JPSMAN

I would definitely attempt the goodwill route with a couple of dealers. Several members here have been successful with this. If that doesn't work, involve an Acura regional service rep....and the worst they can say is no.

Juiced46

My car just started making the 25-40mph noise. Its been doing it for 2 weeks now, exactly as how the OP described. Only does it the first initial 1-2miles of driving when its cold, then it will not do it again until it sits and gets cold again. My car has 85k on it. Luckily I have an Acura Care extended warranty with a $100 deductible and also I work for a dealer as a tech and our group also owns an Acura store. So hopefully this will get fixed with zero issues.

dmccoy

I have a 2008 RL and experienced the whine and whir while travelling about 800 miles from home last week. I called my dealer at home and was told damage probably wouldn't occur if I drove the car home. It didn't. The car was repaired today with part #40100-SJA-E01 and is now quiet. The cost to me was $0.

SSjTrunks112O

Wow, didn't know this problem was on the '08's as well. What's your mileage if you don't mind me asking? This way I know what to expect when & if it happens.

b0n3

I had my drive shaft replaced over the weekend (thanks AcuraCare) .. still get the whine at 40 and exactly 60 mph. It did resolve some of the vibration though.

Funny thing is, the 2009 TL loaner I drove had the same whine at the same speed .. I'm either going insane or the whine I am hearing isn't the same that's being reported.

Does anyone have an actual audio/video recording of this issue? That would help immensely.

Thanks

Umalum1990

I have been hearing the whining noise for a while now. it occurs at 74mph and disappears ard 77/ 78 mph. The noice only occurs when gas pedal is depressed and disappears when i release the gas pedal or am out of the speed parameters. My dealer said that the noise is typical of the AWD system. I was also hearing it around 40mph, but that disappeared one day, and has never come back.

wmich

Same problem here whining noise between 20-60mph, took it in today went for a test drive with the tech. The tech hoisted the car off the ground and said that it was the propeller shaft, got it replaced, took about an hour and it was covered under warranty.

I have the 4yr/50,000 but I believe it was covered under the drivetrain warranty.

Good luck!

sleepinxlionhart

=O, this is EXACTLY what I'm experiencing too. On a 50 mile drive home tonight at around 66 degrees I think, I specifically was listening to the whirr at around 70-75 mph. It is extremely extremely faint, you really have to listen really closely to hear it. And it seems like I can only hear it with my right ear, and that if I try opening the windows, it's impossible to hear because of the wind noise. But if the car goes above 75mph, and from 60-70, there is no noise. And if I don't step on the gas at 70-75mph, it disappears too. It just sounds like something mechanical is whirring when accelerating..but again, it is extremely faint. I recall hearing it someday this week in the morning around 30-40mph under acceleration too, but I couldn't reproduce it today. My car is an 05, with around 36k.

alfadoctor

Our "06 is coming up for a 60K service. We have not experienced any of the noise issues with the drive shaft or differential as of yet. I plan on taking it to the dealer for a fluid service and overall check. I will have them do a diagnostic with a stethoscope on the drive shaft bearing and input shaft, so if there is noise we can get it documented and rectified.

As a side note, I have been dealing with center support bearing issues for years with my Alfa Romeo's. It is easy for me to replace the bearing as I have the proper sockets and a press. The rubber support for the bearing does degrade with time to where the drive shaft bumps on the support when accelerating, or a vibration occurs you can feel being transmitted up through the shifter. Also, the quality of the bearing has a lot to do with life; Chinese bearings are the worst.
I will report back after the trip to the dealer.

sleepinxlionhart

I'm thinking..Although the problem seems to be affecting 05s more often, but there are reports of 08's having the same issue, when they replace the driveshaft, wouldn't the problem come up again in the future? Unless they are replacing it with a totally different driveshaft that's not used in the 05-08.

sleepinxlionhart

Oh, and I forgot to add. For those that heard the whine/whirr, and had parts replaced, was the noise rather audible inside the car despite the road noise and such when driving the car around?

Surafiel

It is November and I finally have time to take it back to the dealership to revisit this noise. I travel every week and I really have not had time to deal with this issue...

