So I'm getting some noise from where the dirve belt area is. It's not squeaking but has this sound that maybe a bearing is going bad in the pulley? Also the belt seems to be quite dirty or maybe old.

I'm at 76,600mi and it's never been replaced.

I can take video of it sometime later today.

 

Just wondering if it's common for this type of thing to happen at 76k mi.

 

I changed mine right around that mileage, which I believe was in the spring of 2012. Mine had that same brown tint to it. The belt was fine; I just didn't like the fact it looked crappy. It's up to you. Inspect it for cracks and if you find none, it's purely cosmetic.

 

Not just the cosmetics of the belt, but there is a sound coming from it. I'm thinking the pulley bearings are going bad.

Did you replace it yourself or had it done? How much did it cost you if so?

I'll have to record

 

I literally just changed mine this past saturday... Looked exactly like yours and i have 115k miles on my tl

I had some noise coming from the belt area too. So i went ahead and changed the belt, tensioner pulley, and idler pulley and the noise went away and i have the piece of mind it has a brand new belt on..

 

If it's not squealing, it's not the belt making noise. Probably the tensioner. I changed the belt myself. It's a simple ten minute job.

 

First thing to do is to just flex the tensioner a few times and then see if the noise went away. If not:

Then remove and replace the belt (same belt). Then start the car and see if the noise went away.

If neither of those works, then my bet is the tensioner.

FWIW, I replaced my serpentine belt at 106K along with the TB.

 

If and when you do chnage the tensioner you loosen it clockwise. Counter is to tighten

 

Definitely some noise coming from belt area, but it's kinda hard to describe. It's almost like a sound of "resistance" if that's a way to put it (maybe pulleys going bad). I'll try to record it tomorrow, too dark and I'm settled in for the night.

I'll have to look into tutorials. The most work I've ever done to my own car is an ATF change and with the help of a friend, a brake pads change as well as a brake fluid change.

So just remove the belt, check for anything and reinstall it to see if it helps. I'll take a look at a few tutorials and if it's that simple I may attempt it.

I was thinking it might be the tensioner or one of the pulleys going bad.

 

Here's a video of the drive belt and the noise:

 

Sounds like the power steering pulley grinding. Prob the ball bearing by the way. :-)

 

Alright, yeah I been driving with that sound for a few thousand miles and haven't really notice any differences in the way it drives. Doesn't seem to be too urgent to needing replacement, but I'll definitely get to it.

I don't feel comfortable messing with the belt components (unless someone around the Bay Area wants to teach me) so I have to find some time to get it to the dealer (don't worry I don't get typical customer prices). RockAuto the place to get parts? What parts would I need (belt, idler pulley, tensioner, tensioner pulley?)

Appreciate all the help

 

The drive belt is very simply in the way it works. You can move the tensioner out of the way to remove the belt itself and turn the pulleys by hand to diagnose which pulley is grinding.
The belt itself has no teeth therefore it's not on a precise timing or anything of the sort. Re-installing it is as simple as putting it back on the pulleys.

If it turns out to be the PS pump pulley, you can try to find a bearing or you can also get a pump for ~$175. You'll need that, PS fluid, and ideally the drive belt itself since it's so cheap. You might want to look into replacing the tensioner (~$80) too.

 

Well since work will be done on it I figured I'd just drop the money and replace everything for peace of mind and a fresh start. So around that whole area looking at replacing the tensioner, tensioner pulley, power steering pulley, etc.

I just need to know which parts I need to get from RockAuto. I got a few friends over at local Honda dealer and being a former employee I still get pretty good rates, but not as steep a discount on parts like I used to. Which is why I'm looking at RockAuto.

I'm not saying your advice is useless to me Polo, I really do appreciate it. I'll definitely try to diagnose it myself, but in terms of getting new parts on there, I don't have the time, knowledge, tools, or confidence lol

 

Here's a list of parts I think need:

Belt: More Information for GATES K060841

Idler Pulley: More Information for GATES 36112

Belt Tensioner: More Information for GATES 38332

Tensioner Pulley: More Information for GATES 38006


These are all Gates parts. I was not able to find a Power Steering Pulley. Am I missing anything else? I want to gather prices on rockauto before I compare them to what I would get at the dealer.

 

The power steering pulley assembly is part of the power steering pump and is not usually sold separately.

Look at the Gates kit on rockauto. Comes with tensioner, idler and belt.

 

No wonder I couldn't just find the pulley part. Though I wasn't able to find any kits that include the power steering pump, just the unit itself.

 

Because it doesn't usually need to be replaced at the same time as the belt. Tensioner + idler + belt is the usual job.
Like I said though, you still have to diagnose if it's the power steering pump making this (no need to change it if it's fine). It's hard for us to diagnose over the internet even with a video. It could well be the idle or the tensioner, they're all in the same area after all.

