2008 TSX 5AT with 39k miles on it. Around 40 mph with accelerator depressed normally, I hear a high pitched whine. Almost a whistle or squeal. It also occurs occasionally around 60 mph. If I release the accelerator, the noise stops. I have seen this posted several times, but haven't found a posted definitive answer.

I had a 2005 Accord, 4 cylinder AT, with the same problem, only considerably more pronounced. Around 40k I was highway driving about 60 mph and the noise suddenly appeared, very loudly. Subsequent driving it subdued somewhat, but I was able to duplicate it at will. Other than the initial onset, what I'm now experiencing in my TSX is very similar.

The reason I am posting this now is, Honda replaced the transmission in my Accord and the noise went away. I took the local service manager and the district customer representative for rides and they agreed the transmission was defective. During the process I learned that corporate Honda transmission folks consider some such noise as normal. What the threshold is for "normal" and "defective" I cannot say. I am going to discuss this with the Acura service people and get their take on it.

 

Where do you hear the sound coming from? I have this noise, and it emerges from the AT shifter area. It can only be heard when the radio is off. It's annoying, but I have heard it in other tsx's. It appears when I accelerate and put any pressure on the gas. There's no sound at idle.

 

Sound seems to be coming from around the transmission hump or the engine compartment. Only occurs when the transmission is in gear and power is being applied. When coasting, in or out of gear, the sound stops. Does not seem to be related to engine RPM. Most prominent around 40 MPH, but sometimes around 60 MPH. I'm not sure if it's specific to one gear. Will have to experiment a bit.

For what it's worth, my son has a brand new Camry and I noticed a whine (not exactly like the Accord/Honda) when he was accelerating through 40 MPH. Some whine is normal, but what I had in my Accord was attracting dogs from three counties.

 

Yep. That's pretty much identical to what I'm hearing. It's not too annoying, but I haven't heard it in any other cars to the extent that I hear it in mine. It's pretty obvious at lower speeds and on freeway driving (just below the usual wind noise). If it were any louder, I'd probably do something. However, it would take a hell of a lot to get acura to even acknowledge this as a problem that they're willing to replace the tranny over. Even still, a tranny swap is a huge huge process.