The technician at Elk Grove Acura was unable to hear the noise, so they suggested that I do a test drive.

I went in today and the noise was fainter than usual but it was still audible. As we drove the tech was saying that he wasn't able to hear it. So we drove past a semi-solid wall of vegetation (sound bounced off) where the sound was more noticeable and I finally got the tech to agree that we could hear something. After the first five minutes of the test drive the sound was gone.

I tried to get the tech to concede that he could hear something, that I'm not just making this up. He did. When we got back to the dealership, he went in and spoke to the service rep. From what I could tell he made some snide remark that it was barely noticeable.

After talking with the service rep, she said that they would need to another hour of labor to diagnose this. She said they would need to try to duplicate the sound and isolate it. I insisted that they would need to put it on a rack and use the stethoscope just as they did the first time.

I am not at the point where this is going to be a challenging situation, but I'm just wondering from others what they had to do to escalate the issue. I find it curious that in spite of the TSB, this is treated as an isolated issue and the burden to prove is on me instead of the seemingly uninterested technician.

The first time that they worked on it, I printed out the TSB that everyone references from Acura which points to the propeller shaft. But they replaced the differential anyways. They didn't really seem to pay much mind to the TSB.

So now I am in a risky situation where I may have to pay 2 hours of labor for 125/hr. Thats 250 to test drive and make a possibly uninterested diagnosis.

I should be getting a call sometime tomorrow as to the final outcome. Acura has been pretty good thus far at working on any issues that I bring to them but I am feeling uneasy after today.

What have others had to do when they have had a challenge with this issue?

In any case I will post what the results are. Thanks for any advice.

sleepinxlionhart

Thanks for the update Surafiel. Sorry to hear about the negligence you are getting at your dealer.

I'm planning on bringing up the issue on mine when taking it in for the brake recall, but having nearly the same exact "problem" as Umalum1990, I hope it's just a characteristic of the AWD system, although I feel like that I cannot truly trust some technicians just like you pointed out in your post above. However, it seems like those who did have the driveshaft replaced is when the noise is audible at cold temps, and only around startup and it disappears. While the noise I am hearing is consistent no matter what the temperature, how long the drive..etc.
Another reason why I am iffy on the car worked on because I am a bit OCD about keeping as "factory assembled" as possible.

Do you think you can try to listen to your car around 70-75mph to see if you hear a whine/whirring noise when you have the gas pedal depressed? I'm curious to see if it happens to all of our cars.

Surafiel

UPdate:

I got my car back today and it was diagnosed as the heat shield being loose. It cost an hour of labor, which isn't too bad. I will withhold my judgement until I am able to drive it for a while. I still haven't had a chance to drive it cold.

If it is fixed, then it was indeed the differential. I sure wished I had made the time to take it in before my factory warranty expired as acura will not cover loosened bolts.

merlin the wrench

Consider using Niello on Madison in the future. We have had a relationship with them since 1992 on our first Acura and they have treated me perfectly in almost all cases. Unless you are mechanically inclined I suspect that maintaining an RL past its warranty is an expensive undertaking. Too many places things can fail. Technology has really taken a jump.

Surafiel

As far as I can tell so far the noise is gone. So I guess I am one of the people who was genuinely affected by the rear diff. As far as the heatshield goes, it only took an hour of labor so it wasn't crazy to fix. I might suggest that others who are in this situation look at the heat shield. Doesn't seem like it should be rattling like that at 50k+ miles.

However, it may be something that will help others with diagnosis. Thanks for everyone's help.

Chas2

I have had loose heat shield issues with EVERY Honda/Acura I have owned, except (knock on wood) so far for the 06 RL.

sconti

I have a 05 RL with 140k miles. I recently have been experiencing a noise at 25 - 30 miles per hour while accellerating then goes away after a minute. the sound is more of a dull, winding noise. at first i thought it was the wind. it also happens at higher speeds on the highway. i'm scheduled to drop off the car to a mechanic tomorrow. i'll re-post when i know more.

getakey

I have the noise at 30mph, but don't hear anything at higher speeds. Please do post what they find.