 

Ok. Welp I'll try to flex the tensioner a bit to see if it helps. No time to mess around with taking the belt off for today or within the next couple of days, to test the pulleys to see which one, if any, are grinding.

Thanks!

 

During idle I saw the tensioner moving around a bit. That considered normal? It was pretty much just wiggling around a bit

 

Hard to quantify how much wiggling is normal. It does move a bit, but it might move more than usual because the belt is stretched and the tensioner needs replacing. It shouldn't move much though, but once again, difficult to quantify.

 

Yeah, well it has a bit of wiggle, but from what I seen of tensioners going bad, it seems normal compared to those. I tried to record some video of it, but not enough light gets there and the best camera I have is on my phone.

Very hard to pinpoint where the sound is and the only real way to tell is if I get the belt off, which I don't have time for.

Thanks for all your help Polo.

It didn't move around this much. Though did move around just a bit, maybe a little more wiggle than I've seen on others.
Bad Tensioner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL5cM8UHvzg

"Normal" Tensioner?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1gAFijZMvQ

 

So I'm going to pull the trigger and just order these parts. If I need a power steering pump then I'll just get it from Honda as the ones on RockAuto are all remanufactured.

So the kit:
More Information for GATES ACK060841

And idler pulley:
More Information for GATES 36112

Is this all I'll need? Other than a possible new steering pump?

 

I believe so Dezy. Sorry for not replying to the earlier post, saw it but forgot to come back to it.

 

No problem at all. You've been helped me a ton and I really do appreciate it.

I just got a call from my friend at Honda so I'll be going to bring the car in later for him to look at. I told him I can get some parts myself, but I'm not too sure of the power steering pump as all the ones on RockAuto are remanufactured (in case that is the problem).

I'll report back later today. Hopefully he can just kinda eyeball and listen to it and not run through diagnostics. Either way if I have to replace the Power Steering pump I figured I'd replace the others anyway so I'll be ordering the belt + tensioner + idler pulley later today.

 

Shouldn't be very difficult if he takes the belt off. It's a 5 minute step. If all the pulleys seem to spin fine and the tensioner is stiff enough he will find it in a minute. Additionally a mechanic stethoscope/screwdriver can be used if it remains difficult (although I doubt it will be needed).

 

For sure. We'll see, I'll be heading there in about an hour.

I've trusted your diagnosis so far just need a set of eyes and hands to really confirm it.

 

Yup, it's the tensioner. Trusted mechanic friend and they treat me right like I still work here so I'm not questioning them.

Appreciate all the help everyone.

 

Glad you got it figured out! Guess you can run your order.

Good thing is that it's cheaper than PS pump as you know haha

 

I actually just had it fixed, wow it's quiet, been driving with a bad tensioner for along time so didn't know how quiet the car could be. lol

I bought the parts from them (along with my usual part discount) so they knocked off labor by a significant amount, moreso than what I usually get. Glad I made friends with some mechanics during my short time working at the dealer.

Appreciate all your help and the advice of everyone else. AZ ftw, and a special thanks for following up on the thread everyday Polo. Seriously, thank you.

 

Oh you bet. A girl at work has a drive belt squeaking issue on her Chevy Aveo... they (the dealership) can't find the issue apparently and tell her it's probably due to dust... I'm this close to troubleshooting it myself on lunch break.

 

I'm sure you could solve it pretty easy. They really should have a senior mechanic look at it.

Years ago this same guy looked at my old Civic. It wasn't blowing cold air anymore. I, for some reason at the time while working for the dealer, took it to an independent mechanic who told me the AC compressor was dead. I had my friend look at it and an AC line got cut or something (the civic was in an accident a month before) so guessing one of the fans got it. To think I considered dishing out like $400+ vs $30 for the new line and free-on. I have not been to an independent mechanic since, I just make sure I get my friend to work on my car.

Dealership turnovers are quite sad though. I think in the 4yrs I haven't worked there, they've changed staff about 8 or 9 times except for maybe like 6 people I know. Glad I got out of that industry.

 

There's some good dealerships and bad dealerships, just like good and bad independent places. It's a shame it's hit and miss and many people still trust the dealership with their cars and even more so while it's still under some sort of warranty. Being told "dust" makes your belt chirp like a bird in the morning is really laughing at you.

I fixed an AC system before in a similar way, everything was in working order but a hole in the system emptied the refrigerant. A can of colored leak test, JB weld and a refill of R134a refrigerant later and everything was fine until I scrapped the car. Hurray for ghetto fixing.

 

Agreed. Though independent mechanics should really earn more trust since they're at a smaller scale, imo. Some do damn well for themselves and can maybe get away with it, but either way a shady shop isn't right.

There really are some naive people out there and it's a shame they get taken the most advantage of. That's the car repair world though, upsell and take advantage of the naive.

Hah nice, yeah done a few temporary ghetto fixes on friends' cars, but nothing really major. As long as it holds up.