04 Acura TSX 6th Gear Whine (6MT)

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Jun 15, 2022
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I have a high pitch whine when I'm in 6th gear and applying throttle. It is more pronounced between 70-80mph and drops off below or above that speed. I was told by the seller that this was common on these transmissions at this mileage (270k). Is there any sort of mitigation I can do to reduce the noise? The car has been running Honda MTF and there are no obvious shifting problems. I've had the car for 20k miles.
 
Check the manual transmission fluid for any metal particles, drain and fill if there are.
 
Could possibly be a bad bearing. Drain and fill and maybe send a basic sample. Try to have a small fine metal filter like a metal coffee filter type screen to see if you can catch any large particles that initially come out.

What does the owners manual say to use. It being 240k it's probably got some wear and may need a slightly thicker oil which I've poured into my old 5mt truck with no issues. You can buy valvoline or pennzoil synchromesh for $10 a quart. At AutoZone or online like at amazon. Both are around 8.8-9cst which would be a very thin 5w-30 and not too thick.
 
The vehicle was serviced under the severe duty cycle which says to change the M/T fluid every 60k/3 yrs (standard is 120k/8 yrs).
The manual calls for Honda MTF. I'm not sure what the cold/hot visc is for that. My other cars take MT-90 and Motul 300 Gear.
The noise doesn't seem temp dependent as i get it when cold and after extended periods of driving.
Is there a particular additive pack that might influence the damping?
 
This is an interesting case. Back in 82 I purchased a new Accord 5-speed which whined in top gear and was annoying on the interstate. Honda said it was "normal" so it never got sorted out.
 
If you don't have proof of maintenance, assume none. Verify MT fluid level. Or, simply drain/refill it with OE MTF.
At this point, with that many miles, might be time for an overhaul.


Originally, Hondacura MTF was a replacement for 30 grade(10-11cst) motor oil that was used in their older manuals. Has gotten thinner over the years.

If you are sure there is no issues with cv joints, wheel bearings.... then you can use something a little thicker to muffle some MT noise. Try Redline MTL or Amsoil MTF.

RoyalPurple Synchromax, Valvoline Synchromesh, and BG SyncroShift are a few options similar to the OE MTF.
 
I have quite the stack of receipts of work performed by the PO so I trust it was done (he wants to buy it back when I'm done with it). Wheel bearings and front end suspension I did in the last few months.
I'll see about swapping to one of those fluids. I've got a fleet of 4 cars so finding a common fluid for them all would be nice.
I figure a rebuild is in order at some point, but trying a thicker fluid might be enough to just reduce the annoyance for another couple of years. The trans shifts and runs just fine other than this.
 
270,000 miles is a fair-few miles, well, particularly for rolling element bearings - where swarf in the lubricant (due to wear) circulates unabatedly (i.e. no filters, no pressure circulation system).
 
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