Propeller Shaft Support Bearing Whistle
 

A well documented issue within this forum. Thanks again acurazine.

It appears my 05 has this issue. Its been below 50 degrees a few times here and between 32-35 MPH I get the whistle. My car is out of warranty but I am wondering if this is related to an issue Ive had since May which is a growling noise around 1400 RPM.

The question I have is if these issues are related should I expect Acura to replace for free since Ive reported the problem 2 times while the car was still under warranty? (They couldnt reproduce the noise in either occasion)

Can't hurt to give it a shot. I'd take it to the dealer.

Are you out of the standard warranty or the drivetrain warranty or both?

I know both were extended longer starting in 06.

And don't forget your milage allowance from the ODO class action lawsuit.

Find that paperwork where you reported it twice prior to the warranty expiration, I would expect them to honor that.

Scheduled to go in Saturday.

You had yours replaced right Neuronbob? No problems since the replacement?

Don't know about the 2005, but the 2006 has a 6 year 70K mile powertrain warranty. Look in your warranty booklet

checked today, out of warranty price is 1800 alone for the parts...

I thought the propeller shaft was even more expensive than that. It is made out of carbon fiber.

I just had mine replaced under warranty. Cost of the part is 1600 since they replace the whole shaft not just the joint. As to warranty coverage it never hurts to ask:wish:

speak to the service manager, tell them you had it looked at before it was out of warranty, and it was never fixed. Tell them you want them to make an exception and cover it as a courtesy since you reported it during the warranty. -remember tell them what you want...the worst they can say is no but it is better you say it up front. If that doesn't work call Acura client services and request the same..

None at all.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Its going in tomorrow morning.

As soon as the tech heard the noise he knew what the problem was. He said it was coming from the torque converter. He explained that the car was holding on to the lower gear too long and should be upshifting. He went on to explain that an ECU reflash/reprogram upgrade was supposed to be done and hadnt been. They did the ECU upgrade and no more growling.

I do still have the whine/whistle when its cold so I'll either have to get used to it or someday spring a couple grand on a new carbon fiber drive shaft.

I'm glad you got this resolved partially!

Is the whine due to the propeller shaft bearing a Deteriorating and dangerouus condition or just a noise annoyance.

One of my older cars had a groan from the power steering pump when it was cold. Never caused a problem and would go away once the car warmed up. Perhaps your noise isn't the driveshaft bearings.

LL

Just a noise annoyance, nothing to be worried about.

Although it didn't happen initially, I recently started having the same problem with whistle. Originally thought that there was a "loose" seal somewhere. Glad that you guys here were able to point me in the right direction. I'm going to get that driveshaft replaced before my warranty runs out.

I have the same issue on my 05 RL. It just started happening in cold weather.
I took it to my dealer and on the second day they found this issue.

Unfortunately my car is out of warranty (67000 Miles). This would cost 2100 (1600 for the part). My service advisor tried to see if Acura would cover this for me but got negative response.

I tried to see if my dealer would give me an extended warranty but they won't. What extended warranties are other people here getting.

My service advisor also sent me the service News article regarding this issue.
http://www.2ndgen.info/DIY/ServiceNews/2008/B080500.pdf
Go to page 3. Title: Whine, Whistle, or Howl Between 30 and 40 MPH

I have similar issues with a whistling/howling sound
 

It seems when I have my foot on the gas it makes that sound. Some have said that its harder to hear on the freeway because of the rougher roads. I notice that on parts of the freeway that are smooth asspault, you definetly can hear it. I had a Acura mechanic drive it and he couldn't hear it. I am guessing he drove on the rougher parts of the freeway. Also, sometimes the noise isn't there, but most of the time it is. I am going to have it looked at with me in the car driving.

It usually happens between speed of 30 and 40 MPH for me.

Any recommendations on the extended warranty for me..

Chas2 Made an interesting point. Our cars have 6 year 70,000 mile powertrain warranties. Me and you should be covered sunny158. I plan to bring this up at my next service appointment which is coming up in the next week or 2.

It is not much, but there was an odometer error in some of the earlier cars that would give you 5% more or 73,500

05 RL have 4 year / 50,000 miles powertrain warranty.
06 and up have 6 year / 70,000 miles powertrain warranty.

I just looked it up and you are right.

Sorry for the misinformation there.

