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Droning whine above 30 mph, advice please

raffy

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Glasgow
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2006 2.4l Exec Auto
Hi folks,
I've got a 2006 Accord 2.4 exec auto which I bought with 70k on the clock 8 mths ago...now on 78k...over the last month or so I've noticed a droning noise when I go over 30mph....I jacked up each corner and can't detect any bearing issues (no evident play on the wheel and each wheel turns happily with car in neutral). I'm wondering if its the tyres...it had 4 nearly new tyres on it when I bought the car but they're not that exotic, Davantis on the front and some Chinese nomakes on the back...just wondering why the noise should have started creeping up ...is there any other way of diagnosing a bearing issue ?. I need to get the car in the garage soon anyway as the PS fluid cooler pipe is weeping but appreciate any advice before then
Thanks in advance
 
Bearing noise is not constant, it gets louder/quieter as you the car follows a curved road at speed and the weight transfers on/off the noisy bearing. This is a fairly distinctive way to identify bearing noise.

Driveshafts tend to become noisier during acceleration/deceleration.

Could be a brake wear indicator?
 
Cheers Jon, I havn't been driving the car much over the last couple of months as my wife has been driving it but I escaped with it over the weekend...nothing seems out of the ordinary when cornering and its only on the straights above 30 when the drone becomes noticeable...unfortunately I havn't had the opportunity to take it on a run where there's any fast corners. No evident play or grinding when I spin the wheels, I also replaced the rear disks and pads when I got the car and they're certainly not binding...the fronts however may need some attention soon as disks lipped but plenty of meat on the pads until I get round to it. The fronts obviously don't spin as freely as the rears but I gather this is thanks to the diff/driveshafts. I checked the brake shields and they don't appear to be fouling the discs. As for driveshafts I thought about them as I've read stories of them being a fairly common issue...last time I changed the oil I looked at them and apart from light corrosion they seem ok and I gave them a light cover of grease for protection. I tried some decent acceleration and there's no juddering or knocking. Also checked the gearbox oil level (all fine) as I had the tranny flushed fairly recently...all in all the car is running grand apart from this bliddy drone (and weeping cooler !)
 
Maybe worth swapping front and rear tyres?

Does the drone vary in relation to speed or engine RPM?

Is it the PAS cooler that's leaking? Be careful, mine suddenly 'went' while I was out and dumped all the fluid during the journey home. But an easy repair, other than having to remove the bumper!
 
I think its speed as being an auto the box likes to keep the revs around 2k...once over 30mph the drone increases and becomes more noticeable....funny how its only really come on over the last month or so.
As for the cooler pipe yeah I've just got to get hold of a suitable pipe and get it replaced. I've kept an eye on the PS level and only had to give it a slight top up so far but its evidently weeping. I'd have a go replacing it myself but never replaced PS fluid before and afraid of trapped air etc !
 
The PAS system is easy to bleed, simply turn the steering from lock-to-lock a few times, it's basically self-bleeding.

If you decide to flush the system (which is a better idea) then remove the return to the reservoir, redirect it into a 2L coke bottle, seal the reservoir return stub with an earplug and completely fill the reservoir with fresh fluid. Have an ***istant start the engine and immediately turn the steering from lock-to-lock while you pour in at least 1L of fresh fluid. You need to do all this in less than 10 seconds, as the pump flow is very high!
 
Cheers Jon, I'm tempted to give it a go. As I will be replacing the cooler pipe anyway (and this is low pressure) would it make sense to empty the system first, replace the pipe then do a refill ? as the pipe will be removed I could empty the old fluid through the rubber hose the pipe connects to ?

As for the drone all advice again appreciated...I'm hoping it is tyres and nothing serious and expensive !
 
You can't quite drain all the PAS system from the cooler end, as the rack sits a little lower. But it doesn't matter... If you flush it as I suggest the new fluid will push out the old stuff. I wasn't joking about having to be quick!

The cooler is surprisingly expensive from Honda. Mine was a simple 10mm pipe with a few bends, no fins, no brackets... It would be easy to fettle a new one using 10mm copper microbore pipe from, say, Screwfix. But mine was only corroded along a 40mm section along the bottom so I cut that part out and grafted in a section of braided 3/8" fuel pipe using hose clips. Worse part is removing the bumper... Make a note of where the clips all come out, as there are about 3 different types used!

Good luck in finding that noise.
 
Thanks a lot mate, I've got Honda ps fluid, axle stands and the like so will have a go with a repair and full flush..Cheers again
 
Well the noise has been getting worse so dropped the car into my regular garage.. They reckon the rear offside bearing is goosed (shame as car only done 78k)... As for price they say 90 plus vat for labour, as for parts they think the bearings and hub maybe all one unit.., Any thoughts ? Price wise they say £140 from Honda or£90 OEM.. I'll call Holdcroft tomorrow but anyone here had joy with rear bearings ? Thanks in advance
 
The rear bearings on the 7th gen Accords are easy to replace. There is a difference between the saloon and Tourer, the saloon is marginally simpler to fit.

