Honda tranny whine

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I have a 2007 Honda Accord with a 2.4 and a A/T.. It has 90,000 on it....Yes I drive alot.... I have noticed over the past month or so since I installed Michelin Primacy tires and gear type transmission sound. The reason that I mentioned the tires is because these tires are sooo quit over the OEM Michelins that you hear everthing now not road noise like before. The slight whine is between 40 and 45 and around 50 to 60. It is not loud and if you have the radio on you probably wont hear it. The whine seem to happen the most when you are at these speeds and you have a very slight acceleration... I mean a very light load. It sounds like a gear type whine and not a wheel bearing. I have eleiminated the engine because I have drove at 60 mph and put it in nueteral and turned the engine off and you can hear it very slightly as it slows don through those speeds mentioned above... I have read other posts on other site that this is common on the Honda and even the acura... The fluid is fresh and I change it. Any Honda owners out there or transmission experts out there.... That can give me any advice on this as if it something to worry about or not....other that the whine the transmission work with no problems at all....fluid has always been nice and pink with just a little crud on the drain bolt when I change the fluid. I want to keep the car for a while but if a transmission issue may be cropping up I may not.....Thanks
 
I could definitely be wrong, but I've had something similar happen to me twice, once in an 05 Focus and now with my 97 Legacy. Not knowing any better I took the Focus in to the dealership 4 times to have them figure out what the noise was. They replaced two bearings, but the noise remained. I replaced the tires when they were worn and voila, no more noise. The Legacy's noise shifted when I rotated the tires.

I'm no expert, but I think the transmission pump is powered by the engine. I'm not sure, but I don't think shutting the car off with the car in motion in an auto transmission is a good idea. Can any one back me up on this?
 
I have a manual, but mine makes a noise like a jet engine taking off, very quiet, between 2500 and 3000 with light acceleration. Not sure if it's the same.

I thought it was the power steering pump. Still could be, but I changed out the fluid and the noise didn't change. Happens when engine is at full temp, so now I think it could be the timing chain. Will try 5-30 next. Doesn't really bother me, isn't loud enough for my wife to hear. Could just be what a timing chain engine sounds like, but our D17 Civic had a timing belt and made a similar whine (also manual).

I have BFG Advantage tires, noise was the same with the Bridgestones it came with.
 
Originally Posted By: bepperb
I have a manual, but mine makes a noise like a jet engine taking off, very quiet, between 2500 and 3000 with light acceleration. Not sure if it's the same.

I thought it was the power steering pump. Still could be, but I changed out the fluid and the noise didn't change. Happens when engine is at full temp, so now I think it could be the timing chain. Will try 5-30 next. Doesn't really bother me, isn't loud enough for my wife to hear. Could just be what a timing chain engine sounds like, but our D17 Civic had a timing belt and made a similar whine (also manual).

I have BFG Advantage tires, noise was the same with the Bridgestones it came with.


My transmission is notoriously noisy, especially so in gears one and two. After installing shifter bushings it sounds like you describe, being louder with higher load. I'm not sure how old your car is, but maybe the bushings are old, dried and hard. Might be a stretch, but maybe worth checking into.
 
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I know the V6s all whine a bit, and it's transmission-related.

If it gets super loud, you can convince the dealer to replace the transmission. That's what happened to a friend who owned an '04 TL. He convinced the dealer to replace the transmission, but the reman unit still whined a little.

The 4-cyl transmissions are very reliable so I wouldn't worry about the whine.
 
Normal. The only ATF I have found that quiets this "gear whine" is RL D4. It is now hardly audible on the highway. The design of the transmission ( essentially an automatic manual) as you are probably aware, creates this noise.

I found the best soulution to the problem is to sell the car and buy a Toyota/Lexus!
lol.gif
 
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Originally Posted By: AzFireGuy79
I found the best soulution to the problem is to sell the car and buy a Toyota/Lexus!
lol.gif



Yeah, at least his transmission still works. I can't say the same for all Toyota 6-speed autos.
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Don't turn off your engine and coast with that automatic trans. You could really foul things up.
Some noise is normal. A car is a mechanical device, and yours is not brand new.
Tires are still a suspect, as is the ring and pinion, and possibly wheel bearings. If you have a axle shaft support bearing, that is also a possibility.
But:
tires
final drive gears
wheel bearings
There just isn't that much there.
 
Originally Posted By: AzFireGuy79
Normal. The only ATF I have found that quiets this "gear whine" is RL D4. It is now hardly audible on the highway. The design of the transmission ( essentially an automatic manual) as you are probably aware, creates this noise.

I found the best soulution to the problem is to sell the car and buy a Toyota/Lexus!
lol.gif



My dad has a 2007 Lexus ES350 and I have a '09 Acura TL and I will take the TL anytime over that Lexus. Once my dad left the house door to the garage open and started his TL and it literally sounded like a diesel for the first couple of minutes before quieting down. He also had a 3rd to 4th gear transmission flare since the beginning and I have changed fluids to getting the ECU reflashed and it is still there. Lexus/Toyota refuses to do anything about it and says its normal.

On the other hand, I have no issues with the TL, runs quiet from the get go and no no transmission chatter at any speed.
 
After putting in 6 quarts of redline D4 ATF the noise is gone. I plan on getting another 6 quarts and do two more drain and fill. Also there is no difference in the shift quality over the Z1....
 
Very interesting. For years, I was sucked into the idea that Honda's MUST use only Z1 in their ATF's. After much reading & listening to other owners, I hesitantly tried Amsoil ATF in a Honda.

Never looked back. The Z1 is very over-hyped, and depending on the Honda dealer(s) in your area, can be a real hassle to buy at a fair price.

Good for you .... lesson learned.

For the record, a friend of mine had an 04 Accord 2.4 automatic that he drove 195K till he sold it. I serviced it frequently - maybe 7 times in that 195K with Z1 fluid (drain & refill) and changed the factory in-line filter once around 100K. He sold the car to a local guy -- the car now has 235K or so. No transmission issues at all. Honda has their transmission issues, but this 2003-2007 4 cylinder application seems to be rock solid.
 
I know exactly what your problem is. I had an 01 civic that had that same annoying whine only while it was in gear. I had my transmission replaced and it still made the noise. it is the one way bearing! The idiot that did my trans forgot to change it but thats what the problem is. Change that and your noise will be gone.. only prob is you have to take your trans off to get to it so you might want to change your clutch while your down there
 
Honda and Allison transmissions have a tendency to talk, but that generation of Accord is prone to transmission issues.
 
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