Honda Car Forum

There's a discussion about it taking place here,
http://www.honda-pilot.org/forums/sh...&threadid=5570
If you scroll down a little bit, you'll see a link to the PDF file of
the notice. If you want to go directly to the PDF file, here's the
link,
http://ww2.mk3.us:8870/steve/recall.pdf

What caught my eyes about this though was the last sentence in the
first paragraph. The paragraph states,
"Product Update: The timing belt tensioner is filled with oil to
dampen oscillation. Due to a manufacturing problem, the tensioner oil
can leak. If enough oil is lost, the timing belt loosens and cause
engine noise."

Anyone know what kind of noise this can be? What the noise might
sound like?

My Pilot does not fall within the VIN range, but what's ironic is that
I was hoping that it would to see if my ever present and incessant
pinging/tapping/occassional crackling noise I get with my Pilot
between 2K-4K RPM would be fixed properly.

If the oil is indeed leaking, is there anyway to check for the leak?
Thanks.

Steve Lee <hate@spam.com> wrote in message
news:5fe6nv0flcfch96asktkj1cu0qo7k186l7@4ax.com...
> There's a discussion about it taking place here,
> http://www.honda-pilot.org/forums/sh...&threadid=5570
> If you scroll down a little bit, you'll see a link to the PDF file of
> the notice. If you want to go directly to the PDF file, here's the
> link,
> http://ww2.mk3.us:8870/steve/recall.pdf
>
> What caught my eyes about this though was the last sentence in the
> first paragraph. The paragraph states,
> "Product Update: The timing belt tensioner is filled with oil to
> dampen oscillation. Due to a manufacturing problem, the tensioner oil
> can leak. If enough oil is lost, the timing belt loosens and cause
> engine noise."
>
> Anyone know what kind of noise this can be? What the noise might
> sound like?
>
> My Pilot does not fall within the VIN range, but what's ironic is that
> I was hoping that it would to see if my ever present and incessant
> pinging/tapping/occassional crackling noise I get with my Pilot
> between 2K-4K RPM would be fixed properly.
>
> If the oil is indeed leaking, is there anyway to check for the leak?
> Thanks.

This TB auto-tensioner failure seems to be just like the Service Bulletin
for the 98-01 Preludes. I know, I just had to have my tensioner replaced.
Even though it was way to early to replace the TB, balancer belt, and
waterpump (58k miles vs normal 105k miles), it only made sense to do it
while they were at that same disassembly point. The bast**ds (dealer and
zone rep) wouldn't cut me any price slack since mine was "out of warranty."

The bulletin for the Preludes calls it a "flapping" sound. Mine sounded
like a very noticeable and loud rattle, most noticeable as the rpms were
dropping through 1000rpm to idle when slowing or stopping. Also happened at
other rpms too.

The autotensioner has about an ounce or less of oil. It might be possible
to take off the cylinder head cover or part of the TB cover and spot some
oil, but not likely.

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 19:51:51 -0400, "J." <J@nobody.com> wrote:

>Steve Lee <hate@spam.com> wrote in message
>news:5fe6nv0flcfch96asktkj1cu0qo7k186l7@4ax.com.. .
[snip]
>> Anyone know what kind of noise this can be? What the noise might
>> sound like?
>>
>> My Pilot does not fall within the VIN range, but what's ironic is that
>> I was hoping that it would to see if my ever present and incessant
>> pinging/tapping/occassional crackling noise I get with my Pilot
>> between 2K-4K RPM would be fixed properly.
>>
>> If the oil is indeed leaking, is there anyway to check for the leak?
>> Thanks.
>
>This TB auto-tensioner failure seems to be just like the Service Bulletin
>for the 98-01 Preludes. I know, I just had to have my tensioner replaced.
>Even though it was way to early to replace the TB, balancer belt, and
>waterpump (58k miles vs normal 105k miles), it only made sense to do it
>while they were at that same disassembly point. The bast**ds (dealer and
>zone rep) wouldn't cut me any price slack since mine was "out of warranty."
>
>The bulletin for the Preludes calls it a "flapping" sound. Mine sounded
>like a very noticeable and loud rattle, most noticeable as the rpms were
>dropping through 1000rpm to idle when slowing or stopping. Also happened at
>other rpms too.
>
>The autotensioner has about an ounce or less of oil. It might be possible
>to take off the cylinder head cover or part of the TB cover and spot some
>oil, but not likely.

Thanks for your reply, J. I just hope that if there indeed is
something wrong with my timing belt tensioner or water pump mechanism,
it'll go dead on me before the warranty is up. grrrr....