well the noise is definetly coming from the engine area. think ive tracked it down to one of the bearings for the belt pulleys

changed the belt, it was due anyway. didnt fix it.
new idler pulley/bearing is coming in on Wednesday so ill give that a shot.

would it be ok if i ran the engine for a few seconds without the belt?
or is that a bad idea?

as it would help me isolate the noise if I can run the motor without the belt pulleys running..

 

We will be waiting!

 

Definitely run the engine without the belt on (no more than a minute or so, as you will have no water pump action)

 

Ok so pulled the tensioner pulley off, it has play in the bearing so its most likely the culprit...

but...
being an idiot. did not realize my torque wrench only clicks one way.
so when torquing up the Pulley bolt (left had thread). I sheared it

No replacements in Australia. 2 week minimum wait from japan...

looks like ill be taking the bus for a while.

 

ok so I got it all back together today.
with the new tensioner pulley / and accessory belt. its still making the whining noise...
think its time to give up and send it to honda service.

 

I have no idea. Similar sound in my 07 Accord DD... It hasn't seemed to change anything except make the S/C whine. I'm not sure if there will be any long term problems but the car just hit 170,000kms, so I'm guessing it's okay.

 

Did you run it with the belt off?
Also, with the car in first gear, clutch in, not moving, does it make the noise?
You can find this noise very easily by answering this

 

yes ran it with the belt off, it seemed to go away. i'm assuming its one of the other pulley bearings.

it makes the noise regardless of gear, neutral, clutch in, clutch out.

 

I was hoping you were still looking into this! I did a bit of research and a mate told me that the idle/idler pulley might be the noisy one? I just ordered my one, I'll let you know if it's the fix..

Is there a way to treat the pulleys? Silicon spray or something?

 

well its not the tensioner pulley. it was worn and a bit sloppy, so needed replacing but unfortunately wasnt the source of my noise.