2003 Accord. Whirring noise and oil light

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Ok, so my daughter has a 2003 Accord with the 2.4L VTEC 4 cyl engine.
A few months ago her oil Pressure Switch went bad and I replaced it. The old one was causing the oil lamp to stay on. The replacement switch took care of that.
BUT....now the lamp is back on as of last night, and there is a strange whirring sound coming from the drive belt area. I cannot tell exactly where it's from. Back in February I replaced the alternator. So I'm hoping it's not that...again. As a side note, I believe this whirring sound began a couple months ago, now it's more pronounced.
Here's the scenario:
Start car, oil light goes off and comes back on again almost immediately.
The whirring sound increases in speed along with RPM speed.
These two issues may be completely unrelated.
The $12 oil Pressure Switch from Orielly May have just gone bad.
I may have to remove the serpentine belt and run it to rule out pulley noises.
Also the valve train is not clattering at all.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks everyone!
 
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Put a mechanical gauge on it to check the oil pressure. I would not run the engine until you verify it has oil pressure. The whirring noise could be from excessive noise from the timing chain due to lack of oil pressure
 
Whirring in the cold. Rule out the power steering pump. The orings go bad and they suck air and make quite the racket. You can check to see if that is it by looking in the PS reservoir while the noise is going on, it will be full of bubbles.
 
Yes. The oil pump runs off a second chain off the crankshaft.

As you said previously take the drive belt off to see if the noise is still there. It will give you a better idea which direction to go (with the noise at least)
 
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Originally Posted by mattd
Put a mechanical gauge on it to check the oil pressure. I would not run the engine until you verify it has oil pressure.


+1 Exactly.
 
What is the battery voltage under high electric load? A/C blower fan on max, bright lights on & rear defroster. Should hold steady at 14.1V when measured with a volt meter. Beyond that you can take the alternator to the parts store and have them bench test it.
 
OK, so I've narrowed down the Whirring sound to the alternator. It has a lifetime warranty. I already have that getting swapped on Monday.
I took it for a drive this morning. When cold, the oil light is off. Once warmed up it comes on and stays on. I'm having the pressure test done on Monday as well. And the oil level is full.
Any more ideas?
 
Don't drive it until you have the oil pressure checked. If it's has sufficient oil pressure try changing the switch, again. If the new switch doesn't fix it , you may have some blockages in the passage(s) that feed oil to the switch (depending on where the mechanical gauge is installed, you may have a good reading in one spot but not another due to passage restrictions).
 
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Looks like you got a double whammy of aftermarket parts. Why not just try another $12 pressure switch? If that's the cause then warranty the first replacement and keep it as a spare.

The other way to look at it: if there is a major engine problem, it's not worth repairing on a 2003. Used engines are plentiful for this type.
 
I'm thinking it's the switch. My thinking is that when the cyl head is cold everything is nice and tight. As it warms up the head expands and it leaks oil around that switch. After a thorough drive today I put a big piece of clean cardboard under the car. Sure enough there was oil drops in exact alignment with where the pressure switch is on the back of the cyl head. It's a pain to get to, so I'll wait till I can get it on the lift at work Monday.
 
Originally Posted by WagonWheel
What is the battery voltage under high electric load? A/C blower fan on max, bright lights on & rear defroster. Should hold steady at 14.1V when measured with a volt meter. Beyond that you can take the alternator to the parts store and have them bench test it.


I did the old school test with a pry bar to my ear on the alternator. It's grinding away and you can see where it's caked with bearing grease by the pulley.
 
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I put a AutoZone Duralast Gold (new) alternator when mine went out on the ‘03 Accord. When I hit it with a high load or the AC compressor kicks in, the idle briefly drops to 500 rpm before normal idle returns. This causes some brief vibration. Output voltage is correct once it recovers. I regret not putting in a DENSO reman.

Good luck!
 
Originally Posted by WagonWheel
I put a AutoZone Duralast Gold (new) alternator when mine went out on the ‘03 Accord. When I hit it with a high load or the AC compressor kicks in, the idle briefly drops to 500 rpm before normal idle returns. This causes some brief vibration. Output voltage is correct once it recovers. I regret not putting in a DENSO reman.

Good luck!


