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'04 Transmission Whine

3K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  OdyVanMan04 
#1 ·
Hello again all,
For the last few months, my Odyssey has been whining whenever power is being applied to the wheels. The frequency of the whine is directly proportional to the speed of the car, not the engine, and does not happen when the car is in park (I tried revving the engine as well, nothing). My main mechanic told me it was nothing to worry about, just be gentle with the transmission and it's got a good 50,000 miles left but I wanted a second opinion so I took it to a place that specializes in transmissions today. The technician took it for a drive, heard the whine, and diagnosed a worn out transmission differential with a prognosis of maybe 5,000 more miles. Who do I believe?
Paul
 
#2 ·
Halfway between the first and second guy. 50k might be a stretch but there's no point in replacing a transmission as a preventative measure. AAA (CAA in Canada) exists for a reason.

The ATF looks good? Maybe consider installing an aftermarket transmission cooler if you haven't done so already.
 
#14 ·
LOL! I thought it was just me. I also have a late '04, knocking on 200k. I just had a mechanical tell me not to spend the money on a front steering/suspension redo as the transmission whine "is a sign of impending death." (-:
 
#7 ·
when I had my new updated case trans installed that is the exact reason why, when it was taken apart to be rebuilt the main bearings were worn and groved the shaft, he couldn't say if the case was warped so I went with the updated trans so this wouldn't happen again, it was a loud whine to say the least, funny thing was it took 3 transmissions to get it right, they also had a small whine from first drive, from what I was told later the main bearings were installed incorrect and they failed, I would do a simple drain and fill and that would quiet some of the whine maybe even get rid of it. 398k on the van, 112k on this trans and no issues whatsoever.
 
#8 ·
Quick update; I took the van back to the transmission place and they said for sure that I have a 'bad' differential AND right axle. They couldn't say exactly what 'bad' meant without cracking open the transmission, but it at least means that the bearings are worn. I'm having the mechanic drain & fill the ATF and change the filter this weekend; we'll see if that changes anything. Either way, I'm just going to drive this transmission till it drops. AAA exists for a reason!
 
#12 ·
It's pretty common, and people have gone a lot of miles with the whining. Our '05 has been whining since I got it at 125k; it's at 145k now and seems fine. I don't actually know of a situation where a 05 or later went from whining to whine-related failure.


The problem is wear in the cases where the bearings sit, causing the gears to be misaligned:

These transmissions need to quit their whining | Search Autoparts
 
#15 · (Edited)
the whine you hear is the bearings failing and offsetting the shafts inside the trans creating a whine, I had a very loud whine going through the gears as I sped up and from Hondas advise I replaced the trans before I had catastrophic failure. some go forever with the whine and some don't, hit and miss, I know that a simple drain and fill will quiet it down a bit if not make it go away for a while, dirty fluid will wear the bearings out faster.
 
#17 ·
A drain and fill removes only about one-third of the fluid. So a lot of the burnt fluid is still in there. Repeat the drain and fill two more times, with driving in between, to fully refresh the fluid.

The ATF has to lube those heavily-loaded final drive gears, the gears that are probably causing the whine. ATF is a light oil for such a job, but that's the design. Keeping the fluid fresh will help it to do its many jobs and so will keep the transmission running longer.

Dave
 
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