Frenetic

I noticed a very high-pitched whine that's subtle but still noticeable to me at freeway speeds and freeway speeds only. It seems to be coming from the engine compartment but I can't tell for sure.

The only way to describe it is a tea kettle.

It usually starts happening after I've been driving around 60+ mph for a bit (not immediately) and it is constant in pitch, whether I'm coasting or throttling up. In other words it sounds the same no matter speed or throttle once it starts. It's not AC related or radio related as far as I can tell.

As soon as I get off the freeway, it disappears around 30 MPH.

It's very intermittent, meaning sometimes I won't hear it while driving on the freeway and sometimes I will.

Everything runs great. Doesn't feel different or drive different in any way.

Any ideas? I'm sure the dealer will say I can't reproduce it, but it bothers me.

Thanks in advance.

rlerman

Could be prop shaft bearing, these have been known to have issues. What year car?

Frenetic

It's a 2006 and I heard the propellor shaft whine on a YouTube video here and it doesn't sound anything like it.

That sound changes in pitch depending on speed, mine doesn't once it starts. Mine isn't as loud either.

Could it be radiator fan? Doesn't sound like a belt either especially since the sound is constant regardless of speed or throttle once it starts.

oo7spy

Fan bearing is possible, but speed wouldn't really affect that.

teh CL

iTrader: (1)

Power steering pump?

jmzb1002

My car does it too. The dealership put my 07 RL on a lift last year. No whine from the propeller shaft or bearing. They replaced my rear diff and power steering pump and rack, thinking the whine came from there, all work under fidelity warranty. It still whines around 60mph. At 60mph, while the whine is present, if i press slightly on the shifter into neutral, the whine disappears. If I go 60mph and shift down to 4th, the whine goes away. So my car only whines in 5th gear at 60mph. I called a transmission shop and the tech said Hondas around our year of manufacturing, made a lot of bad 5 speed auto transmissions. He said he has replaced and rebuilt odysseys, accords, rls, mdxs that have this whine, and the whine will go away after a rebuild, but it will come back in 20k mi. He said something in 5th gear barely rubs, not to mechanical failure, but just enough to generate this noise. I know some of us had propeller shafts whine, some of us replaced propeller shafts and whine still exists or came back. After speaking with transmission specialist about my whine, I'm convinced it's the trans final drive only at a certain speed. Google mdx, Ridgeline, or odyssey whine. It's everywhere.

I've gotten used to it, car drives straight strong and smooth, I can only hear it at 60mph with radio off, so I just keep the radio on. It doesn't seem to be getting louder and I doubt the transmission will fail.

SHUJeff281

Sounds like prop shaft to me. When mine went bad it would make the noise on cold mornings at low speed (15-30mph) and light throttle. Once the day warmed up it would make the noise only at highway speeds. The noise in it made in the morning at low speeds was much much louder than the highway speed noise.

Frenetic

Thanks.

This "sounds" exactly like my issue, although I haven't tried doing the manual gear shifts, but I'm going to.

Makes sense with the freeway speeds and gear correlation. I need to pay attention to shifts when I slow down and get off the freeway as it always stops when I slow down and would presume that's when it automatically downshifts out of fifth gear, although I never paid attention. I will now.

Strange I haven't seen something like this here in this forum. While I'm not saying misery loves company, I'm glad I wasn't going nuts thinking I'm hearing things and no one else reported what I was hearing.

While I would be lying through my teeth if I said I knew exactly how that transmission works, it almost sounds like something is spinning really fast causing a harmonic resonance. Or it sounds like air being forced out at high pressure.

Just curious, but was your sound was consistent in level and pitch regardless of throttle once it started and you stayed in fifth gear?

jmzb1002

Just curious, but was your sound was consistent in level and pitch regardless of throttle once it started and you stayed in fifth gear?[/QUOTE]

Sound was constant in pitch/level, if i let off the gas and coast it lessens, then when I press gas to resume speed, sound comes back.

There are a lot of posts on this whine. Just search. Some whines came from shaft, some came from power steering rack or pump, and some like mine are from trans. And some don't even have it, or hear it. With mine you can hear it, but I'd the radio is on you won't hear it.

Frenetic

Google is a blessing and a curse.

