So I started my civic last night (was about 25 degrees outside and hadn't driven car in about 48 hours) and there was an unwelcome noise. I am typically very meticulous and take good notice of noises and such. I recently changed the oil pan, cleaned out the iac valve, replaced the radiator hoses and mostly flushed the cooling system.
The noise, pretty loud and more or less like a low-pitched whine, was coming from the pulley side of the engine. My first guess was the alternator or ac compressor bearings. I turned on the ac to see if the noise changed at all but it did not. As the engine warmed up the sound slowly got quieter.
Any good ideas? Are one of the belt driven components of civics more prone to fail than others?
Thanks for your feedback.

 

cold weather noise? more like gentle breeze noise. lol I started up my teg (and previous civic) in -30 to -45 weather and it always made a whiny noise til it warmed up. I was told by my acura dealer that it's the alternator, and it's nothing to get worried about.

 

well cold start noises are very often!!!!!! the oil is cold so is the coolant and all the bearings are cold and nothing wants to spin or flow smoothly. even the belts are cold and nothing so cold can flex and grab the pulleys very good until they do warm up alittle.

my truck will knock and ping on cold start up with this low temp.... like around freezing temps it sucks! but just remember DO NOT DRIVE YOUR CAR UNTIL IT STOPS MAKING NOISES and warms up a bit! at least IMO you shouldnt... the higher reving/spinning isnt good at all for anything!
only takes a few minutes at least for me in my area for it to warm up enough for all the ticks and such to go away.

 

yeah, "cold" has a slightly different definition since we moved from maryland to texas...
thanks for your input...

 

Check whether the drive belts are loose or glazed. You might just want to replace them.

 

also when was the last time you had the timing belt changed? that usually means that your other drive belts are also changed along with it.