Hello,

I had a maintenance question that has me totally confused. I have 2009 Honda Fit Sport with 119,000 miles. A few days ago, the car developed a low rumbling noise when idling or accelerating. This sound became progressively worse, so I decided to take it in for diagnosis and repair. I was initially diagnosed with a bad drive belt and tensioner and had that replaced--but the sound persisted. The technician believed that the noise was due to the AC Compressor--he said the pulley has side-to-side play and is causing the noise. The recommendation was for AC compressor replacement... to the tune of about $1500.

I declined this additional repair, I figured I could get the compressor replaced later. I drove the car to my next destination, the rumbling sound now seeming to be worse and with occasional burning plastic smell. I made it to where I needed to go, but now my car does not start. It seems like the belt wants to turn, but ends up obstructed. Could it be that the AC compressor is somehow stopping the car engine from turning? Was my initial and secondary diagnosis completely off base?

Forgive me, I am very much a novice about cars. I intend to send in the car to a professional mechanic, but I'm hoping someone can give me some insight as to what has happened.

 

The A/C pulley/ clutch has its own bearing - you were probably hearing bearing noise from it failing. The bearing could fail causing the pulley to completely seize. Or an A/C compressor failure and the a/c clutch locking as well. Pull the belt off and feel the pulleys, it should be obvious then. Or try starting the car with the belt off.

Think about it, all the accessories spin via the belt. If one of them doesn't spin at all, your little starter motor is going to have a hard time getting the car started.

 

^ Ryan is right, you need to take the belt off first and see if that’s where the noise is coming from. If it is intact the compressor clutch you can get a smaller belt to bypass it for now if you don’t want to do the repairs just yet there is a few threads on here about it. I don’t believe anyone is actually sure what the correct belt size is it seems like it was mostly trial and error for them all. Here are the links.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...belt-no-c.html

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...lt-needed.html