Revenant

'06 6MT TSX, bought brand new - started noticing this noise after 6 months getting the car.

Humming/Whirling/vibration noise occurs either in 1st stop->go (mainly uphill) or stop->go in reverse only at the clutch engagement point. Once the clutch is fully engaged (foot off the clutch) the noise disappears.

Reproduced the noise at Acura at the time and technician said I'm riding the clutch and that the noise is normal coming from the flywheel (sounded logical to me at the time). However, I've driven other Acura manual cars in exact same fashion and never got any sound in scenarios described above.

Is it really me riding the clutch or could there be something wrong with my flywheel (or something else)?

Thanks!

LukeaTron

Sounds like your throwout bearing could be going out. Frequently holding the clutch in while stopped instead of dropping into neutral and letting the clutch out will cause premature failure. You have to pull the transmission to replace it so there's a lot of labor expense involved. I would recommend that you try to be more easy on the clutch (hard to do if you deal with traffic frequently) and hold out on doing anything until it gets much worse. When it starts squealing every time you shift is when you can't wait any longer. You'll want to replace the clutch at the same time while you're in there.

Revenant

Thanks for the input LukeaTron. My car has just under 50k (kms) on it and I never hold the clutch at long full stops. I didn't learn to drive manual on the TSX either and I consider my manual driving skills to be above average. At this point I'm going to see if I can test drive my buddy's TSX and see if his car is making the same sounds in the same scenarios. If not, I'm going to see if Acura can take a look at it as my car is still under warranty.

I'm open to other people's theories ...

LukeaTron

It just happens some times too. I'm not accusing you of sucking at driving a stick shift or anything.

Revenant

haha, no worries man. I wasn't accusing you of saying so either. Just trying to share as much detail as possible as this noise has been buggin me for a while and I don't fully know what the issue is nor anybody else posting that they're experiencing the same thing ...

tmcao55

I think the noise is normal. When I go in reverse and the car is rolling backwards with the clutch fully depressed i get a buzzing noise that goes up and down in pitch.

jswim99

I don't think he's talking about the standard reverse noise--every car I've ever driven does that.

I'm also getting a small squeak/squealing noise, that only happens during acceleration, and immediately disappears when I let my foot off the gas or push in the clutch. It's only present for a range of RPMs (about 2.5k-3.5k), too. I get the noise in every gear except reverse. I found another thread that suggested the release bearing, but I'm taking it in next weekend to the dealer to find out. My car has 53k miles, and I also consider myself a good manual driver (rev match, no clutch riding, etc). Hopefully this will be covered under the 70k powertrain warranty.

Let us know how your fix goes...

R.Tosh

I doubt it. That went in my old 91 Jeep at 375,000 kms. Its quite noticeable when the throwout bearing goes. You wouldn't have any trouble hearing it.

LukeaTron

Oh, ok, so your single experience with the failure of throwout bearing in about as different a vehicle as you can find is enough to say this is not the same thing? I'm sorry but you're an idiot if you think that.

I'm not saying that it's definitely the problem, but the symptoms point fairly strongly in that direction.

R.Tosh

wow..who pissed in your cornflakes. I was just saying 'I doubt it'. sorry

jswim99

Does a bearing failure destroy the entire clutch assembly? What happens--difficulty shifting?

LukeaTron

If the bearing gets really worn out it will start to eat into the finger springs on the clutch. It takes quite a bit of this to actually damage the clutch. It will be making a ton of obnoxious noise before it gets to that point.

jswim99

Ok, took my 06 in for this issue. Dealership replaced some tensioner and did a tranny fluid replacement, but the noise is still there. I told them I had found some tips on the internet that it's clutch related, but they insisted on trying these other things first. Both were covered 100%, so I don't really care, except for the wasting of my time. They said they're calling Acura today to find out how to proceed. They suspect it's an intermediate shaft (part of the drive axle?). They did finally admit it's torque related.

jswim99

Another update. Dealership had my car all day today, and called to say they're sure it's my right-rear wheel bearing that's making the squealing noise. Of course this isn't covered by the drivetrain warranty--how convenient. They also couldn't explain why the problem instantly goes away when I let off the gas. Any ideas how to approach this? I'm planning on getting a second opinion from another dealer, and not giving them any hints from the first dealer, to see what they come up with. I'm convinced this thing is torque-related, and I simply don't see how a rear wheel bearing could be the problem. I also don't want spend my money replacing things to experiment.

LukeaTron

It is possible for a bad wheel bearing to only make noise under certain conditions. Did they give you an estimate for it?

jswim99

Something like $300 bucks. I'm sure I can do better at an independent shop. I'm really skeptical, because they told me before "they were sure" I needed a new tensioner, and obviously that wasn't it--they basically lost all credibility. I have no problem with them changing random parts out on their dime, but I'm not paying for that!

LukeaTron

That's not a terrible price for a wheel bearing change, just so you know.