Nothing is worse than googling an otherwise benign medical symptom only to see google results that says you have terminal cancer and six months to live, when in reality it's just a mosquito bite.

I searched around more and found a lot of stuff in Honda's manual transmission and fifth gear whines and how it relates to an inner bearing.

I'm just wondering if our auto transmission would exhibit the same thing and if so, that's what's causing the whine?

Also, while what I saw was pretty dramatic, no one mentioned what would happen if they let it persist.

oo7spy

If it's a fifth gear issue, I bet it's the torque converter. That is the weak link in the RL transmission. The mechanic who said that Honda made a bunch of bad 5 speed autos doesn't fully understand what he's talking about. Honda outsourced the 5AT design that went into the cars out of Marysville, OH. CLs, TLs, Accords, and Odysseys were affected, but the Saitama plant never was.

Search for torque converter issues here. They aren't all that common, but there have been more of those with issues than transmissions with them. That said, there have been about 3 RL transmissions here replaced, and I think most had to do with a whine.

If you do replace, don't buy new. Buy re-manufactured.

Frenetic

Yeah I'm not going to replace it.

It might be time to just walk away and get a new car. I won't be getting a Honda product again. I'm getting a Lexus if I decide this route.

I really don't want another car payment, but man I sunk a lot of money into this the past few years.

Granted, it runs great, brand new like other than the aforementioned, but I'm leery of what else will break. It only has 108k miles on it.

I'm curious how long I can continue to drive it? Think I risk a total failure?

rlerman

Your rl should run to 200k miles with basic maintenance, easy.

merlin the wrench

I noticed in the dealer prep paperwork the other day that there are 4 oval plugs under the car in the cowlings that have to be installed by the dealer after shipping. The specific complaint the dealer will get if there are not installed is noise or a whistle that is very hard to diagnosis. One is on each quadrant of the car underneath and they have something to do with shipping the car as I recall. Google "RL 2005 TQI". The document is named "04-028 2005 RL" and this page won't let me link it.

oo7spy

How hard is it to live with? If it is just a whistle, you may never experience a failure.

Frenetic

Thanks. I'll check that out regarding the shipping plugs.

Honestly, I can live with the whistle. Like jmbz mentioned, radio up and indeed, blast the radio loud enough and I forget it's there.

However, I have no idea if by ignoring it--assuming it is the transmission--that it will fail catastrophically. That's what concerns me and all of stuff I found online was rather light on people just living with it and/or not doing something.

In any case, I'm really in no position to buy a new car now. Would prefer to wait until next year sometime to save up some more.

oo7spy

Old cars make noise. The way you first described it, independent of throttle or speed, tells me that it isn't the drive train. The driveshaft, wheels, hubs, and axels spin at the car's speed. The fly wheel, transmission, and belt driven accessories spin at the engine's speed. The fan motors are electric (I'm pretty sure), and spin at constant speed. If it is a bearing issue, you should be able to narrow it down based on that.

If it's the torque converter, I can't recall a catastrophic failure. In fact, I wasn't even aware it was a "common" issue until another member pointed it out.

Frenetic

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's the transmission at this point, although I'm just going to ignore it.

The amount of money for new tranny is ludicrous vs what this car is worth. I can only hope it doesn't get worse or affect shifting etc.

Thanks again for the help. I'll let everyone know if it gets worse or I'm able to verify, with a degree of certainty, what exactly it is.

beekermartin

I figured I would chime in.

I have a similar noise but mine is between 40-45mph and over 60 mph on the highway. It is at those speeds and when I am lightly on the throttle. So if I am driving on a 40 mph road and averaging between 40-45 mph and barely on the gas I can hear it. If I let off the gas it stops. The same on the highway above 60 mph. I thought it might be the propeller shaft but I drove it on a lift and the shaft was quiet. The noise is coming from the transmission. It is a very slight whine that sounds like gear tooth noise to me. I had the exact same noise in my 2008 Honda Ridgeline. It is not very annoying and easily blocked out by the radio. I have change my transmission fluid every oil change since I got the car with 106k on it it. It now has over 133k and the noise has not changed. It is still there but it has not gotten any worse.

It basically sounds like a whistle noise. Or like a manual transmission in reverse but no where near as loud. Try to see if the noise you have goes away when you let off the gas then comes back when you apply very light throttle.