Will do. I'm taking it there tomorrow during lunch. I figure the highway will be free in both directions so will be able to go around 70mph, speed at which whistle is most audible. I'm going for a ride with the service rep who seems to be a nice guy. At least he seems to want to get to the bottom of this.

I'm not holding my breath that the problem will be resolved, but I just want to put it out of my mind and not keep thinking that maybe I should go back about it. I'll try once again and if it can't be fixed I give up.

 

Took it in again and went for a drive with the service rep. He verified the whistle and said it's definitely not normal. Hopefully he'll try his best to get this thing resolved and we might learn what the hell is causing the whistle. Should hear something back early next week.

 

Good luck! Keep us posted

 

Heard back from the service rep today. Aparently he's verified the whistle again, this time with the district manager from Acura who was visiting them. They've made enquiries with American Honda and were told that it's the "normal" sound of the transmission on the TSX. Honda has told them that they are authorised to replace the tranny, but:

1. no guarantee that whistle won't come back on replacement tranny, in fact they believe it probably will after 3-5k miles.
2. If the replacement has whistle, that's it. No more replacements.

Furthermore the service rep told me that the replacement trannies are never 100% new. That is at least some parts are "remanufactured".

So I have a dilemma. On the one hand I could end up with something even worse, although out of the 3 TSXs that I've driven extensively that had the whistle, in mine it's the loudest. Plus if I don't get them to replace it, I'll keep driving annoyed and wondering if I should have replaced it.

The "remanufactured" business kind of bothers me, and I'm concerned about ending up with a noisier tranny, but I'm leaning toward taking the gamble and going for the replacement.

What thoughts?

 

Oh shit.

So it's the transmission? That does not make sense to me because, I can hear the whistle/whirring sound even when I depress the accelerator without causing the car to accelerate. Further, if it's related to gear engagement, then it should be constantly audible in a 5AT.

Jims, that is not the news I wanted to hear.

If I were you, I would not let them replace the tranny with a "refurbished" piece of crap, which we all know WILL break down.

Walk away, drive the crap our of the TSX and look to another manufacturer when you get another vehicle. That is my plan.

 

I'd love to take a drive in one of your cars to hear this whine. It must be horrible if you're considering letting them replace your transmission with a rebuilt unit. If it's really that bad, sell the car now.

 

It's more annoying than horrible; not worth losing money over.

But if Jims has heard it in every TSX he has driven, I would say it is very likely your TSX has it too. You just haven't found it yet. :2 pesos:

 

No point driving a car you don't like. There are plenty of other rides out there.

I'd never let someone take a working transmission out of my car and replace it with a refurbished unit just to possibly fix a whirring noise. Just sell the car to someone with hearing as bad as mine and move on to something else.

If I had to guess, I'd put my money on the torque converter.

 

Just curious, exactly what troubleshooting method did they use to determine it's the transmission? I would get a second opinion from another dealer. If you wouldn't accept one doctor's opinion to have an open heart surgery. You shouldn't either with the transmission of your car.

For some reason I get the feeling the dealer is trying to avoid the lemon law if they couldn't figure out the problem. Offering a refurb tranny is an easy way out, especially if they stated that no other replacement would be provided if the problem is not corrected.

 

Thanks for all your replies guys. Just after I made my last post the service rep called me again. Well guess what...the story has changed. He told me he 'misunderstood' the district manager. Aparently they would replace the transmission if there was an identified defect with it. However, they claim Honda has told them this is a normal sound for the vehicle, so not a defect, therefore no replacement can be authorised.

I don't know how they identified it's the transmission, suffice it to say it seems Honda is very familiar with this tranny whistle and stands by the claim that it's a normal sound. I would call it a design flaw.

The two loaners that I drove made the same sound, although very quiet and at around 40mph. If mine was at that speed and as quiet I would never have brought it up. I only asked them to look at it because mine whistles within the speed interval at which 95% of my driving is done.

At this stage, short of taking on Honda US over a problem that is quite difficult to get much sympathy for, I don't have any options. I give up. Selling the car does seem like the right thing to do as a matter of principle, but is it worth the money I will lose? I just bought the thing less than 6 months ago, so I figure tax and all, I'll be looking at a minimum of 5 grand flushed down the toilet. Even if I could get 25k for it, not to have to lay out extra dough on another car I'd be looking at something around 23k to fit the tax in.

What can I get for 23k that will have the same sort of fueatures without having 50k miles on the odometer?

At the very least, I don't think I want to take the fight to Honda. Just no time and no desire for any more aggrevation. I'll just have to get some fresh music and turn up the volume...

 

can anyone verify this is a problem with just the 5AT? i normally have the radio on all the time, so haven't paid much attention.

i'll try and listen for the whirring sound this weekend, i am due for the 20k service next week.

 

It is truely sad how Acura won't even offer even a "bandaid" solution, such as insulating material to block the annoying sound from the cabin.

 

Yeah - they aren't really willing to do anything about it. Maybe I should buy some earplugs as an insulating solution of my own.

I'll call Acura customer relations and see what they say about it. I'll also be looking into what the dealer I bought it from has to say. After that it'll be time to see what I can get selling it and what kind of replacement that money could buy.

 

I'm just going to keep mine for a year and then trade it for something else. I don't care about the depreciation...The noise is slowly getting to me too. Not even the 4cyl Accords made this sound which makes me wonder.

 

I took mine to another dealership on Friday to get a second opinion. They have verified the sound and for now all they have concluded is that it is not the transmission. They are quite positive about that.

I'm still waiting to hear from them on what it might be.

Will keep you posted.

 

The suspense is killing me!

 

Yeah, haha, make fun of me.

Anyway, I picked up the car this morning. Well, wouldn't you know it, the story has changed again. I again go the "it's the normal transmission sound" story. So that's all folks!