I know this has been beaten to death in the forums before, I just want a second opinion on this. After reading all the past threads I could find on this I'm wondering if I could have a differential problem. I know there are some noises associated with the Torsen differential. Here are all the factors surrounding this:

- There is a definite "woosh woosh woosh" sound (think dull spinning fan) that occurs only at low speeds when I'm coming to a rolling stop in neutral. Actually, I think I usually have the clutch disengaged. It seems to be coming from the rear driver side, although that may be just because I'm obviously on that side. At first I thought something might have been caught in the tire well but I don

 

May just be the normal sound of a brake rotor that's not quite perfectly true. Then again it might be a stuck caliper. Hard to tell for sure over the internet. The only-when-warm clue points away from the diff I think.

Others correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the noted diff noise seem to come from the passenger side?

 

At 24K my '00 is in service for some unexplained differential noises (and TSB 54/55). I'll let you know what they find.

 

do a slow U-turn and listen for cap'n crunch w/ crunch berries.

If so, it's the Torsen

 

oops, nevermind..

 

I had my car in service last week. I was concerned about a faint noise that sounded like whoo whoo whoo as the wheels turned. The noise would get slightly louder as I put some pressure on the brakes. It only occurs at low speed and I cannot feel any loss of breaking power or thumping from the brake pedal. The dealer told me that some noise is normal for cars with large brake rotors.

This car makes lot of mechanical noises that are considered "normal" by Honda. I guess some noise is a sacrifice I'm willing to take for a true sports car. It would be real annoying to me if the car itself rattled. This is one tightest Honda's I've ever owned despite being a convertible.


John

 

Thanks for the responses guys...

After a little more driving this weekend I'm a little less inclined to think it's the differential. The sound seems to appear when I hit a bump in the road but will just as quickly disappear after driving a short distance. It doesn't appear to happen just when I'm coasting to a stop with the clutch disengaged either - I heard it as I was driving along slowly in 3rd as well.

It might be normal or something might be loose back there - either way, I won't be satisfied until I take it to the dealer. I just hope I can duplicate it for them.

 

An update, for those interested:

I took the car into the dealership today since the sound continued to be intermittent. I took a test drive with the tech and thankfully he heard the same sound. He didn't have any ideas what the problem was off-hand, although he had some suspicions. I left it at the dealer and they gave me a call later in the day. After checking various things, including the suspension, they looked at the differential fluid - I'm told it was very dirty (as a reminder, I have now approximately 4800mi on the car). They replaced the differential fluid, drove it around and didn't hear any noise. Then they brought it back, drained it again to be sure it was completely cleaned out and re-filled it. I was told to keep an ear out for a repeat of the sound, but they felt that would solve the problem.

I've read the other threads on this topic and it appears that dirty differential fluid is common, especially the first time it's changed. It seems my original fear of it being the differential was justified, at least in part. Given what I've read on this topic, I'll assume no permanent damage was done. At least I had my differential fluid changed for free...it was actually one of the more pleasant experiences I've had at the dealer. They gave me no hassle whatsoever and were more then helpful.

For those who haven't done it already, it might be a good idea to change differential fluid early on to avoid even the outside chance of possible problems.