BluNosr2

Can someone post a working link to the "service news" from May 2008 that apparently references this? Or even better, PM or email me with a copy...the link for it posted earlier in the thread says "not authorized".
My 06 has the 30mph howl when cold and I still have warranty until April.

thephantom

I've got the same thing. There is another thread covering this issue, and no one really knows the answer/ solution.

Chas2

Follow the directions here

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/acura-servicenews-bulletins-588838/

Works great.

When you open the link shown in the first message from csmeance, a new browser tab should open up for the Acura e-store. Choose any car, any year, any installation sheet, and another new browser tab will open with the install sheet.

Now select the first tab that had this link in it....
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=588838

Scroll down to the service news section and select your issue. What you should do is just download them all so you have them. They are all pdf's

Once you are in, it is very easy to just vary the link name to go where you want to. Here is the Acura May 2008 Service news link.

http://techinfo.honda.com/Rjanisis/p...080500</b>.PDF

B=Acura (and if you want Honda ServiceNews, just change it to A)
08=2008 (vary the years as you need to...05=2005, 06=2006...10=2010, etc)
05=month (e.g., MAY...01=JAN, 02=FEB...12=DEC, etc)
00=version number, though I have not really seen that used often, everything is a 00 version, they do seem to make the 00 version the most up to date conformed version over time; changes being marked with black change bars)

I seem to recall that 2G RL tips started showing up in late 2004...

BluNosr2

Big thumbs up on that post. I was just looking in the RL garage which had the directions to let me into the estore, but I didn't see the thread with the service news postings.

mlts0807

Just read thru and need some advise.

My 05 has 210k miles with no major mechanical issues. I have always had the whine around 30 mph when it's cold. For the last month, I have started hearing the other whine at the higher speeds. It starts and stops at different speeds but does seem to get better when the car gets warmer.

I am due for the 100k mile service and was planning on getting it done next week but the new whine make me wonder how reliable the car is going to be. I don't drive much anymore so I was hoping to keep driving it for a few more years at least.

Can the noise turn into mechanical failure or is it just an annoyance? Should i get the 100k service done for around $1300?

mg7726

does this whine/whirl sound like a wheel bearing whirl/drone noise? i hear faint noise from the back past couple of days it was really cold, then goes away.

are dealers replacing the driveshaft with same part #'s as failing ones?

CadiGTi

Mine sounded like a faint sound of a fire engine siren far off in the distance.

Not sure if Acura has made any revisions to the drive shaft and when my dealer replaced mine last year I asked the question and they did not know. They might have made a running change and not made this public. I have my RL serviced at the highest volume Acura dealer in the country. They have only replaced a few drive shafts on the RL so perhaps it is like the Valve Spring issue with the late model Lexus LS460's.....only a small % of cars are affected?

btoungette

I have the whining/whirling sound at approximately 38 MPH. It is easily reproduced at that MPH. Seems to be in cold weather only. I have not had the noise at faster speeds. Note: My wife is the primary driver.

It's kinda funny that while under warranty I mentioned this noise to the dealer's service guy. Of course, they were not able to reproduce the noise. I wonder if they read the TSB?

BluNosr2

I just had the shaft replaced on my 06RL with approx 50k miles on the odo, under the standard powertrain warranty. I had the 30mph "howl" when cold - the sound was basically like someone blowing across the open top of a bottle, appearing to come from underneath he nav screen, only for the first 20secs of driving at 30mphs when below -5C with the car sitting outside overnight. Howl is gone now.

getakey

^that is the best description of the howl yet.
I'm still wondering what the failure mode is if not replaced

SFLegend93

CadiGTI, your description seems to match mine. Mine sounds like a howl/muffled siren that gets louder every other second at exactly 60 mph. go any higher and the sound disappears. strangely I also can hear the high pitched whistling sound that sounds like a bad ground connection from the stereo at varying speeds. Still haven't been able to pinpoint when it happens.

Anyway, did the propeller shaft change get rid of the sound? was that the only thing replaced? or did you get the rear diff changed also?

macntac

I had the same problem with my 2005 at about 70K. I took it to one dealer in town and they told me it was the P shaft. Quoted $2800 for the repair as I was out of warranty. Went to another local dealer and they started the same then...

