Inoticed a squeak coming from under the hood of my 2000 Civic DX. I lifted the hood and easilylocated it. I greased the bearing on the pulley (power steering pulley)and the squeak went away for a couple of days, but it always returns. I can only hear the squeak at idle, but i think that it is always there, it is just so subtle that when the engine revs it is drowned out bythe normal motor noise, but at idle, and especially in neutral it is fairly noisy. I have messed with the belts, tightening them and loosening them but the noise remains. Is it possible to over tighten the belts? Anyways, I have just finished tightening them back up pretty much as tight as I can get them without any help. I have included a picture with an arrow pointing to where I grease it, and as soon as a little hits it, the noise immediately goes away. I think it is the bearings, but I'm not really sure. I really don't know very much about this sort of thing. If it is the bearings, is my only option to replace them? If I continue to grease it will it hurt anything? Thanks for the help. Oh, also I had the timing belt and water pump changed along with all of the belts about 9k miles ago, the car has 101k.

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You have to click on it to see the arrow, sorry.

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That part is not a bearing and it should not squeak nor require grease. It is just a nut that holds the pulley onto the pump shaft. The nut should be tight, so the pulley, nut, and pump shaft turn as a unit. If it's not tight there will be quite a bit of wobbling which is likely to ruin the surfaces of the pulley and shaft, then you need a new pulley and power steering pump. The only bearings involved there are inside the pump and lubricated by the fluid. If they go bad, must replace the whole pump.

Take the belt off and see if the pump turns smoothly and quietly with no wobbling or side play. Yes you can make the belt too tight.

 

Could the nut be loose causing the nut and pully to slip making the squeaking noise?

 

Yes that is what I was thinking. Tightening the nut may not help any if the shaft and hole in the pulley are torn up though.

 

That makes sense, I'll give it a try. Thanks for your help

 

It seems to have worked, thanks!