2008 Civic clicking noise?

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I have a 2008 Honda Civic EX and have a clicking noise coming from the serpentine belt area. It primarily makes the noise when there is a load on the serpentine belt. Turning the a/c on, rear defrost and even the headlights will trigger the noise. It will do this when the engine is cold or hot. But will only do it in drive or reverse with the foot on the brake, not in neutral or park.

Here is a video I found of the exact same sound.
https://youtu.be/dOPmlX9XuIg

Any ideas? I tried replacing the idler pulley but the sound is still there, although seems a little better?

Could the hydraulic tensioner be bad?

Thanks!
 
Try pulling the belt off and running the engine briefly to be sure it is a belt driven accessory. Next with the engine off spin the pulleys and see if you can duplicate the clicking noise or if any of them have an abnormal amount of resistance.
 
Something invaluable to find the source is a mechanic's stethoscope.

They're really cheap and usually come with a long extension so you can pinpoint specific areas deep where your hand can't reach. Very useful for detecting bad bearings and such, I use them all the time to find bad idler pulleys before I make the decision to pull them, especially on cars with cramped engine bays so bad I need to disassemble a bunch of stuff just to pull the belt.

If you can't buy one a long screwdriver (particularly one with a fat, poly+rubber grip) shoved into the mouth of a windshield washer jug cut in half will work the same. The difference is the stethoscope pipes the sound directly into your ears like headphones, while this setup is like playing it on a speaker and everyone around you can hear.

You already replaced the idler, if the click is that prominent and loud that you can easily hear by ear, either the jug or mechanic's stethoscope should help you find the source of the noise.

I have the same generation Civic and I can't think of many things in the path of that belt that would do that. It's probably the tensioner or something in the compressor. You really have to try the stethoscope to find out.
 
Originally Posted By: 2010Civic
But will only do it in drive or reverse with the foot on the brake, not in neutral or park.


That tells me the engine might be moving over too far causing contact with something. Motor mounts.
 
I would guess it's the belt tensioner. My 2008 CR-V did the exact same thing after I replaced the belt. It would have a slight click or rattle under load. Turining on the AC or putting the trans in gear would do it. I had to change the entire tensioner, not just the pulley.

Keep in mind, my CR-V is a spring loaded tensioner, not a hydrolic one. I could see the tensioner moving when I got my wife to put the car in gear.
 
Yeah, it seems to me like it has to be the tensioner. And I don't think it is the a/c compressor because it will make the noise when the a/c is on or off.

I did swap alternators from my 2010 Civic to the 2008 and that didn't fix it.

I just ordered a Gates serpentine kit from rockauto. It comes with a new belt, tensioner pulley, the bracket and the tensioner itself. When that comes in I will replace the belt and tensioner and see what that does.

Can the hydraulic tensioner get damaged from not having the belt on it for a long period of time? I bought this 2008 with a blown engine and replaced it with a 2011 engine from the salvage yard. The engine was stored there for about a year and did not have a serpentine belt on it. Therefore there wasn't any back pressure on the tensioner.


Also, I compared this car to my 2010 with half the miles on it (52k vs 101k on the 2008) and the 2008's belt is a little bit longer/stretched out. But you wouldn't expect that to cause this problem.
 
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Good choice with going with a serpentine belt, tensioner pulley & the tensioner itself with bracket. My Acura in signature just started making the same noises under the same conditions around the 100 thousand mile point exactly? It does not do it all the time but when it does -- sometimes it quiets down with no noises in less than a minute and other times it will clear up in a mile. Does not do it when the motor is warm though? When is the last time you changed out your powersteering fluid with Honda Fluid? My Acura in signature just rolled over 101,000 miles two weeks ago. When I get the extra funds -- it will be getting the timing belt replacement kit & all the goodies that come with it. Good luck & keep us posted please.
 
The parts should be arriving tomorrow. I will probably put them in this weekend. I sure hope it fixes it!
 
Well I put the new tensioner and serpentine belt in yesterday. So far so good! Hasn't made any noises so far.

The new belt was probably about a 1/2" shorter than the old belt. Looking at the grooves they were definitely worn. That Gates belt feels very nice. The old belt felt dried out.

I should know in the next few days if the sound is for sure gone.
 
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