cargirl99
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I've had my Integra into the mechanic's twice and it refuses to make the noise I'm trying to get diagnosed! Am ready to go to a dealer that knows the car just to get to the bottom of this...
The car is making a squealing whistle - happens most noticeably when I press the accelerator pedal, and it is a quick whooo-p, rising in pitch - much faster than the engine actually accelerates. It also whines at idle and at speed. The sound seems to come from just in front of the steering column under the hood. Problem is, it comes and goes. It has been worst after sitting a few days and then driving in the cold or damp (live in New England), but that's not a hard and fast rule. The noise definitely has an "airy" quality to it, which concerns me a bit. Maybe an air leak or injection problem, etc? Any ideas?
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RyanDL
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How loud is the noise? Is the car stock (no modifications)?
Is it an accessory drive belt? That would sound like high pitch -- almost tire-like -- squealing. It would indicate you need new belts.
Ryan
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cargirl99
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The car is stock and the noise can get very loud but varies. I've had squealing belts before and this just doesn't sound like the same kind of squeal. I did check them out though, and they all seem to be in good shape and have good tension - unless the cold weather is just affecting them in some way that isn't readily visible...
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RyanDL
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Interesting. Tough to diagnose without hearing it. Could possibly be a vacuum leak, power steering pump, or a tiny leak in the air intake piping. That's all I can come up with. I'm hesitant to think vacuum leak if the car is idling properly, but you never know.
Ryan
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cargirl99
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Feeling a little sheepish that I didn't connect this before, but...
I realized when I got in the car this mornign that the gas gage is reading a little funny. It seeems to drop faster than it should, and particularly when it gets to about 1/3 tank left it drops suddenly, almost to E. I wonder now if there is a fuel pump issue here? Any idea if 100,000 miles is average for an Acura pump, or if these are known to fail?
Wish I could record this noise!
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TR
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I don't know if that would help, but I have a strange noise as well. I think it's the belts though, like Ryan said. I have a 2000 GS-R with 60K miles. I am in Boston and everybody probably knows that we have record breaking temperatures here. Today we are at -10 with -40 windchills and it gets even worse at night.
Anyways, on the coldest 2-3 days I had this sound coming from the belts area when the car is cold. When I start the car, there is no noise, but after a minute or less this loud screeching noise appears. If you give it a little gas, it goes away, but then comes back again. If you start to drive, it goes away, but then comes back again when you are driving at a constant speed. If you try to go faster, it goes away, but then comes back when the speed is constant again.
I am 99% sure that it's the belt(s) because the car has low miles and it never happened to me before because I never experienced such low temperatures with any of my cars. This is my second Integra (I used to have '94 LS, sold at 175K miles) and I never heard it either.
Ryan, do you think it's belts?
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cargirl99
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That definitely sounds like belts. I had the exact same noises at the same times and same conditions on my Subaru a few years back. Tightening the belts helped a bit, but the drastic temperatures make it hard to regulate. New belts are probably due if you haven't done them yet - I think 60,000 is pretty reasonable up here.
I also live in Boston - and it is darn cold!
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RyanDL
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I don't think I've EVER heard of a bad fuel pump on a Honda, especially at only 100K miles.
Easy way to check if the fuel pump is making the noise. Since the car is making the noise sporadically, you can do this each time you start the car. When you turn the key, turn it to "ON" first (before cranking engine). The fuel pump will run for about 2-3 seconds before turning off. If the sound occurs, you have traced it to the fuel pump. If not, then it is something else.
FYI, the fuel pump is in the fuel tank, so I doubt this is the problem since you say the sound is coming from the front of the car.
How fast does the gauge drop? 1 second? My Integra gauge would drop quicker when I had less than 1/2 tank, but it was still dropping at the rate of fuel consumption. If yours is dropping immediately, it could be the gauge itself, which has a voltage regulator in it, I believe. Could also be the sending unit.
Ryan
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cargirl99
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Great! I will check out the fuel pump test tonight. Yeah, the gauge is dropping very fast - 1-2 seconds. I've noticed that the gauge drops faster on the down side too, but this is much faster. I wonder if the voltage meter can just be tested? I made an appointment with a local mechanic someone recommended to me for Honda work, so hopefully with all this to go on he can figure this out.
Thanks!
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RyanDL
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Could very well be the belts. When you give it gas, the tension should increase a bit, which would make the squealing stop.
With the brutally cold temps you're getting, the metal (pulleys) could be contracting more than the rubber belts -- I'm not sure which material contracts more when cold -- causing the tension differences. I wouldn't worry about it, but you could get the belt replaced, I guess. I don't think I did a belt replacement until ~90K miles when I did the timing belt.
Or you could just more to a warmer climate. =-)
Ryan
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TR
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Ok, so it's the belts then. I actualy never changes the belts on my 170K miles '04 Integra and never had a problem, because the temp. never was so low. I did replace my timing belt though.
I still have an extended (certified) waranty, so I'll mention it when I got for an oil change.
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NealF
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Another thing it could be is the water pump. How many miles are on it? I remember one time in NY I had an intermittent high pitched whine in an integra and I talked the people into a timing belt/waterpump (the car had about 120k on it and had never had one) when I removed the water pump, the blade had eroded down to nothing. The car had no heating/cooling problem either
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cargirl99
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The car has 98,000 miles on it - I know it's due for a timing belt at 105,000 so I was planning on doing that, but never thought of the water pump. I'll definitely have the mechanic check that out. Thanks
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RyanDL
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cargirl99 wrote:
The car has 98,000 miles on it - I know it's due for a timing belt at 105,000 so I was planning on doing that, but never thought of the water pump. I'll definitely have the mechanic check that out. Thanks
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Acura specs that the water pump be replaced with the timing belt. The higher tension of the new timing belt can cause the worn bearings on the old water pump to seize, so the water pump gets replaced at the same time as preventative maintenance.
Ryan
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Aerik
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Hi ToV, new 'tegra owner here.. Anyhow, I'll get to the point
I have a '99 Integra GS-R with the same or similar problem as described in this months old post, but the original poster never got back to the forum with the cause/solution.. I've managed to swap out the alternator/AC/PS belts, and the whistling is still present.. it only seems to happen under acceleration..
Was it the water pump? If not, has anyone else had this problem and/or have any ideas what could be causing it?
Any help would be appreciated:)
TIA
Aerik
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