Two quick questions - serpentine belt and rear end
 

Hello All:

I've only had my '05 EXL for 4 months now (pre-owned vehicle) and it now has 102,000 miles on it and the Mnt Req light is coming on at start up. Is this because the serpentine belt has to be changed every 100,000 miles like the Civic's?

Also, thank God there's a good stereo in this car as I find the rear end a LOT louder then my 04 Civic, kind of a constant whirring sound (like snow tires (with no studs) on the road. I looked at the exhaust and that looks fine. Is it just the gears that are louder in this vehicle then what I'm used to? I have to turn the stereo loud to drowned out the sound - this is the dyslexic mechanics method of fixing all issues. :)

Thanks for any responses,
Darryl

"Maint.Req." lamp comes on for oil-changes & routine maintenance schedules. It's just based on miles. Maybe every 10k miles or something like that. Reset it like this:
- key OFF
- press & hold the odometer reset button
- continue holding the reset button while you turn the key ON
- - (no need to actually start the engine)
- continue holding the reset button for awhile longer
- eventually that lamp will flash a few times then stay off

Later Accords (maybe starting 2006?) have a "maintenance-minder" system that's more sophisticated. It keeps track of how many times you start the engine, temperatures, revolutions, throttle position, all kinds of stuff in addition to simple miles. This one has a warning lamp shaped like a cute little wrench. More important it has a different method of resetting. Is yours like that?

V-6 engine? You're gonna need a new TIMING belt. The external "serpentine" belt probably gets changed more often than 100k miles. (4-cyl engine has a timing chain so don't worry about that)

Rear-end noise that sounds like gears or tires - that might be rear wheel bearings. The sound might change when you steer around curves, but not always. It probably should not be louder than your Civic.

Thanks Jim
 

It's a 2.4 so must be a timing chain. I'll give the reset a hook. I wonder if the noise might be the tires, could also be all the snow and other road debris trapped in the tires this time of year.
Thanks again