MIDRVR

Since it has finally gotten cold up here in the past week (+5 deg F to -10 deg F lows) , I have noticed an intermitiant whinning sound coming from the right hand side (can't tell if it is front or back) when the car is cold. It happens only for a few minutes and only after the car has been driven for 1-4 miles. It happens between 25 and 35 MPH, is related only to vehicle speed (have tried manual 2,3 and 4th gear - happens in all of them in this speed range but different RPMs) and does not happen every time the car is cold (sitting 3or more hours since last driven). I have the B16 service due late this week I will bring it to the service dealer's attention, but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem. It can get loud enough to be heard over the sound system at volume settings or 11 or less. This is the first problem I have had with the car at +12k miles.

sotiri

in Chicago, I just noticed the same thing yesterday (-5) and again this morning. same conditions, I put the car in neutral and it still was there. I suspect its the center driveshaft.

NavyDoc333

Well... I'm not sure if this is the same kind of noise I had...but I had a high pitched 'static type' noise at about 45-50mph. Drove me crazy. I knew it had to be wind noise because of the sensitivity to speed. I finally spent a day putting masking tape over various surfaces on the outside of my car...and drove around the block repeatedly. I finally found out it was from a small 2x3" piece of plastic on the underside of the side rearview mirrors. I sealed it up with some silicone caulk...and it's been quiet as can be.
Also you may want to look under the car at the 'tie down holes' on the sub-frame. They are supposed to install rubber gromits into them after they come off of the delivery truck. Mine was missing all 4. One Acura Tech Bulletin reported this as a cause of a 'difficult to localize wind noise'.

Hope this helps.
-NavyDoc

NavyDoc333

Here's the link...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...SB04-028_3.jpg

Ry4an

I've got a cold weather whine that kicks in at 10 degrees F and lower until the cabin heats up. It's definitely climate control related as it's dependent on fan speed and and irrespective of RPM / ground speed. I keep trying to care about it, but a little whistle for the first five minutes a few months out of the year just isn't worth opening up the dash/engine.

What's irksome is that upon starting the car if I want to warm it up I press on the accelerator for a minute or so (about 3000 RPMs) before putting it in gear, and when I do I'll get a diagnostic fault on the power steering. I've had the dealer look at it and thus far they've found nothing. If I turn the car off and restart the car, the warning on the MID goes away, and then I just have to delete the notice from the Messages system. I don't know if it's slippage on the pulley for the power steering pump, frozen power steering fluid or who knows, but I don't like my car telling me it's not working even if everything is.

Anyone else seen something similar in cold weather?

sotiri

yes, same issue on the power steering message.
I get that no matter what the temp is, if I rev the engine like you said, I get the same error code.

RL06tech

Ha! I thought I was going to be the first one to report it! If you notice the sound gets louder as you revup, is not affected by turning off the radio and goes away as soon as the cabin warms up. Its the ANC!!!!! due to the frigid weather the microphones are essentially frozen, this interferes with their function till the cabin warms up! Its -11 (absolute temp) up here in WI! BRRRRR If your car is garaged the temp will probably not fall below 10F so you wont hear it. My instance happened after it sat aoutside all day below 0!

sotiri

hmmm, on mine it didnt matter how much I revved the engine, in fact as I was driving, I put in in neutral at 35 and with revving and without, it was there.
it definitely is SPEED sensitive, but not tranny or engine sensitive

RL06tech

It will also not increase by just revving in neutral either. The trick is that the entire driveline must be involved. ???? However you can quickly figure out its an audio system derived noise, its almost identical to what you hear when a car radio is not adequately grounded. What makes it obvious that its the ANC, is that the ANC functions through your speakers whether the audio is on or off Also as an old high school DJ I'm well versed in the foibles of very cold mikes

GoHawks

I heard this whine today for the first time.

My car stays in the garage, so even though it was -12F this morning, I didn't hear it first thing. I heard it after I got in my car this afternoon after it was sitting outside for several hours.

As I mentioned in another thread, temps are struggling to get past 0F.

As others have mentioned, it's definitely driveline related. In my situation, I heard it right at 40mph. A few miles above or below and the sound went away. Stopped at a light, I put it in neutral and revved it a bit and couldn't recreate it. Once I started moving again, it came back RIGHT at 40mph.

After a mile or two it went away for good.

My guess is that there is some sort of harmonic vibration occurring in the driveline. Diff oil is very heavy and it's probably pretty like molasses due to the cold. Until it warms up it's probably causing a little vibration in the driveshaft which goes away as soon as the oil loosens up.

dwboston

I have the whine all the time around 35-40 mph (and 75-80 mph) regardless of the outside temperature. It has definitely been more pronounced this week with the cold weather. A new transmission from Acura did not make a difference in the whine. FWIW I heard a similar whine in the 2007 MDX I drove a month ago - maybe it's a normal operating characteristic of the SH-AWD system and is just more noticeable in some cars than others (or to some drivers).

GoHawks

This shouldn't be confused with a very faint driveline whine that you hear with some cars. I remember that my '93 Acura Vigor had a very noticeable whine.