Funny you say that. I have the same thing happen with this O'reillys alternator. Once the AC is on, the idle drops and recovers, drops again and recovers again. And so on...
Not sure if that's alternator related or not.
 
You didn't say how many miles are on your Accord. These engines, while very reliable as a rule, can have issues if basic maintenance is neglected. The VTEC system has two very fine "mesh" screens that tend to sludge up if the oil changes are neglected. One is located on the front of the engine ... you'll have to remove the PS pump as well as the serpentine belt tensioner, as I recall, to get to it. Only 2 10mm head bolts hold it on .... it can be cleaned .... but I think best to just replace it once apart... as the screen also has the rubber gasket built into it.
The other screen is located on the back of the engine, very close to where you were at to replace the oil pressure switch. It will have two electrical connections, and is held on by 3 bolts.... this is an actual VTEC switch ... and the small, fine mesh screen will be visible once you remove that.
Also ... it these engines have been ran low on oil for a significant amount of time, the timing chain tends to stretch and set Check Engine Light codes.
I suspect the oil pressure test you are having performed will give you a good direction as what to look for. Just wanted to mention those VTEC screens, if you were not aware of that.
 
Originally Posted by bustednutz

Funny you say that. I have the same thing happen with this O'reillys alternator. Once the AC is on, the idle drops and recovers, drops again and recovers again. And so on...
Not sure if that's alternator related or not.


Yea, it does the "idle oscillating" RPM dance just as you describe until returning to stable idle after a few seconds. This happened as soon as I installed the new alternator. I suspect a bad ELD (electric load detector) but just a guess. Half tempted to get a salvage alternator since it's so annoying.

I had the VTEC solenoid go out on mine as well. Filter Screen was clean as new. Not surprised since I'm original owner and have had all oil changes done on schedule. It drinks oil to the tune of 1qt / 1200mi but that's par for the course for this model year.
 
Originally Posted by Market525
You didn't say how many miles are on your Accord. These engines, while very reliable as a rule, can have issues if basic maintenance is neglected. The VTEC system has two very fine "mesh" screens that tend to sludge up if the oil changes are neglected. One is located on the front of the engine ... you'll have to remove the PS pump as well as the serpentine belt tensioner, as I recall, to get to it. Only 2 10mm head bolts hold it on .... it can be cleaned .... but I think best to just replace it once apart... as the screen also has the rubber gasket built into it.
The other screen is located on the back of the engine, very close to where you were at to replace the oil pressure switch. It will have two electrical connections, and is held on by 3 bolts.... this is an actual VTEC switch ... and the small, fine mesh screen will be visible once you remove that.
Also ... it these engines have been ran low on oil for a significant amount of time, the timing chain tends to stretch and set Check Engine Light codes.
I suspect the oil pressure test you are having performed will give you a good direction as what to look for. Just wanted to mention those VTEC screens, if you were not aware of that.

Originally Posted by Market525
You didn't say how many miles are on your Accord. These engines, while very reliable as a rule, can have issues if basic maintenance is neglected. The VTEC system has two very fine "mesh" screens that tend to sludge up if the oil changes are neglected. One is located on the front of the engine ... you'll have to remove the PS pump as well as the serpentine belt tensioner, as I recall, to get to it. Only 2 10mm head bolts hold it on .... it can be cleaned .... but I think best to just replace it once apart... as the screen also has the rubber gasket built into it.
The other screen is located on the back of the engine, very close to where you were at to replace the oil pressure switch. It will have two electrical connections, and is held on by 3 bolts.... this is an actual VTEC switch ... and the small, fine mesh screen will be visible once you remove that.
Also ... it these engines have been ran low on oil for a significant amount of time, the timing chain tends to stretch and set Check Engine Light codes.
I suspect the oil pressure test you are having performed will give you a good direction as what to look for. Just wanted to mention those VTEC screens, if you were not aware of that.


Engine has approx 185k miles on it. Purrs like a kitten. We got it at 150k miles. Her first car. We replaced the VTEC screens at the same time we did the pressure switch. Oil is changed on time. I've gone through the car pretty good. Tires, rotors, brakes, serpentine belt, new alternator and battery. She blasts through a lot of miles with school and her job.
 
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