the dealer for a second opinion. They put it on the lift and couldn't find what & where the sound was coming from.

So after having almost every mechanic looking in my engine bay, the tech calls me over and tells me I need a new engine. I have 97,000 miles on my car, the car has been fully tuned w/all major work changed(timing belt/water pump/tranny). They say my engine is buliding up too much pressure and it's not supposed to do that. When he pulls on the throttle cable and revs it a bit, he opens up the oil cap and you hear "psssst" indicating that pressure has been released. I don't know what to do now.

I doubt I need a new engine, I don't have any warning lights on my dash board, The car doesn't smoke up, doesn't stutter when I drive. It drives perfectly normal except this damn whistle sound. They replaced a "PC VALVE" assuming that would be the fix, but still the same result. Any suggestions people?

 

Did they do/get a compression test? Where is the sound coming from? I know you stated it's in the engine bay but isolating it to a specific source is going to be key (probably preaching to the quire...). Replacing the engine is kind of an elephant gun approach...

 

Do you have your intake resonator removed? Thats all I can think of besides a worn/loose/overtightend belt.

 

When they had the car on the lift, they put on these ear plugs attached to a long thin plastic tube so I can hear where the sound is coming from. They said they think it's coming from the flywheel in the transmission.


Yeah I have a comptech Icebox installed. I have new belts installed, so I doubt it's loose/overtightened. They took off the belts and put them back on, but the sound is still present. I'm just frustrated because I doubt I need a new engine. I think they just told me that because they can't figure out the problem.

 

new belts change tension as the break in- if it has an automatic tensioner no problem- if manual adjusted for tension- its not unusual to need a little tightening after new.

There is pressure in the valve covers when you open the cap!-no kidding,-
thats why the metal pipe goes from the valve cover to the rubber snout part of the air intake to engine.
It reciruates that air to the engine intake for reburning.

I would seafoam the intake and gas tank- and do the oil too, then change it and the filter

Get the rings freed up of any glaze and gunk- and remove same stuff from engine intake and oil passages. Make sure to use TB cleaner on the round plate inside the TB assembly
Having all the combustion and important parts clean is the first step to tracking a problem.
You could have plugged EGR ports or leaky vac assisted motor mounts - dependig on year.

 

As a remedy for a whistling sound?

 

Dude, are you freaking kidding me. If they say you need a motor, what the HEYHEY are they doing telling you that it is coming from the flywheel! So which is it, tranny or engine? Holy Crap, man. RUN AWAY! Every engine has some pressure in the crankcase, which is why there is PCV valvese (Positive Crankecase Ventilation) and recirculation.

Whistling noise. Sounds vacuumish, Isolate the location and there you have it. You can stick your hands and stuff in there (beware of moving parts) and see where you stick your hands changes the noise, you could also spray some carb cleaner around and wait the engine revs/changes. Wonder too about your evap. system.

Find out where it is coming from and fix it or post your findings.

Also, what type of mods do you have? (other than icebox)

 

When they had it on the lift they were listening w/this device to where the sound was coming from. They assumed it was from the flywheel. They said the sound is coming from the area where the oil pan and transmission meet.

The funny thing was in comparison...he had a 1gen CL in the bay and he popped the hood and rev the engine(just like he did to my car) and opened the oil cap and said "see...no pressure". I just looked @ him and shook my head. He said the engines were similar & my car shouldn't have pressure coming from there just like the CL. The weird part again is when I loosen up the oil cap just a bit...the sound is gone, but if I tighten it and idle the engine the sound comes back(very weird).

The only mod I have(engine wise) is the IceBOx. I'm gonna post a youtube video of the sound and hopefully you guys can get a better idea of what and where you think the sound is coming from.

 

I'll try the seafoam method again and see if this will solve it. They did do an oil change there in the process. They said they thought it might have been because of the oil filter, because honda/acura cars don't function properly if an aftermarket filter is used. So they put an OEM oil filter on there and still.....the sound is present. They checked all the EGR ports and VAC lines and still.....the sound is present.

 

what about the vac assist to the rear motor mount?? bad mount causes vac leak and noise
You need to look in the real phone book for a honda/acura specialist and take it there
instead of guys who guess what it needs

why foam for whistle? if somthing is stuck due to gunge and they are saying motor--- I want to clean everything- especially the rings and see what happens then.

 

seafoam or carb clean the TB plate inside the TB assembly

 

I def need to do that, because I took it to a mechanic b4 I went to the dealer. He took off the accessory belt pully and said that's def the sound. I bought the part & had him replace it.....$181.00 later the problem is still present. I'm just soo pissed and fed up w/this situation I don't know what else to do.

 

These assholes @ the dealer also told me that my pistons and othet mechanical engine parts might have gotten damaged because I had my car parked up for a year. I told him...yes it wasn't driven in a year, but I started it up @least 3 times a week and let it run for about 5-10 min. I can't see how that could damage my ride. Many people do that and add fuel stabilizers to keep every thing smoothe.

When I finally put it back on the road, I did the seafoam in the throttle body, gas tank. I did an oil change, flushed and changed all the fluids in the car. I can only imagine the BullSH#%$ they tell women when they go to get there car serviced.

 

 

Please get the car out of that shop. The more you post with updates from them the more frustrating it becomes because of their stupididy. "Honda/Acura cars don't functioin properly if aftermarket filters are used" LOL

 

Has any one inspected or replaced the PCV valve?

DO a compression test on the motor.

 

If storing a car- store it~
starting it and let it run a few-10 minutes is the worst thing- moisture is everywhere and needs to be dried out.
If you feel the need to start it- drive 30 minutes on the freeway to dry the oil and exhaust fully- otherwise- shoot some seafoam in it- add stabil or seafoam to gas tank and park it.

 

This Seafoam is also a fuel stabilizer?

 

Thanks for that tip.... I didn't know that.