Hi everyone,
today my S started making a loud whining noise coming from the back. The noise is louder at higher speeds, with the transmission engaged .. if I step off the gas or put the transmission in neutral, it seems to go away. Could it be the differential going bad?! I have always replaced the fluids on time and have never "abused"the car (track, ect...). I have 60,000 miles.

One last thing... this happened while away from home.. at a meet.. i have to travel 250 miles to go back home before I can have Honda look at it... I don't know what to do.... any advice is highly appreciated!



thanks

 

Does the sound change when you change gears, or is it solely, and directly, related to the speed of the car (noting that it only happens when in gear as you have stated)?
This is exactly what happened to me years ago...definitely a differential problem.

***Before you take my advice, get another opinion!!!***

I'd say don't drive it that far...get a flatbed out there or limp to a closer dealership. If you MUST drive the car to your home town, then you should change the fluid first; then drive it.
If you change the fluid, make sure to keep the old stuff (or at the very least inspect it), as you'll want to analyze it.

 

Its its road speed dependent, and not RPM dependent, the cause of the noise is somewhere between the tranny output shaft and the differential. No noise from this area is a good noise.

 

Often after long drives or sometime just tempermental...the FUEL PUMP will wine.

After a long drive to Las Vegas and on the way home the fuel pump would wine. This would be considered normal.

If the wine is "mechanical" then tendency would be to think it was the differential.

 

I'm inclined to believe it's the diff. It would seem that the whine is mostly associated with the back of the driveline being under power. It could be one of the pinion bearings. In particular, the outer pinion bearing seems to take the brunt of the transfer of power into the diff. I am reluctant to say it's the actual gears themselves as these would make the whine regardless of being loaded.

What have you replaced the diff fluid with? Brand, GL rating, viscosity? However, the wrong fluid tends to be more detrimental to the LSD than the pinion bearings.

 

I agree, with the way you describe it, it could just be a bearing. Along with the questions xviper asked, have you checked under the car at the point of the pinion and half shafts to see if they are leaking oil?

 

Ok... here's the latest. I managed to drive the car home (55mph x 250miles) and can now describe the noise in more detail. ( I know I should have it towed home but it would have costed me a FORTUNE)

The whining noise (the faster I go the louder it gets) is present only when stepping on the gas (accellerating or keeping speed constant). It goes away when I let off the gas or put the transmission in neutral (with the car moving...).

Another weird thing that I noticed (the day before this noise started) was that when taking off from a standstill in first gear and the tranny is engaged it felt as if the rear wheels were slipping a bit. I'm starting to think that it could be the clutch... could this be possible?

thanks for all your help.!

 

Anything is possible, but I'm not feeling this one. The clutch may still be acting up in those circumstances, but I think this may be coincidental with the other thing that's happening.

 

Sounds like the differential is shot to me (classic symptom = whine under power that dissappears on the overrun).

 

I had those EXACT symptoms. Then I had a new differential. Start looking for a used one if you can't afford a new one...I was lucky enough to have proof that I was not at fault for what happened to mine.