Hi all, me back at it again scratching my head at every odd noise I hear with my car, 2010 RDX SH-AWD non-tech nearing 198,500km.

i bought this car nearly a year ago and I’ve put over 10k km on it since and it has had this whining noise that grows with rpm. Regardless of what gear I’m in. It’s rather quiet on the highway but that might just because everything else is noisy, and it’s silent at warm idle. You can hear it at a cold start idle (1500rpm)

ive attached a video of the sound. The car is warm and I rev it up to 2k rpm, then put it in drive to move forward a bit.

is this noise normal? I’ve heard the same noise on other passing RDXs and CRVs, maybe something on the accessory belt? But I’ve also read that this could be the notorious transmission whine.

i just need some reassurance that this is not much to worry about or some guidance on what to do.

 

Sounds like power steering pump whine and you need a valve lash adjustment.

 

the higher pitch whine? It doesn’t make any noise when the wheels are turned at idle. Although while at idle the steering is heavy and the rpm drops ~100rpm when I turn the wheel.
I don’t notice any steering issue while driving.

my old Subaru had a power steering whine that was NOT rpm dependant and had a much lower tone, unless a different part of the psp is failing here?

 

Do you know if your power steering fluid has been changed since at all since new? If it hasn't or you're not sure, I would do that first and drive it for a few miles. Mine started groaning right around 100k miles.

 

Not sure, I bought the car a year ago and the carfax had tons of maintenance records but nothing specific. The fluid looks brown and is currently sitting on the “Lower” line. I had an oil change at my local Honda 2ish months ago and they said nothing about it during the mpi.

im thinking of taking it to Honda to get flushed, I also need an ac recharge as I have a leak at the valve 😅

 

Flush shouldn't be too much - you also can do it in your driveway in 15 minutes as well. You just need something to syphon fluid (turkey baster is perfect) and some rubber tubing to catch the rest. Otherwise it will be quite a mess. That makes it a $15 job vs the 80-100 the dealer will probably charge.

I also had to recharge my a/c last year for the first time because one of the valves dried out and leaked. 12 Phoenix summers was enough, I guess.

 

ive always been one not to mess with fluids in the driveway 😅. I’ll suck it up and pay the labour fee.

im dropping it off tonight and Honda will do the ac and power steering work tomorrow morning while I’m at work and I’ll pick it up afterwards

 

Update: picked the car up this afternoon. The steering feels much much better and lighter AND the AC blows ice cold when desired.

although I unfortunately do hear the whine as it was prior to bringing it in, still stumped but I’m wondering if anyone else has/had this and knows?

 

might be alternator

 

When you took it in for the work did you ask what the whine may be?

 

I mentioned the power steering groan when cold and the ac not blowing cold. It completely slipped my mind when I dropped it off. Both of those concerns were attended to and corrected.

the last time I had an odd noise and I mentioned it, they wanted a $140/hr diagnosis charge which I declined and figured out myself (ended up being dirt in the front brake rotor/pad squealing). That extra cost also swayed me away from an extra diag and I hoped maybe it’d be this with the fluid flush.

I think I’m gonna take the serpentine belt off and run the car to see if it is anything on the accessory driveline when I get the time.

 

Ive had no charging issues at all whatsoever, and a recent charging system test shows everything is good in that area

 

Hi did you ever find out what the problem was, i have a 2012 acura rdx tech with 122KMS and have been dealing with that same exact whining noise especially when the weather gets warm. Revving makes the whine louder as well, i first flushed and replaced power steering fluid, still nothing then I replaced the whole power steering pump, still whines. Have been dealing with this for well over a year now, got the car 2 years ago. Let me know if anyone has found whats causing this whine!! It doesnt seem to cause my problem when driving and the whining isnt even annoying but just wanna know whats wrong with the car if anything