When I am driving my 2006 Honda CRV, occasionally and sporadically when I hit 40MPH and 1500 RPM, I experience a rumble that everyone in the car can hear and feel. It is like driving over a rumble strip. As I speed up, it stops. It happens in all weather, months of the year, time of day, different drivers. I have taken it to Honda dealership and of course it doesn’t happen while I am driving the mechanic around. They say they can’t diagnose it until they hear it. Well of course, as soon as I drive home it does it. I asked them to check the transmission and their response is that unless it does it all the time it it not the transmission and besides they do not work on transmissions, they simply replace them if they are defective. Do I keep driving until something major happens? How can I approach this problem? What else could be causing this?
This could be your torque converter starting to fail, which is a fairly common problem in Hondas and Acuras of that age. It’s usually described as feeling like a rumble strip.
If it is AWD then check the rear differential and also change the oil on it. A lot of reports on Honda/Acura AWD rear diff making bizarre noises with lack of maintenance.
galant wrote:
A lot of reports on Honda/Acura AWD rear diff making bizarre noises with lack of maintenance.
I’ve heard that the wrong fluid can also cause issues, so make sure to use the correct fluid when changing it.
The dealership (not where i bought the vehicle) found fluid low and added for a cost of $52.50 parts and labor. Did I mention that this was a certified vehicle? It currently has 68,000 miles and I would like to have this corrected before my warranty expires at 100,000 miles. So where is the torque converter? Do they have to take something apart to look at it? Is there a way to test it? They could not find anything else except a rusted heat shield on exhaust (which I removed and was not causing the noise). What does the torque converter do and what will happen when it fails? Any other parts that it will harm? This is my “new” car, still paying on the loan, so I need this to last and I don’t feel confident anymore.
Well, did adding fluid resolve the problem? You should make sure they document the fact that it was low on fluid, but then the owner’s manual calls for once a month transmission fluid level check; did you do that?
These type of warranty claims are very complicated, you will have to prove that the level was fine a month ago, and that the low level has shortened the life of your transmission. Even if the latter is true, it would probably not fail before the 100K miles-which is what they warranty the car for anyway.
I have a 2006 CRV with the same problem (rumble or shudder). It occurs when driving between about 30 and 45 MPH, when maintaining a constant speed on a flat road or slight upgrade. Straight road or curved makes no difference. It seems to be triggered sometimes when hitting a small bump in the road. Taking your foot off the gas or increasing power stops it instantly. I believe its some sort of torsional vibration problem, and I’ve asked my dealer to check this out 2 or 3 times, but they seem to have never heard of it and can’t reproduce it during their road tests. The found some small dents on my wheel rims and chalked it up to that. Since that time, the tires have been rotated, then later all 4 tires were replaced & then later rotated again - no impact on the problem. I haven’t replaced the rims, but the wheel-dent theory does not pass the smell test as far as I’m concerned. When the car was new, I encountered a problem when turning the car sharply at very low speeds - this also produced a similar shuddering feel but under very different conditions. I was told that the wrong fluid was used in the rear diff during manufacture - the fluid was replaced under warranty, and that problem disappeared. So I think these are two entirely separate problems. The car now has about 115k miles on it, and I had the diff fluid replaced again at about 100k miles, and saw no improvement. This is the second post I’ve found on this website concerning this problem, and I’d be very interested to know whether anyone has discovered the root cause, has actually fixed it, and knows how much it costs.
I See Honda Put Out A TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) To Help Their Technicians Diagnose A “Drone, Moan, Or Buzz At 1,800 And 3,600 RPM” In Some 2006 CR-V FWDs.
The bulletin gives the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) of the 2006 CRV vehicles for which the bulletin was written. The bulletin (Honda TSB #06-044) says the noise on these 2006s can be:
During light acceleration, during deceleration, and when the vehicle is stopped in N or P position with the RPM raised.
The probable cause is deterioration of the propeller shaft dynamic dampener.
The fix: Replace the propeller shaft. The correct part number is given.
Often in situations like this one the part has been revised, that I don’t know. Since VINs are given I suspect certain 2006s got a newer version.
These shafts were replaced under new car warranty or sometimes by goodwill after the vehicle is out of warranty.
If this sounds like a possibility, you might find this bulletin online or your friendly dealer might discuss their copy with you.
CSA