Honda part number for saloon = 42200-sea-951

£90 for labour sounds steep, unless they're charging £90 per hour

You can get the bearing on ebay, starting at £35, all the way up to the dealer price of £185

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=honda+42200-sea-951&_sop=15
 
Many thanks for the reply Freddo...after doing a wee bit of digging I didn't realise the bearing & hub was a straightforward replace...I did the discs and pads a wee while back so have the tools to give the bearings a go...I take it there's nothing I have todo with regards the ABS sensors etc ? I saw a bearing replacement guide here on the forum but unfortunately all the Photobucket pics have disappeared. Looks like I can get a Nordic or GSP bearing/hub for about £45 with 3 year warranty...noting to lose by having a go myself... Thanks again for your help guys..appreciate it
 
Great keep us posted and tools a guide with pics of possible

Sent from my LG-K100 using Tapatalk
 
Will do Saj...lots of pics needed...
Freddo, just a quick query..whereabouts did you get your part number from ? I;ve looked on the lings website and the official schemas and its coming up with partno PFKL580912...I can find a number of compatible ***emblies that match the number 42200 number above but not the PFKL number...I'm hoping they are pretty much one and the same ? Any clarification much appreciated before I order...in addition I can see a Nordic ***emble that includes ABS sensor...I guess I won't know what I'm faced with until I get behind the disc...!
 
Those PFKL numbers are unique to that particular dealer, you have to remove "_pfk" from the url to convert them to Honda part numbers.

Note that my car is the Tourer so I haven't done a saloon bearing - the Tourer bearing is also sealed but it comes away from the spindle, which is integral with the knuckle, whereas on the saloon the bearing and spindle are integral and bolt onto the knuckle. But you shouldn't need an ABS sensor because the sensor is not an integral part of the bearing/spindle on either car.

I'd be careful with those Nordic ones, someone only gave them a one-star rating, and it's going to be difficult to get an ebay seller to uphold a warranty several weeks/months after the purchase.

If you want the photobucket pictures you can right-click and "open in new tab", then do the same in the new tab and the picture should be visible in the next tab, and you can "save as" to save it to disc.
 
Ah, I see cheers Freddo...many thanks for the info...I think I'll give blueprint parts a go, came across this one which I think will fit and has decent warranty for £68:

https://www.buycarparts.co.uk/blue-print/2887828

I can get the Nordic equivalent from Redline via Amazon for £45 but I've seen better reviews of Blueprint gear.
Another job to add to the list..on top of sorting my weeping / corroded PS steering cooler and flaky rear bumper where I had a little run in...the joys of running older cars, gives me an excuse to get the tools out !
 
That looks the correct one

At least the weather is still ok for DIY work ;)

Just to be sure, this is the thread for saloon rear bearing replacement --> http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/4614-diy-rear-hub-bearing-***embly/

Just right-click on each image, use "open image in new tab", go to new tab, repeat procedure, then in that new tab, right-click and "save image as"
Might be sightly different in IE
 
Cheers mate, yes it's a saloon I've got.. I'll get some pics up as I go.. Have a good weekend folks
 
Hi folks,
well I successfully replaced the rear bearing/hub...I must apologise in that I don't have any pics as I was covered in oil and grease most of the time and the clock was ticking !. Fortunately, as mentioned earlier, if you can change disks and pads then changing the hub is a doddle. Once the caliper, caliper carrier and disk is removed you're faced with the offending hub...you'll see the ends of four bolts sticking out the front of the hub facing you, these are what needs unbolted (bolt heads around the back of course). These freed off after a good dose of penetrating oil and some work with the breaker bar. Some decent taps with a rubber hammer all the way round each wheel stud got the hub moving..but be careful, try and remove the hub evenly..the wheel speed sensor is lurking inside the hub so best if you can knock the hub off evenly. I got a Blueprint bearing/hub from Amazon for £72, nicely made and perfect replacement fit...just cleaned out the facing plate, bit of grease and new hub gently slotted into place. Torqued the 4 bolts back up to 60nm. Interesting putting the caliper back as found one of the slider pins was seized...that was a right faff pulling that out of the caliper carrier..cleaned it up with emery and lashings of silicon grease..all good to go again but think I'll order some new pins for the future. Anyway, droning sound has gone and wheel spinning freely. Took a couple of hours in total (most of that dealing with the slider pin !) so saved me £100 in garage labour
 
Bit scary running on no name tyres tho with that motor :blink:
Glad you found the source of the drone, I would have said no name tyres first :wacko:
Mine has done 120k no drones on original bearings. My trouble n strifes Avensis is on 150k original bearings no drones. But our cars always have decent tyres and pressures kept in check, avoid banging up kerbs, going too fast over speed bumps (as some stupid drivers tend to do these days almost jump them) and we've never had wheel bearing problems on any of our cars. Sometimes when I see a car has been through wheel bearings at young miles I often wonder how it's been used and possibly abused (yes I know they can wear and tear too before you lot start kicking off).
 
Hi David, with no apparent noise from the bearings when you checked them, just curious if you replaced both rear bearings or if not how you managed to identify which one was at fault ?.. having the same issue with my 95k Accord and like you on initial investigation by jacking each corner up can find no obvious bearing at fault
 
Hi Raffy
I have a 57 reg 2.2 diesel saloon and have the same problem with droning from the rear offside, i've done 165k. It is the wheel bearing hub that is failing and needs replacing. I've found one from a reputable source online for just under £50 with a 2 year warranty. Just need to get my mechanic to fit it now ;-)
Having watched a Youtube video, it's an hours job and looks fairly straightforward. Hope it goes well.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOR-HONDA-ACCORD-2-0-2-2-CTDi-2-4-REAR-WHEEL-BEARING-HUB-KIT-***EMBLY-2003-2008/150657173447
 
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