TheSauceBoss

I have whine coming from my engine bay. Using a highly advanced paper towel roll, I think the sound is coming from my alternator. The whine is directly correlated to RPMs, changing pitch under acceleration.

However, I have virtually no symptoms besides the whine. Voltage is excellent, no electrical issues, and not a peep of the whine comes through the electrical system in the interior (like hearing a whine through the radio). So I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with that, an alternator whine with no other issues.

Alternatively, (no pun intended), the power steering pump is in somewhat sorry condition, with a minor leak. My power steering isn't gone, but it's not completely there either. I don't think it's the pump, because there is no change in the whine or struggling sounds when I turn the wheel, moving or not.

Anyhow....if I can't figure it out, I'll post a video as soon as I can. Car is at 215k so both of these components could be replaced either way.

Thanks for any thoughts/input.

thoiboi

use a long screw driver and place the tip on the alternator, then place your ear to it and confirm if it's actually the alternator.


then place it on the PS pump and see which one it is.

TheSauceBoss

Thank you for the advice

csmeance

buy the gates rubber kit for $20 and rebuild your PS pump. Lots of videos on youtube, took me about an hr with hand tools!

If it's the alternator, buy a denso one from online and just swap it out, rock auto has good prices incl their coupon.

t-rd

If you want to rule out possible whine from the ps pump, then you should replace that NTN bearing inside the pump on the driveshaft. It's about $13 oem. Use Gates reseal kit as mentioned above, for all the seals. This is exactly what I did. When I extracted that bearing, it wasn't shot, but it was in rough condition with lubrication behind the seal dried out. Engine bay got a tad quieter after that.

The bearings inside the alternator are rather hard to extract. The one by the rear casing is easy, but the one on the magnetic coil's drive shaft needs special tool to remove. But, you should remove the serpentine belt and run the engine for 20 seconds and make sure the noise is gone first, to rule out timing belt path components as suspects.

thoiboi

PS pump rebuild DIY courtesy of @rockstar143

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p...-scans-841134/

TheSauceBoss

Thank you all for the information. I'm going to try and get 3 birds stoned at once with this one, rebuilding the PS pump, replacing my belt tensioner (long story), and potentially replacing my alternator.Not sure if it would be worth my time to try and replace the bearings inside the alternator, or just replace the entire thing due to age/mileage.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I just did all those on my girl's Odyssey...
Alternator wasn't charging well...bam did that and battery...
recently her auto tensioner was making a random clanking noise....replaced that with oem belt
and while i had it all apart i opted to rebuild the ps pulley...

invest in a mechanic's stethoscope though...i have that along with a long thin steel wire that I use
to touch various pulleys...you can hear it without a doubt. almost as good as a toilet paper roll too.

csmeance

Honestly its much easier to swap out with a reman or new Denso unit from rock auto for the alternator. When is the last time you had the timing belt/water pump service done? It may be in your best interest to tackle those too since the belts need to come off for what you originally wanted to do.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I find that amazon has the same parts as rockauto but are usually slightly cheaper shipped and tons easier to return if there's a problem.

thoiboi

Just did a return on RockAuto for a set of brake pads that didn't fit properly.. They just refunded me and had me keep them

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

so...you didn't have to return then

thoiboi

Also had to do a core replacement and they just told me to put it into existing box plus offered discounted shipping label


All that to say, RockAuto's return policy isn't too hard

TheSauceBoss

I was thinking the same thing about the alternator.

So here's that story I said was long, but it pisses me off to no end. I actually had my 105k service performed ~6 months ago at 205k. The thing is, I contacted one of my guys at the dealer I used to work at, and told them I would provide parts if they just did labor. Which is the only thing they charged me, at a slight discount, so really not bad. BUT, An operations manager (who I hardly knew) emailed me and asked for a parts list, and I listed out all of the parts I was planning on getting off ebay. During this exchange, he mentioned they typically did not replace the serp belt tensioner, and it wasn't exactly necessary unless it was giving me trouble. I said fine, whatever, saves me 60 bucks, and I go ahead and order all of the other needed parts for the 105k service.

Fine and dandy, car is at the dealer, I get a call. Said manager says "yeah it turns out your belt tensioner is bad, we recommend replacing it. We won't charge for labor since the car is already up on a lift and taken apart, but we want $400 for the tensioner." I"m like MOTHER F******ER. I need the car back tomorrow so it's not like I can realistically get a Koyo one shipped to me in a matter of hours. Forget it.

No less than 5k miles later, I start getting this scratching noise, which is only describable as worn out bearings....it sounds like a busted skateboard wheel. Anyhow, it's gotta be the tensioner. (not the same sound as the mentioned whine above that this thread was about). Whatever. Really my mistake for trying to save a buck off the bat, and for not talking directly to one of the service advisers I knew. It's in the past.

