Noise when in Reverse

geronimomoe · Jul 4, 2010

I thought that I was hearing things from the front end of our 2006 EX-L for the past few months but I confirmed it today.

When I put the van into reverse and I step on the gas, I notice that there's a noise as if something's being compressed for a brief moment. When I release the gas, I hear it again, also for a brief moment. Did some searching here as to whether it was a bad engine mount but doesn't appear to be the case since I can't feel the engine vibration. Wondering if it's a strut or shock absorber that's failed.

FWIW, the van has roughly 48K miles on it and has an in-service date of 10/05.

Has anyone experienced this?

Update: July 4. It appears that the noise I'm hearing only happens when I either step on or release the gas pedal when the van is in reverse. It does NOT happen when the van is in drive or decelerating. If it was the strut or shock absorber I think I'd hear the noise when I was slowing down...

geronimomoe · Jul 5, 2010

I just went to the dealer. The tech claims that all 3 engine mounts are shot. I didn't see any hydraulic fluid coming out of any of the mounts. Dealer wanted roughly $1760 plus tax for all 3 mounts.

I'm not convinced that all 3 mounts need replacement. Are there any TSBs out there regarding bad mounts? Trying to find images of good versus bad engine mounts to confirm what I think..

dvpatel · Jul 5, 2010

Bad mounts are not unheard of. If you search on here, you will find several threads on premature mount failures and some have had all three fail. I recommend buying your new mounts online and getting 'em installed at an indy as $1700+ for new mounts is downright outrageous.

reed57 · Jul 5, 2010

I have a '99 Ody that needs all mounts replaced. You price sounds about right. A van that young, I'd probably change em. However, my van is so old (260k), not worth the coin.

The mounts must have something to do with isolating engine vibration too. Our old gilr has gotten rather noisy on the road.

Soemtimes when we shift into gear, we hear or even feel the play between engine and frame.

geronimomoe · Jul 5, 2010

dvpatel said:
Bad mounts are not unheard of. If you search on here, you will find several threads on premature mount failures and some have had all three fail. I recommend buying your new mounts online and getting 'em installed at an indy as $1700+ for new mounts is downright outrageous.

Yep. Did the searches already. Just shocked that with under 48K miles and in service for 4 years and 9 months I didn't expect this to be happening. I'm going to call American Honda tomorrow morning to see what they can do for me since this is the 4th Honda we've had since 1990.

Also I believe the tech diagnosed all 3 mounts as being bad without getting the van on a lift, just purely by how much movement the engine had when gas was applied while on the ground. When I asked the van to be put on the lift so I could see the mounts, the mounts visible from the bottom looked filled to me, the rear and front mount. Also those are the ones with hydraulic fluid, correct? If so they seem pretty full to me so I'm trying to find what a normal mount should look like (when installed). I'll need to take a closer look at the side mount.

Now I know an engine is going to have a certain amount of movement due to the torque generated. Question is how much should I expect?

Yes, $1700 is ridiculous. I'm hoping to have them pay for at least 1/2 the cost.

geronimomoe · Jul 5, 2010

reed57 said:
I have a '99 Ody that needs all mounts replaced. You price sounds about right. A van that young, I'd probably change em. However, my van is so old (260k), not worth the coin.

The mounts must have something to do with isolating engine vibration too. Our old gilr has gotten rather noisy on the road.

Soemtimes when we shift into gear, we hear or even feel the play between engine and frame.

It's a scary amount of money, $1700..

richysh · Jul 5, 2010

I think that's actually a reasonable price because my dealer quoted me $520 for a front engine mount and $720-730 with labor and all

geronimomoe · Jul 5, 2010

richysh said:
I think that's actually a reasonable price because my dealer quoted me $520 for a front engine mount and $720-730 with labor and all

I believe 2 of the engine mounts are roughly $500 list price each. So yes, it appears to be in the ballpark.

I'm not disputing the fact that it's a reasonable amount of money, even though it's scary (as in alot).

I'm annoyed with the fact that I'm going to have to deal with this type of problem when the van isn't even 5 years old wrt service date and hasn't even broke 50K miles yet. It's a Honda for crying out loud. I didn't expect it from a Honda.

Makes you really want to buy the extended warranty and let them take the hit.

richysh · Jul 6, 2010

That's exactly what we are planning to do. Our crvs didn't cost a lot of money but the odyssey did. A lot. So next time whenever the new ody comes out we planning to get an extended warrenty on it

geronimomoe · Jul 7, 2010

richysh said:
That's exactly what we are planning to do. Our crvs didn't cost a lot of money but the odyssey did. A lot. So next time whenever the new ody comes out we planning to get an extended warrenty on it

I think those are active engine mounts (?) that cost a lot of money. If we get a new Odyssey as our next vehicle (Sienna is another option), I'll probably investigate wear/tear component repair costs before deciding on the warranty.

As I said before, this is a Honda. It "isn't" supposed to be like this. What they've extended wrt maintenance items, spark plug, timing belt, coolant, etc. they're replaced with engine mounts.

So the cost of ownership actually has gone up! Engine mounts that are known to fail AND the previously normal wear/tear items.

geronimomoe · Jul 9, 2010

An update.

I called American Honda as I said I would. Per the case manager the entire repair is covered under the drivetrain warranty based on the part numbers the case manager were given. So I will not be charged with this repair.

Now the part that is getting under my skin is that the service writer didn't even mention that this was covered under warranty. Kind of hard to imagine that this is the first time he's seen this. The thought did cross my mind that this is the first time he or the dealer has seen this before. However given the fact that they had the parts in stock when I brought the van to the dealer on July 5, it doesn't seem likely, at least in my opinion.

Noise when in Reverse

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