Nocturnal

I thought I'd post the Acura case number for the often reported whining noise at about 70 Mi/h in our cars: 1789621. This is probably specific to my car but it may help when you take yours in to the dealer. I don't recommend you have the diff swapped though as it appears all or a majority of them have this defect. Hopefully a large number of complaints will make Acura get to the bottom of this problem and provide a fix.

As reported earlier it appears to be speed and load dependent but not engine rpm dependent. To me this means it's not a wind noise and it's post-tranny. I suppose it's a relief it's probably not the engine and also not the transmission.

Rich in NC

Thanks for the info.
I just returned from a trip.
The whining is irritatiing.
Keep us posted on Acura's response.

bkw

This whining that everyone is experiencing, is it a very high pitched whine that sounds a little like electrical interference, but doesnt fluctuate with engine/electrical load? If so, then our RL has had this from day one.

I had always thought that this was the ANC working so last night we covered both mic's and the noise was still there.

hmm..

Rich in NC

The whining we are talking about is very throttle dependent. Roughly about 20% throttle. Either side of that and it is gone.

stingerbtry

Yeah this is super annoying to me as well. I've driven to LA (about 5 hour drive each way) a couple of times now in the RL and the noise drives me crazy. My wife drives a dodge stratus that makes the same exact noise at pretty much the exact same speed/rpm range and I always attributed that to it being a crappy american car and of course the service people there can never "hear" the noise either. My guess is that it's some sort of harmonic resonance that only occurs under precise conditions but no matter what it is I'd love for them to fix it.

Nocturnal

As I wrote elsewhere on this forum the noise was constant regardless of what gear I was in so it appears independent of throttle position and engine rpm. A slight feathering of the throttle to push-coast-push the car makes the noise change in pitch however. Is this what you are seeing too?

I'm afraid it has something to do with the fancy SH-AWD diff. There are parts in there that can direct torque to specific wheels (sorry for stating the obvious) and as stinger said they appear to have some kind of harmonic resonance at a certain rpm and force combination.

Rich in NC

No, mine is totally throttle dependent. About 20% loading. Either side of that and it is gone.

Nocturnal

Ok, so perhaps there are different problems then.

tyrael

I also reported this with the dealership and they told me to use a different brand of gas. So far it's been in and out. I hesistate on changing because I become guilty without using Chevron with Tech, but we'll see. I told them that this car has used it since the first time I filled up (I now have 11K miles).

A lot of people are starting to post this issue. I rode with a mechanic and he also heard it, but I have to bring my car back in after the "self-test."

stingerbtry

That is absurd dealership crap. The type of gas you use has nothing to do with the noise. I'm amazed at the BS they come up with.

Rich in NC

Any bets it was an order writer trying to pose as a techncican?

raider4

Nocturnal....any resolution from Acura to your whining noise? I have seen this same problem posted many times at several RL sights. To the best of my knowledge there is never an official acknowledgement of the issue. It is the greatest concern I have which is keeping me from purchasing a new RL

whispered

If Acura were to indeed claim that this is an issue, I wonder what the economic implications are for Acura? How many RLs would need to be serviced and how much, since this is not a small issue, would it cost Acura per car? I wonder if this is why SH-AWD has not been released on any other line of Acura. Is this a sign that they know there is an issue?

stingerbtry

The new RDX will have sh-awd. My salesman actually said they had plans to have it in every car by 20XX, I forget what year.

Nocturnal

I have no further info. If I hear anything worthwhile you can be sure I'll post it here.

CCFCP

I have the whine too. Faint, but irritating, from right side. Throttle dependent, about 20%, starting at 70mph and continuing on up (at least through 80). If you let up on the accelerator, it stops; press the accelerator, it starts again.

I think its a reminder that I should be listening to the superb audio system, so I turn that on.

db22

I have also experienced the same issue and my guess is that it is coming from the ignition system. I remember when the first electronic ignitions came out and they too exhibited the amplifier whine.

sotiri

I had the same thought, this is electronic noise coming into the sound system or just one speaker

db22

The noise in my car is not from the audio system, I suspect an amplifier somewhere, again, related to ignition or injection.

Rich in NC

I think what you are hearing may be a different issue. What is at issue in this case is definitely from the rear portion of the drivetrain and is load dependent. About 20 to 40% throttle load. On either side of that it goes away.

Rob144

I took my first road trip in my new RL, and I heard what now must be considered the dreaded whine.

The good news, the car performed well, got 25+ mpg at an average of about 65-72 mph (averaging 27 at one portion of the journey). And the driver's seat was super-comfortable -- reminding me again why I went with the RL over its competitors.

The not-so-good news. As the trip wore on, I began to hear a high-pitched whining sound that came and went seemingly dependent upon throttle position. It was quite annoying, as my passenger was not interested in enjoying the sound system.

Post-journey, I consider the whine a real fly in the ointment. Road/wind noise is one thing, but what is basically a continuous squeal coming from the drivetrain is quite another. Would a GS300 do this?

This seems like one of those things that the service writer will simply write down on the work order as a courtesy, a technician will road test the car and return with "no problem found".

Has anyone had their whine diagnosed/corrected? I hate to mess with it, but something might have to be done.

Rob144

miner

Any chance this could be caused by the infamous 'missing grommets' under the car? It has been noted as causing a hard-to-diagnose noise.

dwboston

No. I get the same whine from time to time and the grommets are installed. It's not wind noise - it's there when the accelerator is depressed at certain speeds and gone when you take your foot off of the accelerator.

db22

It's not wind noise - it's there when the accelerator is depressed at certain speeds and gone when you take your foot off of the accelerator.[/QUOTE]

It must be the accelerator then!

bkw

Mine comes in at 75mph all the time everytime. Dealer stated that he could not test the car to experience the 'whine' due to the fact that we're travelling quite a bit above the speed limit.

