What's new

High pitched wind noise at motorway speeds from front of the car

baloghjocc

Members
Messages
14
Reaction score
3
Location
Berkshire
Car
Honda Accord mk7
Hello everyone.
I want to share my experience with this frustrating problem, because it took me more than a half year to resolve it, so anyone with the same issue might find this useful.

#Problem: High pitched wind noise from front of the car, only above 50-60 mph. Problem is not model specific.
#Workaround: Turn up the volume on the radio :)
#Details and fault finding:
The noise came from the front windshield and wing mirror area, but I was unable to determine the exact location.
Basically, it came from “everywhere” and trust me, it was really annoying.
It was a very high pitched sound, like a boiling kettle or turbo whistle. Irrespective of engine RPM, gear selection or throttle position.
- With windows up or down, it did not make much difference.
- My windscreen has been replaced due to a crack, but it made no difference at all.
- Checked all door and window seals, wing mirror seals, all in good shape
- Replaced wiper blades
- Drove with removed wiper arms
- Drove with folded wing mirrors
- Masked / taped around everything at the front: cowl cover, all gaps and vents, all plastic trims around the windscreen and around the wing mirror
- Let a friend drive the car and I tried to listen to noise changes whilst pushing against inside panels and glass etc. I even tried to locate the source of the noise with a sensitive microphone and spectrometer (installed on a smartphone)
- Sealed all gaps between cowl cover and windscreen etc.
- I replaced the seal under the bonnet, the one that sits in the back end of the engine bay, closest to the windshield.
All above was useless, made no difference at all and it drove me nuts!!!
The noise disappeared only when driving behind a lorry (or bus).

#Solution:
One day (I don’t remember how) I found a Russian forum entry describing the same issue (some drive2.ru - had to use Google Translate for it).
The root cause was the front bonnet seal, that sits between the headlights+grille and the bonnet lip at the front end. This is a slim rubber strip held in place with small plastic clips.
The guy wrote on the page, that a missing clip or a damaged seal can cause the noise problem. He also mentioned that he tested it by simply removing the seal from the bonnet.
I thought, why not give this a try? I removed the rubber seal carefully and took the motorway to get to work.
Guess what… Hallelujah! No more wind whistle. All gone. :D

Of course, I will replace the seal with a new one. Not cheap, but it is there to prevent dirt and water ingress into the engine bay.
If anyone interested, here are the part numbers:
91518SM4003 - CLIP, TRUNK MOLDING: £3.94 each(!) from Honda - but you can buy 10 for the same price on eBay.
4974144SEA010 - RUBBER, HOOD SEAL: £50.18 from Honda
 
Thanks for sharing.. glad it’s solved
 
Top