1999 honda civic catalytic converter

Asked by Silverado79 Feb 28, 2014 at 04:33 AM about the Honda Civic

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

there selling me a 1999 Honda civic for 800. It has 155000 mile but the seller says all it needs is a catalytic converter. I took it for a test drive and the motor and tranny feel good . the only noise I heard were by the belts its sounds like theres  a chain loose.

1 Answer

199,865

Use caution that Could be a timing belt issue. Might want to use a hard vacuum cleaner hose or PVC pipe to try and narrow down where the sound is coming from. With engine idling hold one end of pipe to ear and carefully position the other end in and around the pulleys and belt. When the sound sounds its loudest you are close to the issue. Could just be an idler pulley issue but could also be a timing belt idler/tensioner pulley issue. If the sound sounds like it coming from behind the plastic guards it's more than likely a timing belt/timing pulley issue. Ask them when the timing belt was replaced. It should have been done around 100000 miles. If it has not been done I would definitely have it changed if you buy the car. For $800 I would probably not be afraid to buy it just as long as I knew when timing belt was changed or planned on changing it myself.

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