Hi all and sorry for the long explanation, just hoping to provide as much info as possible
​​​A few weeks ago my 2015 with 235000 kms started making a slight squeal from the passenger side of the engine while I was driving. After it started getting worse I decided to take a closer look, but I was only able to replicate this squeal while driving. Idling would not replicate the sound. A cursory inspection showed a quite cracked and worn serpentine belt.
I changed the belt a couple days ago, but the squeal did not go away. Rather, a sound very similar to the VTC actuator startup issue began as well. However, unlike all of the posts I have read about the VTC actuator grinding issue, the noise does not go away after start up. Rather, it seems to come and go regardless of how I drive or engine temperature, and exclusively at low RPMs.
The sound could be best described as a diesel engine. However, when I accelerate the noise goes away.
My thought is that the two sounds are unrelated and just coincidental, and I am hoping the squeal might just be a tension pulley issue, which I intend to verify this weekend.
But the grinding noise has me concerned. There are some excellent YouTube walkthroughs on changing out the VTC actuator, and I would prefer to do this myself. However, my question is, is it possible that this is in fact the issue given that the noise persists after warm up?

 

Given your mileage, anything is possible.

 

Could be bearing from the tensioner? Check all rotating devices that are spinning through with the serpentine belt. Take off the serpentine belt and start spinning them manually to see if there is any noise, if so then that is likely the candidate where the noise is coming from.

 

I think this is a reasonable place to start. I will do that today and get back you. Thanks for your time!

 

Well, looks like I was low on oil. Quite low in fact. This would certainly account for the noises I was hearing.
I started a new thread, hoping to get some feedback on how much damage I did to my fit in the last couple months.

 

If you frequent this board, one of the main things noted is the need to monitor oil levels and quality.
This engine isn't as reliable as older Honda engines, so the liklihood there's damage is highly probable.
Determining the amount of damage done to the engine by this point is anyone's guess.

I'd top it up, then monitor performance/sound for a while and check the oil at least weekly.

When was your last oil change(date and mileage)? Did you do it yourself ?
What grade was used?

 

I would change the oil and filter. Soon.
Why was your oil so low?

 

I did change the oil and filter immediately. It was black, but looked fairly normal. I believe it ran like that for a long time unfortunately as I never added the correct amount when I changed the oil last. (Pretty sure I never ran the engine after I initially checked the dipstick).
The engine is since running normal again, without noises or smoke. A look inside the oil filter showed a small amount of metal flecks, but I couldn't tell you how much is normal.

 

None is normal.

 

Not much else you can do beside just keep on running it and monitor the oil level more often. Hopefully you see no lost of oil. Else, just top it up regularly until you decide to resolve the issue.