Add me to the list of getting the propeller shaft replaced (49k miles)........thankfully under warranty. This seems like its going to be an issue with higher mileage cars.

add me to the list, ive been hearing it for a while, regardless of the temperature and i only have 30k on my late model 06, on one of my to-do on my next dealer visit.

For those who have had the propeller shaft replaced, I'm just curious if the whining sound was constant or intermittent. I get the whine at about 40mph (only in cold weather) but it never lasts longer than 5 seconds or so. This started last winter and is happening again this winter. I just don't want to take it to the dealer and have them say nothing is wrong. Definitely want it fixed though while still under warranty.

common issue, take this to your dealer when you go to get it looked at.
http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SN/B080500.PDF
bad propeller shaft center support bearing

The sounds only occurred when it was cold and took place on an intermittent basis. There were no objections by the dealer to replace the propeller shaft once the sound was replicated on a cold morning.

Ok folks, you have me nervous. I had the service manager ride with me the other day as I starting thinking about what I read here. He told me that what I was hearing was "gear whine" and it is normal. My transmission whines from whenever I start until I have enough speed that the road noise shuts it out. Am I just hearing things or does the 05 RL have a bit of a "whiney" tranny?

There is some normal transmission whine (very very faint) at several select speeds while in multiple gears.

In my particular case, the "howl" from the defective propeller shaft bearing occurred around 35 mph and was very noticeable. The cold always seemed to bring out the worst in this condition.

Dropped the car off last night to have the propeller shaft bearing checked out. I should find out tonight what the prognosis is. I handed the Service Manager the Service page with the article on checking the bearing out. The had me fill out this sheet identifying what when where and how the noise was identified. They seemed a little indignant that I had the answer to the problem before they even had a chance to check it out for themselves. Not that I blame them.
On a side note, they gave me an '09 TSX for a loaner. The novelty wore off before I reached the main drag (about 100 yards) The backup camera was OK since it was the first time I've used one. Very bright Nav screen. It just doesn't look as nice as the RL's screen. Overall, the car is OK but it may as well be a Honda Civic. I want my RL back.

Just got a call from the service dept. They diagnosed the whining noise as "a failure in the rear differentional". A new differential is on order and should be in next week. Thank goodness my warranty is still good for another 30k miles, Without the warranty, she said the cost would have been well over $4K.

Add me to the list getting the propeller shaft replaced.

Just purchased an '06 RL about two weeks ago, and three days later started to notice a high pitched "whine" while on the highway. I later began to notice the noise during city driving as well, usually starting around 35mph as described by various others on this board.

When I had the car at the dealer last week getting the HFL flashed, I asked them to take a look at it...was told later it was normal transmission sounds found in all RLs/TLs. Just didn't seem right to me. After some research and reading some great posts on this board, I found the now well documented issue with the propeller shaft.

Needless to say, I took it back to the dealer today with the tsb in hand, and made sure a tech was available to ride with me. Like clockwork, the whine was easily reproducible and the tech immediately said they would take care of it. Just got a call about an hour ago saying they had ordered a new propeller shaft, should be in in a day or two. My fingers are crossed this solves my problem.

Thanks to all the previous posters for the great information.

Wow. That's scary and a bit surprising that the rear differential of a FWD biased AWD car would fail.

What, we got a glass rear diff? :rofl:

I think I recall only one other case of rear diff failure on this board, and it didn't manifest like yours. It sounds like you showed them the TSB. :dunno: what to think there.

Glad I found this thread. My '06 just this week started to emit a high-pitched whine or whistle at freeway speeds (at 39,500 miles). Thought perhaps it was due to overinflated tires and grooved concrete on California freeways. Not so, eh? Need to have this checked out. Thanks guys!

Yea, that one surprised me as well. The car also passed State Inspection on that visit and the service manager said the car was safe to drive until the new diff. came in???
I'll wait and see if the noise goes away after the install. If not, I'll be back! It is great only living 3 miles away from the dealer. :thumbsup:

Just got my car back from the service dept. today. Seems the new propeller shaft has fixed the annoying whine I was experiencing. The drive is much quieter now, and certainly more enjoyable.

could you notice (hear) the whine after the car warmed up. I hear it,the whine, perhaps once or twice a week but only once. After I hear it once I do not hear it again unless the car has sat for 4 or 5 hours.

The dealer said the whine I hear IS NOT the propellershat whine, If it were, I would really be loud ? Anyway its documented and I have the extended warranty on my 05 which only has 32K miles.

Thanks,

BL