Whining Sound
 

Good morning!

Since two days I've been hearing a whining sound. It's small, but evident. It's not constant, and while driving it's hard to notice. When I start the car, in the garage I hear it. And it goes up and down as I rev the gas pedal.

Is this an alternator?

Good Morning!
check out the Power steering fluid reservoir. is it full? or low on fluid?

use a screwdriver as stethoscope and place it on alternator.

Deepdezal

It's hard to tell. Can't see through it. But, looking from the top, it looks like close to lower level line. could be slightly low.

Isn't there a dash light to tell if its low? can slightly low cause this?

How do you do that?

The list of reasons for a whine listed on the forum here are scary:

Tranny.
Cam shaft.
Alternator.

I have been feeling that when i slow down to take a turn, and don't press a little bit on pedal to continue on, its like the tranny doesn't shift down, unless i press harder on the gas.
https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...ission-962854/
Gulp.

yes, the power steering is a belt driven pump. if reservoir is low, air is introduced into the system making a whining and groaning sound.
Fill reservoir up with Honda Power Steering fluid

It has to go to upper line only right?

But look, it's probably even on lower level mark.

Is it supposed to go all the way up or on the upper mark?

yes, start with the easy things first!
go to Honda dealer and pick up Honda Power steering fluid.

Fill to full line/Max line.

Gonna do that today.

I can't see the liquid inside to measure where the limit is. Bottle is white doesn't look dirty... How do you go around that?

take a light source to it. can be a flashlight or use the sun!

I used the phone. maybe too bright. I'll check it outside.

Thanks Justin.

Let us know what you find! if at full line, no need to buy the fluid.

Sunlight shows you. The iPhone light doesn't... It's at just above the lower level. Is that enough to make a tiny whine?

The whine is very ... slim.. not loud.. it seems to be coming from the front, not below.. and when i moved the car.. it went away...

I'd add drive belt to the list above, but that was changed last year...

And it's not a screech.. it's a whine..goes up and down when applying and releasing the gas pedal.

What could it be?

Does it go up and down when the car is in gear or only in park? That should help narrow if its motor/accessory related or driveline related.

Well right now i can no longer tell if its normal engine sound or a whine. It may have gone for now.

What I just did is press all brakes and rev, no difference or whine detected.

The fact that it comes and goes made me suspect the alternator originally.

I have this same issue but it comes ans goes and usually around 40-60 mph. When I release the gas it stops but would whine when on the gas. It doesn't happen all the time, so I've been ignoring the issue. Could it be the alternator? Im looking forward to your findings!

that describes the driveshaft whine, i believe.

thus why it's important to list your symptoms, as your symptoms are completely different than OPs

Thanks for the feedback. I'll just ignore it as it is very intermittent. Still loving the RL after all these years, not to mention it has been nice not having a car payment.

Have you done any work recently to the car? Pulleys/tensioners on way to dirt nap? Is noise coming from speakers any audio work done that may been poorly grounded?

Other than putting in 1 liter of a cleaning type of engine oil and wondered if i shouldn't just always put the exact same oil in and not mix, no. And I've been feeling this sometimes.

No it's not the speakers, i hear the sound outside the car, not in it. If I close the windows i don't hear it.

It's very slim... I;'m gonna go for transmission oil change and have them top off the PS oil as Justin said just to make sure... Maybe ask them to make sure there's no air inside? Is that easy to do or a big bill?

Hope its not the tranny or cam shaft.

Given this car's electric load, I'd happily change the alternator.

I think you're webMD'ing yourself.
Start with the easy things! if fluid is low, top off! then proceed from there.
if whining is in the 30-40mph range, it's the driveshaft.
etc. etc.

I'd say it could be the tensioner going out.

How the hell could it be the camshaft? :rofl:

^that's precisely how I got this crab avatar.
uhh, google...what are these red itchy spots?!?!?!

I was going to say it's probably a pulley on the tensioner assembly. I had mine get noisy every 60K on my TL. Sounded like it was supercharged.