FromTLtoRL

This is going to be interesting. I'm still breaking in the car, so I can really test it per say. But I remember during my test drive that I asked about wind noise. Sales rep thought the sunroof was open or something. Hmm.....I hope these are isolated cases.

bkw

Windnoise and drivetrain noise are two totally different things. For windnoise, there's a note published by acura which addresses missing grommits. For the drivetrain whine, Acura have yet to acknowledge the issue.

Mike_TX

The speed limits on interstates in many states is 75, and there is even a stretch of I-20 in west Texas that is 80.

Why not just offer to drive a tech on a nearby freeway so he can hear it. That way, it would be YOU breaking any laws and his excuse goes away.
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ralteredstates

The whine is an issue I posted about about 10 months ago. It becomes apparent just around 35mph then disappears about 45mph and then comes back over 60-65mph. It is extremely irritating (but can't hear it with the wonderful stereo on) and 2 days after I purchased the car I brought it back to the dealer. A mechanic came for a ride with me and also noticed it. We then took a just delivered car out for a test drive and it had the exact same noise at the same speeds. It is in the drive train - probably in the differential - and they know about it but nothing to do about it. I reported it to Honda N.A. and there it sits. It is clearly a design flaw which is not dangerous so will probably not be fixed. Just crank up your tunes and fagetaboutit!!

ralteredstates

P.S.guys: This will probably be my last post. I jumped the gun and traded in the RL on the new LS460. I'm in love again. It is truely an amazing car. I will miss the awd, DVD audio (didn't shell out the extra mula for the Mark Levinson system)and the superior Nav(Lexus still treats us like children and deactivates a lot of the nav functions when moving). But...the car rides and handles as slick as they get. Black on Black (first for me). Looks great even though it looks like a fancy Camry. Engine is effortless. It feels like an invisible rocket is pulling/pushing the car. Without a doubt the most comfortable car I have ever been in. See you in the left lane!

Mike_TX

Hey, raltered - Congrats on the new LS!

I drove it (altho briefly) at the Taste of Lexus last weekend. Utterly nice car. But we old retired guys have trouble making ourselves dip deep enough into the IRA for that kind of money. We can still envy you, though ...
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bkw

Congrats! We'll be trading in our 06 LS430 in 08 for the LS460awd SWB.

Wonder if the 'hack' works for the 460 like it does on the 430 to get you control of the buttons while moving.

Quick question, how do you like the nav and how is it compared to the RL's? The navi on the 430 is abosultely horrible, and hoping that the new version is comparable to Acura's.

miner

I have only 12XX miles on my '06 and I have not heard the discussed whine mentioned in this thread. From what others are saying it is quite noticable, so I am sure I would have heard it if it was a problem with my car. My VIN is in the 10XXX range.

jftjr

Ditto -- I've had an '05 and an '06, and put over 10K on each. Never heard the whine.

Maybe only you young guys with better high-range hearing can hear it.

ralteredstates

The Nav on the LS can't hold a candle to the RL except a nicer screen. A pain to use and the voice activation (which is very limited) is not even close to the RL's. Acura should be congradulated for coming up with an excellent system in late 04 when Lexus can't even get close in late 06. Otherwise, the LS is slick. Give the RL a stronger engine, slightly better ride, nicer original wheels and you are as close to perfect as it would get.

dwboston

I brought my car into the dealer this morning to have some rattles taken care of and to have them investigate the driver door/window/B pillar wind noise. I also mentioned the engine whining noise to them and they said they would look into it. The tech drove the car on the highway and validated the whining noise - he has a call into the Acura Tech Line, so they're keeping the car overnight. I don't really expect a solution, but hopefully Acura will find something out since a more than a few people have this annoyance.

photonbeam7

Yes, I too have the whine, which occurs at 63 mph. The dealer said they can hear
the sound but have no idea what could be causing it. They called Acura techline and they "Said" they don't know what the problem could be either. Stay tuned.

dwboston

I got a message today from the service advisor that they wanted to keep the car for another night because the Acura Tech Line got back to them and wanted the service tech to "try a couple of things" tomorrow to remedy the situation. I called to ask what the couple of things were but the advisor didn't get back to me before they closed at 5.

dwboston

Update: Received a call back from the service advisor this morning. The 2 items Acura wanted done in regards to the engine whining are: (1) Disconnect the shifter cable from the transmission. If the whine then goes away there is an "updated cable" to install. If that doesn't work then (2) Swap out the transfer case.

I'm not mechanically inclined so I have no idea whether these changes would have any effect.

dwboston

Update: Replacing the shifter cable and transfer case did not solve the engine whining. The service manager consulted with Acura, and Acura insisted on replacing the transmission. The service manager said that Acura felt the whining was a serious issue and not a normal operating characteristic and the whine hinted at problems down the road. I wonder why others with the same complaint haven't received the same "fixes." Is this a test case for them?

It's kind of ironic: I got out of my 2003 TL-S because of the transmission issues (and the fact that my car wasn't included in the 100,000 mile transmission warranty extension) and the transmission in the RL is being replaced after 6 months of ownership. What happens if they replace the tranny and the engine still whines? Do I get a replacement SH-AWD system after that?

What's funny is that I mentioned the engine whine in an offhanded way. I brought it in to have some rattles fixed and to see if they could do something about wind noise from the driver door/window. I never thought most of the drivetrain would be replaced.