Honda Car Forum

I drive a 2003 Acura RSX-S with about 50k miles on it, never been in an accident and for the most part its been kept up on service.I've noticed when my dad used to drive and when I drive it now that no matter what gear its in, as soon as it hits 2500rpms the engine emits this noise that drives me nuts. It sounds like a sander and/or cicada mixed together and its loud enough that I can hear it with the radio off (when the windows are up) and I can definitely hear it when the windows are down.As far as I can tell, it does not inhibit the performance of the RSX and there have not been any mechanical problems with this car at all.Any RSX owners experience anything similar?Anyone know what this problem is and how to fix it?

It sounds like a loose shield.

It may be the bearings within a pulley, more commonly the idler pulley or the belt tensioner pulley. They sell stethoscopes that you can use to easily and deniably diagnose where exactly the noise is coming from. I used a gravel siphon for my aquarium to isolate the same noise from my tensioner pulley on my 2004 Acura TL.