What I heard today is pretty noticeable. Very pronounced, not something in the background. I have never noticed a whine of any kind in my RL before today, not anything remotely similar to it whan I had an RL loaner a while ago (had spolier installed) and the recent MDX loaner I had recently (replaced door handle).

MIDRVR

I have to agree with GoHawks and 06RLTech; it is a definite whine and I know it isn't wind related as it only happens occasionally. I did notice that the three times it has happened were when the vehicle was parked outside prior to the occurance, along with low temps. The tie-down holes have the grommets in them and it is not a whistling so I'll check the ANC by trying to turn it off the next time it happens and see if that solves the problem. It does make sense that since it happens only for a few miles, the car is warming up by then so it might be the ANC.

FN P90

I noticed the same thing with my '05 RL in Minneapolis during -10 F at 40 MPH. I posted the issue here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/newrepl...wreply&p=36344

FN P90

Messed up with the link...

Try this one:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...1&page=2&pp=25

chickenprotein

hey guys i had the same problem hearing "whining" sound especially at lower gear (1,2). i thought the sound was from starting cold, but after moving down to south i still had the problem. at that time i had 13,000 miles. i brought it to dealer and they tried everything. they cunsulted acura and reinstalled transmition program. it has gotten better, but i still hear it sometimes. if you guys have same problem try reinstalling transmission program first. or warranty should give a new transmission.

GoHawks

Mine is definitely temp related. I do not hear it in the morning (my car is in a garage). I only hear it if the car has been sitting outside for an extended period of time and temps are near or below 0. After driving about a mile, the whining stops. If only my kids were as easy.

miner

I tend to believe this is a fluid viscosity issue - maybe Acura has a differential fluid for colder climates.

RLinCT

I have noticed the same thing in my '05. Let me know what the dealer says.

MIDRVR

Just had the B16 service done - dealer could not find the problem but the car wasn't cold after 120 miles of driving and sitting in their warm garage. Problem happened two times this week during cold weather; turing the ANC on and off had no effect. Will see if the rear diff fluid change makes any difference - cold weather (below 0 deg F) expected again next week so there will be more opportunity to see if it comes back.

neuronbob

Interesting thread. I don't have any of the issues described here and it hasn't been above 20 degrees for almost three weeks, maybe longer. Just adding my data point.

GoHawks

Not sure if you garage your car or not. Mine doesn't occur when I leave in the morning, only after it's been sitting outside for an extended period with the temps no warmer than 5 degrees or so. Any warmer and it doesn't occur.

Again, I really don't think this is an issue. Like Miner said, it has to be a viscosity issue.

MIDRVR

I agree with Go Hawks, it must be a viscosity issue because even after the rear fluid replacement last week (as scheduled) it has happened occasionally and only when the car has been outside for several hours exposed to sub 10 deg. F temps. It always goes away after 1-3 minutes driving. I don't think it is a problem either.

Ernie Golfs

I think the rear differential uses ATF. Maybe synthetic ATF will help viscosity issue in cold weather. Might be worth a try.

photonbeam7

Drive Shaft caused whining noise

My noise occurred at 33mph & 77mph.

Just got off the phone with Acura of Spokane and they replaced the tranny and the noise was still their. They even replaced the shift cable etc. Just on a hunch, they took the drive shaft out of a 07 and replaced it and the noise went away, go figure. I guess the drive shaft is $1,900. So if any of you have a whine in your car, ask them to change out the drive shaft. The svc mgr said they spent x hours on the phone with Acura Tech line.

I hope this helps my fellow RL brothers.

Rob144

I experienced the whine at higher speeds during my return trip from Vegas to San Diego. I haven't been doing much freeway driving in the RL, so I haven't heard it lately. When I was taking pictures with the engine running, I heard a definite whine while I was outside the car.

I'm wondering what could be different about the drive shaft in an '07 RL that would resolve this problem? With the problem so intermittent, I'm wondering how you can be sure it went away?

Rob144

ACUpunctuRA

I have the same whine at ~30-35mph in the 0-20F Chicago weather as well. It is definitely speed sensitive, and do not notice it at warmer cabin temperatures.

neuronbob

I am resurrecting this thread because of information from the May Acura ServiceNews about this very issue.

Whine, Whistle, or Howl
Between 30 and 40 MPH

Currently Applies To: ’05–08 RL

A bad propeller shaft center support bearing can
cause an annoying whine, whistle, or howl if you’re
driving between 30 and 40 mph and the bearing is
cold.

To check for a bad center support bearing, here’s
what you need to do:
1. Raise the vehicle on a lift, and make sure that it’s
securely supported.
2. Have someone start the engine, shift into Drive,
and slowly accelerate until the speedometer
reads between 30 and 40 mph.
3. While standing under the center support bearing,
use a stethoscope to listen for noise coming from
the bearing.

• If you hear noise coming from the bearing,
replace the propeller shaft. Refer to pages
16-42 thru 16-45 of the ’05–08 RL S/M.
(Online, enter keyword PROPELLER and
select Propeller Shaft Removal and
Propeller Shaft Installation from the list.)
• If the bearing is quiet, continue with normal
troubleshooting.