They got the regional service guy involved and fixed it for $800. Sweet. Give this a try before you repair full boat. Good luck.

erdoc

I have a new 2010 ACURA MDX ADV/ENT

took a few months to figure out when and what was causing the noise....I only have 2900 miles on the car and it has been there from day 1. It occurs at speends btwn 36-40mph and last about 5 seconds usually when u take your foot off the gas....the car seems to run fine otherwise ....just a very annoying noise because i spend a lot of time driving at that speed.....the dealer is going to try changing the differential tomorrow to see if that resolves the problem.

SnoWRL

iTrader: (1)

My moms 06 RL (formerly mine) has a whir whir whir noise btwn 65-70 that sounds like a bad wheel bearing on rear right hand side. Is this one of these issues? Its not whine its like roar roar roar echoing. Checked wheel bearing it seems fine. Tires are old though. Could it be the tires or should we just take it in?

SnoWRL

iTrader: (1)

Ok so got a call from Acura dealer... Seems like I need another propeller shaft replaced.... How many have others gone through? I have less than 60k on this car

ichi d

just this past week i been hearing the whine at low speeds. it comes and goes and its really hard to hear it. what do u guys think, take it in and get it checked out asap or drive it until it gets louder and take it in then?

getakey

I have 05 with 134K miles. Have had the whine at 30 mph for the past 2 yrs
It only whines at a vary narrow speed range like 29 to 31 mph, and it is definetly speed, not rpm. At first, it only did this at cold temps (below 45) and as car warmed up the whine went away during the drive. Now, it happens when temp is below 55 or so.
Dealer could never reproduce because it was always warmed up by the time I got there and I did not want to leave it over night. Since I'm waaaay out of warranty, I'm just waiting for it to fail - whatever that may be.

It has not gotten any louder.

06RL/NBP

Starting hearing same noise as everyone else yesterday. Had been driving car for 4 hours in high heat. As soon as I heard the noise I pulled over and turned the engine off for a few seconds and then restarted and the noise was gone.

mitchkramez

Hello all,
I've got a 05 RL with 117k miles. I have a 6 month power-train warranty from the dealer (an Acura dealer). I have a whine at 65 exactly and slightly at speeds around there. I don't hear any whine at the lower speeds. The 65mph whine only happens withe pedal in the "sweet spot", if there's no acceleration, there's not noise, or if i give it a little more oomph, it goes away. Would this be the propeller shaft noise?

BDoggPrelude

I have the dreaded whine too but it seems to but it seems like it comes on at the opposite times as the rest of you. The car is dead quiet for the first 4-5 miles that I drive. After that the noise pops up. It's low at first but gradually gets louder over the next few miles. The noise is constant above 10mph. I purchased the car about 2 months ago and the sound started about a month later. Fortunately, I purchased the car from an Acura dealer, (not a CPO), and opted for the 3 year drivetrain warranty. I'm going to schedule an appointment next week to have it looked at.

23109VC

ok... it's been pretty cold here lately.. this AM.. I have the low speed whine.. i heard someone else describe it as kind of like the sound of a siren... but imagine there was a fire engine REALLY far away you could sort of hear... i'ts like that.... but the other person saying it was like what you would hear if you blew over a bottle... yeah.. that too.

I HAVE that sound. I hear it the first few miles of my AM trip.. while the car is cold.

my car is under CPO warranty.. so I can get this fixed...

my question is this... is this really something we need to fix??? like.. what if I jus tignore this.. don't fix anything... is my car going to blow up at 100k miles? is the drive shaft going to fall off?

has anyone failed to fix it and then had some catastrphic failure? i have a CPO warranty... so I can just take my car in, let them hear then noise.. and potentially get a multi thousand dollar repair job for $0... . but do I need to?? is this a true problem... in that something is failing.. or is it just a byproduct of the car's design that it whistles a bit?

if the car only made the whistgling sound for a mile or two, then it goes away.. honestly... I"m not going to lose sleep... i'm not opposed to fixing it for free either.. i'm just curious.. for those of you OFF warranty.... who can't afford a $3000 bill... What will happen if you just ignore this and leave it..???

thanks.