2Quik

I have a 2004 Acura TL and it is making a loud tick/thump sound and i believe my timing belt pensioner is going out. It does only when its cold. the car currently has 195K miles on it, i had the timing belt replaced at 110K. so i am trying to deiced if I should do a full timing belt change( or just replace the timing belt tensioner. Would be best to just do all of it. my question is since acura OEM pars would be $420 and I do see that rock auto has a kit for $170 AcDelco brand, always had good results with AcDelco. Has anyone used the kits from rock auto?

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Check the serpentine belt tensioner and idler pulley first. You can remove the serpentine belt and start the car when cold and see if noise still present.
If indeed it's in the timing belt area, do the entire job and the AC Delco parts are just repackaged parts from another manufacturer as you can see by viewing the various part number similarities.

2Quik

I am pretty sure it's not the serpentine belt, i had a bad serpentine belt tensioner and idler pully go bad, it's smilar to the noise but this time around it's louder/harder. The strange part of it is that it only does it after the car has been sitting all night. then the first thing in the morning it does that loud tick/thump sound for a about 30-40 seconds then it goes away. I drive it to work and when i head out to lunch around 1 it doesn't make that sound even though the car has been sitting out in the old at work for 5 hrs. It only does it first thing in the morning not through out the day. I should have stated that in my first post, my bad.


what the hell i 'll give your suggestion a try. Hopefully that's what it is. Is is safe to run the car without the serpentine belt?

Vlad_Type_S

iTrader: (3)

To answer your original question - it's definitely best to replace all of it. It's a lot of work to get the timing belt covers off and you're so close to the point where the maintenance is due that I don't think it's worth doing it twice. Personally, I prefer OEM parts, but many have had good luck with other suppliers too.

2Quik

Ya i think i will go that route and do a timing belt kit replacement. I do see that rock auto has a AISIN kit, which i think is OEM for Honda and Toyota correct? I usually do OEM parts but damn $420 for Acura parts is a lot.

Can anyone confirm if AISIN is OEM?
https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/mor...id=411&jpid=16

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Aisin, yes.
Don't be fooled, the serpentine tensioner and/or idler pulleys will/can make noise only in the morning then you won't hear it again until the next morning.
Actually just replaced a tensioner and two idlers on a vehicle that only had the noise in the morning. After replacement, no more noise.

Vlad_Type_S

iTrader: (3)

^Can confirm - same thing was happening on my car. Pulled serpentine off, noise gone, put it back, noise returned. Replaced tensioner/idler, problem fixed.

2Quik

So I have been trying to hear the sound again some times I think i hear it buts its very veg and sometimes I don't. I have notice that the tensioner pulley noticeably vibrates and my belt seems to be a little past the pulleys metal part as if its not sitting right. my belt needs to be replaced, its showing signs of wear. The auto tensioner was replaced with a dayco a few years ago.

So the car doesnt seem to coroperate with whole taking off the belt to see if the noise is still there.

So if you can see the tensioner noticeably vibrate a lot does that mean the the whole auto tensioner is bad or going bad? Why does the belt not site right on the tensioner pully?