I was going to make a joke about RL making a thread about whining, but I decided not to.
:rockstar:

I had read a thread yesterday where Majofo was mentioning cam, shaft, something. I forgot...

The whine is tiny so once i'm driving, wind noise let alone engine will just mask it. I don't know if its there at 40+mph...

But the tensioner was changed and the bearings together with TB & pump not even a year ago..

Tranny oil was due this summer and I put it off.. It's still very clear on the stick. But I gonna do it now.

Sorry. Crank shaft.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p...%2A%2A-707151/

That OP seemed to be having a similar issue.

If you tested each component in question in engine bay using a long screwdriver or stethoscope, assuming the noise is reproducible while car is not in motion, and noise not heard then any more guesses are futile here. I seriously doubt cam or crankshaft if it is you got bigger issues man. Hell could be differential. Too many variables. Take it to mechanic for diagnosis.

I am interested in this post because I have had the same thing happen to me, I have a 2005 rl with 108000 miles and have experienced this same issue twice.
The last time 1 month ago I put a screw driver on the alternator and heard the bearing noise. Went to the shop to discus replacing the alternator and the need to remove the cooling fans to get the alternator out. but when I got to the repair shop the noise stopped and hasn't recurred again so i'll keep watching it and replace it when it either gets worse or I have a charging issue. Good luck with your issue.

Well just my luck. Pulled into the under ground parking at work today a loud whining noise can be heard from the engine bay at low speeds. It sounds like a mechanical whining noise, if that makes any sense. I am still at work and a bit afraid to drive it home later, my commute is over one hour in mostly stop and go traffic.

I suspect it is either the alternator going bad or the power steering. Will update once resolved. Hopefully soon.

Drove home from my one hour commute. Scared shitless and hoping the alternator doesn't die in traffic. Luckily, after 15 min of driving the whining noise stopped. At home, I disconnected the negative of the battery and the car still ran, so that tells me it isn't the alternator. I then checked the power steering fluid reserve and it was right at the low mark. I used a turkey baster and removed some of the fluid out and it is dark as night (picture below). I filled with new Acura power steering fluid. Needless to say, I will get a full flush and new fluid in ASAP, and hopefully save the power steering from failure.

Does anyone know if power steering fluid damage rubber hoses? I spilled some on the power steering hoses during the process.https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...c6a902b0a9.jpg

Update. Still no whining sound even with a very long commute today. Will do a full flush with new power steering reservoir this weekend. So, for people with similar experience...check your power steering fluid and ensure it isnt dark or low!

I got a sudden whine. i'm uncertain if it is the same one like OP, but it sounds very similar.

It also comes out of the speakers if i set the source to BT Audio. Engaging the gear doesn't change / stop it. In idle i hear it best, obviously, as i revv the engine, the higher the rpm, the louder it is.

Same on the road. Road noise makes it faint, but the higher the rpm while driving the louder it is.

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Only recent thing done is the tranny & transfer case oil change.

TB, tensioner, bearings, pump, changed last year.

Is this serious?

Drive belt too is 1 yr old.

Am I the only one having trouble viewing the videos? I know you loose quality, but try uploading to youtube

Any heads up saving from having to being towed at some point is appreciated.

Ok - so I dropped by a random mechanic, and asked for a stethoscope check on that whine. They checked it, and then called in the boss to hear it and confirm. They are positive it's the AC compressor. I told him i thought maybe alternator.

He said they are close-by above each other, but he hears it louder in the compressor. The bearing of that compressor. He said even if AC is off, that bearing inside is turning anyway with the drive belt. He said it cannot be fixed gotta replace entire compressor.

If left unchanged and bearing seizes, it can snap the drive belt.

Remove the drive belt from the alternator and see if it makes the sound

How about removing the fuse for the AC? Would I stop its bearing from turning?

It's one big drive belt that drives the alternator and A/C pulley so that makes it hard. That sounds suspiciously like what my alternator did when it failed. Does the sound change with the A/C engaged?