My TL has 189,000 miles on it. When I bought the car several months ago, it had 185,000. It ran wonderfully when I first picked it up. It sounded great, it ran very smoothly, everything was great.

I had the oil changed around 186,500. So I'm probably going to get it changed this weekend, since it's been just under 3,000 -- might as well. I've been on top of routine maintenance. I check all fluids regularly, and for things like power steering fluid (if needed -- only once so far) I use only the ones that say "for Honda".

Now, when I hit the gas, it tends to take a very brief period of time before it responds. When I first got the car, putting pressure on the gas pedal would result in practically instant acceleration. This, however, is not something I do regularly -- what I'm referring to is getting on the gas pedal hard, maybe to speed up when I pass a slowpoke on the interstate. Haha. Sometimes when I'm merging onto the interstate and I need to pick up a bit of speed, I hit the gas, and a brief time later (a second or maybe a little under) it will respond. I use nothing but Premium gas.

Next, when I start the car, and when I idle, my engine makes a bit of a whining sound. It's like the whine you get from being low on power steering fluid. However, the sound does not worsen when turning the steering wheel. It's just a constant whine. Although it isn't terribly loud, and there is no other noise along with it, I know it definitely *did not* sound like that when I got it. And I believe that sound coincides with the problem I've been having with the A/C making a noise and all that.

Any recommendations for either of these problems? I may take a long screwdriver or something and see if I can isolate the whining sound to a particular pulley or something like that.

 

Check all the drive belts. Also inspect the air filter box and vac hoses for possible leakage.

 

I've looked at the belts the best I can, and while they look like they have some miles on them, I don't see any trouble spots.

To add to what I initially said, the "whine" doesn't get worse with acceleration or anything either. And it's at its worst when the car is in Park. When I drop it into Reverse, Drive, etc., the sound dissipates greatly, although still not entirely.

 

As a matter of fact, it sounds a lot like this:


Eerily familiar. Even though the car in the video is an '07.

 

Alright, I'll be back with an update on this probably this weekend. Sounds like it could very well be one or both of the power steering O-rings, based on that video and some other posts I've found on the Web. I know that I checked my PS fluid once, and something seemed off -- quite positive there were some bubbles in the fluid reservoir. I'll look at the O-rings this weekend (or whenever I put my new ballast in, since it's being delivered today) and I'll replace them as necessary. I'll update this thread once I figure something out.

 

What all in the way of "routine" maintenance have ya done so far other than the oil change ?

* Recheck any of your PM work for possible sources of the issues which you're now experiencing.
* May be something loose or simply overlooked during at that time.
* Check out the "DIY" sticky for common problems and fixes.
* Try to isolate the noise's source to a specific area, (front...rear...side).

~ On a side note: The oil should be good for at least 5,000 miles or longer if synthetic.

 

By routine maintenance, I mean just staying on top of checking fluids regularly, keeping the oil changed as necessary, etc.

When you say the oil should be good for at least 5,000 miles, does that vary with mileage? I have ~189K miles. While I'm no expert, I've heard/read a lot that higher mileage means changing oil more often (like 3K miles or 3mos.).

 

our engine runs so clean that its own oil change reminder light system is set for 7500 miles!
200 on a TL motor is nothing- like new inside
Seafoam in the oil half can for 15-30 minutes drive before change will make it ready for easy 7500 between changes
synthetic can go longer IF you do a 20$ blackstone labs type report on its condition at 7500, know how much longer its good for
Pick any brand name 5-30 and good filter, done
yes I know some years say 5-20 on oil cap
that's ONLY to cheat CAFE fuel standards - when those rules changed Honda went back to 5-30 rec on oil cap

 

low ps fluid level means leak = possible oring failure which would draw in air
Do a full `burp`- place cardboard under front wheels and turn full lock to lock several times- engine running

note if you remove ps belt, careful on tightening!!! easy to overtighten and will burn pump out quickly

 

did you do the intake manifold egr pathways and ports cleaning yet? that along with cleaning TB and IACV make a huge difference in running

 

for reference on oil change- our mega moderator and track day superstar has 500,000++ MILES on his DD 00TL
gets oil analysis to keep an eye on things and goes 15,000 Miles between oil change.
seafoams every oil change too

 

Got a link that explains how to clean intake manifold EGR pathways and ports? I haven't done any of that yet. As far as TB and IACV, I know how to do that, and I may go ahead and do it this weekend.

 

On the acceleration issue have your brakes checked, might be a dragging wheel caused by a frozen brake caliper.
If all else checks out ok check that out.