Have 04 Element AWD with 5sp transmission. 89,000mi; one owner (me). Have regular service every 5k mi; use Mobil One 5/20 oil. Problem - recently have buzzing noise in 3rd, 4th, & (sometimes) 5th gear at about 2500+/- RPM. Local mechanic whom we trust (not dealer) has diagnosed as one or two bearings are wearing in tranny (he did not inspect inside of tranny). Says in past, Honda has had problem with bad bearings in manual transmissions, but he wasn’t aware of any problem like this in 4x4’s. We are VERY surprised at this, as we purchased Honda partly because of reliabilty. Have others had this problem? Could the buzzing be something else?
In the past with one of our other cars, one of America’s Big Three automakers split repairs on two major components (one at 76k mi; another at 92k mi with same car - I considered that to be fair). Should we contact Honda customer service to see if they would provide assistance? We don’t have a lot of confidence as the result of past contacts with either the Honda dealer or the company. The interesting thing is we also have a Toyota, and ever before their recent problems, both the dealer and the company has been Very good with service.
What I would consider doing before getting into a potential transmission problem is have someone closely inspect the exhaust system and heat shields.
These shields can rattle, hum, buzz, and exhibit all kinds of odd behavior. It can also do this in in varying gears and at different RPMs.
Heat shield problems can very easily lead to a transmission misdiagnosis so this possibility should be weeded out first.
Ya, just bite the bullet and assess your driving habits…Clutch stays on the floor until the shifter is completely into the selected gear, let the shifter fall into the notch when the RPMs slow down, etc.
Thanks, ok4450. We’re leaving on a trip with the Element tomorrow. Will be driving about 2000mi with it. It seems to be driving fine otherwise, but I’ll have these recommendations checked out when we return and let you know.
Thanks, Beefy Norm. We’re leaving on a trip with the Element tomorrow. Will be driving about 2000mi with it. It seems to be driving fine otherwise, but I’ll keep the clutch to the floor until in gear and see what happens. Are you saying there should be no buzz then??