SO

The PS pump, tensioner, and alternator are all right there next to eachother, so ideally I'd dedicate an entire saturday to replacing them in one go.

thoiboi

Serp tensioner is much easier to access than the TB tensioner so at least there's that

thoiboi

fuck that guy though.. Penny wise pound foolish though, lesson learned do it all and do it right.

TheSauceBoss

And worse, after all of this is when someone on this forum mentioned the Asin package off amazon, and I didn't even know about it....it was similarly priced to me ordering all OEM off ebay! AUUGHH I'M PISSED ALL OVER AGAIN haha but seriously. I plan on keeping this car forever, so I look forward to correcting my error at my third 105k service

csmeance

most of the asin kits on ebay are OEM kits are fake. Buy from a reputable retailer like rockauto... Tons of casting defects on the waterpumps that are "OEM" or "asin" from ebay. I've gotten shit knockoff NGK's from ebay that almost killed a civic engine... fakes on the bottom after a few K miles, top one is OEM with 120K miles. Real has //// JAPAN //// vs fake which is lllllJapanlllll

TheSauceBoss

You know.....I bet that the parts I got off ebay were indeed fake. The water pump casting looked a bit off, the dealer even contacted me and said the tech was unsure whether the pump would even fit or not. Then, they called back and said nevermind, it fit fine.

It doesn't help that the boxes and parts said "made in japan" while the bags that contained some parts said "made in china".....I was like, well which one is it?

But you know what? I got a steal on my TL, and have put a ton of miles on her. I have definitely gotten my moneys worth, so if the thing grenades tomorrow after my possibly knockoff water pump fails, it's whatever. Yeah, I'll be sad, but I'm not going to be out much money. Life is learning experiences, and if there's something to learn here, it's buying OEM parts from a reputable source. Hell, I work for a natural gas compressor manufacturer, and we insist on using OEM parts to maintain the compressors. It's the only way we can guarantee the thing will last for life. And it won't be our fault if a customer ruins their million dollar compressor by putting aftermarket valves on it.

Don't cheap out on something that either makes you money, or on something you use every day.

zeta

iTrader: (1)

No sweat there, if it grenades, just install an inexpensive J35A6 out of the 05+ Odyssey (LX/EX only).

TheSauceBoss

Believe it or not, my mom drove a 2007 odyssey (navi, ex i think?) for the past 10+ years, and just bought an 18' MDX a few months ago. So technically that minivan is sitting in the side street not being used. 150k on it I think. I hope she doesn't sell it before my engine dies, I would definitely buy it off her.

t-rd

"Genuine" Honda timing belt kits on ebay are mostly fake. I purchased a fake Honda thermostat on ebay, and I only found out at the parts counter at my local Honda dealer. They made the bag so real that it "felt real" but in fact it was just another made in China part, I ended up eating the $19 cost. While there, the parts guy told me an Odyssey went in with a grenaded engine because the dude spent some $100 odd dollars on some timing belt kit and the timing belt snapped. So it was there for a $5000 engine replacement instead. Regarding the Aisin kit, most people will tell you Aisin is "OEM" but it's not. The only thing OEM is the Koyo idler pulley and the Koyo tensioner pulley. Aisin has not made water pumps for the J series engine since between 2003 to 2005. You can extract an old water pump from a 2003 AV6 and it's made by Aisin, but you only see Japanese Yamada water pump since 2006. Most bearings you will find on cheaper timing belt kits are made in China, and those bearings fail within 2 years. I've looked extensively into this by taking them apart noting the print on the bearing seals. Serpentine belt tensioners from both Gates and Continental hide the chinese bearing behind the tensioner pulley, I had one fail in less than 2 years. So I went to the length of manually pressing in a Japanese Nachi bearing when I went to refresh that pulley last time.

You save just between $150 to $200 only by not getting OEM. It's such a small amount of money to gamble your engine on.

TheSauceBoss

Man, now I'm worried lol.....I'd put money on the fact that the kit I got was not genuine. Ugh. Maybe I'll compromise. If the car makes it the first ~50k without issues, I could do a "105k service" prematurely, and replace all parts with genuine honda, in addition to resealing the oil pump. All of this assuming the car makes it the next 50k without issues. Really it would only be replacing the timing belt, the tb tensioner, and the water pump....plugs were bought separate, and wouldn't need attention at that point....same with coolant. idk. I'm just thinking out loud at this point.

TheSauceBoss

So just an update on this - last night I removed the serpentine belt per suggestion of user t-rd, and both of my noises (worn out bearings in the tensioner, and what I believe to be is a whine from the PS pump now instead of the alternator) both disappeared. Car was smooth and quiet, minus the minor clicking from the valves that need adjusted.

Also per the suggestion of T-rd, I ordered the PS pump bearing in addition to the gates rebuild kit, so i'm banking on the fact this will fix my issues.Going to rebuild the PS pump, as well as entirely replace the tensioner, and we should be good.

csmeance

Awesome! Hope it works out and solves the issue!!