R18 5MT transmission whine

[hey_mikey]

I know there aren't a lot out there, but i was hoping to get a little feedback from any other R18 owners here with the 5-speed manual. Anyway, when I drive home at a anything more than a moderately fast pace, my transmission starts to exhibit a noticeable whine in the lower gears (1st-3rd) at higher RPMs. I live on a curvy mountain road, so I shift up and down quite often during my commute, but it's most apparent when driving uphill after work. It's very noticeable at times, even drowning out the engine and exhaust notes (resonator delete + Si axleback). Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[webby]

are we talking about illegal speeds, or is this something you can have a honda tech ride with you and experience this noise? If you can have a tech ride, I would do that... the axelback and resonator delete are not going to void your warranty.

 

[hey_mikey]

are we talking about illegal speeds, or is this something you can have a honda tech ride with you and experience this noise? If you can have a tech ride, I would do that... the axelback and resonator delete are not going to void your warranty.

no not illegal speeds. 2nd gear is most noticeable, from about 4k rpm to redline. maybe like 40-60mph. i haven't noticed it when the car is cold. just when it starts to heat up after driving hard for a few minutes

 

[ethlar]

I hope this isnt what happend with your brand new car, but my 06 lx had the same issue a few years ago, most likely a result of some of my back road drives. Turned out the whine was the mainshaft bearing had gotten dislodged from its correct position and the gears were interfering more than they should and grinding themselves up. I dont think i reached the point where it was drowning out the motor or exhaust but it was definitely enough that i could tell there was an issue.

Fortunately my dealer got Honda to cover it under the CPO limited powertrain warranty

How noticeable is noticeable, like straight cut gears noticeable? I was running the 8th gen Si axleback on my car at the time as well. Shortly after the repair i purchased base and cable bushings too.

 

[webby]

I'd call or stop by the dealership and talk to a tech. See if you can schedule a time to go for a ride, and take them on the road/spot where you're having that noise happen.

 

[hey_mikey]

Yea I'm familiar with straight cut gears, and at times it's definitely reminiscent of that. If it was an issue like you had I would think it would be noticeable all the time, not just when the engine and trans are hot? I'll try to get a video and talk to one of our techs at work today

 

[hey_mikey]

here's a video of the sound.

 

[webby]

yeah, that is not normal. Not sure what Ethlar's car sounded like, but this needs looked at by a dealership

 

[hey_mikey]

yeah. sucks because i just got the car in march, and it's made the noise ever since but i never thought anything of it. i doubt i'll be able to do anything about it right now since it's getting dropped off at the port to ship to our new home in NC on Monday.

 

[webby]

well, you'll have shops in NC that can check out your ride

 

[hey_mikey]

dealership had time to take a look at it today (my day off). at least they were able to take it in. helps to have friends in the service dept. hopefully it's nothing serious. i'll let you know what they say.

 

[webby]

like you may know something today/tonight?

 

[ethlar]

sorry, been at work all day and they block everything, it sounds a lot like my car did, maybe a bit louder

 

[webby]

so ethlar - your car was perfectly fine for like 4yrs, and then started making a similar noise out of nowhere?

 

[ethlar]

to my perception yea, one day i drove to work and happened to notice the extra whine

 

[hey_mikey]

they say nothing's wrong with it. it's recorded in their system that i have a complaint, so i guess i drive it til it breaks?

 

[ethlar]

yea i guess that works for now, youve got a record of they say nothings wrong so when it grenades you can tell them they shoulda fixed it and should cover the repair or something

 

[webby]

did yours actually break, or they fixed it prior? ^^

 

[ethlar]

they fixed it prior, initially thought it was clutch related but upon transmission teardown it was obvious. They told me the gears were grinding into each other to cause the sound and eventually theyd wear out

 

[webby]

interesting. Well, another shop could look at it when he gets to NC