So over the past month there has been a grinding sound from the front end that has progressively gotten worse. The CVs, wheel bearings, and brakes, on both sides have been replaced. I have taken both the wheels off and had the car on jackstands and put it in gears and the noise sounds like it is coming from the center of the car, not from the hubs. When driving, it happens in all gears including just letting it go in neutral and also when braking. The car shifts in between gears no problem, but i have a feeling the problem lies within the transmission where the CVs go in. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated.

1998 Accord LX 4DR 2.3L MT

 

A grinding sound is not good to hear especially if it is coming from the transmission.

Is the transmission full of fluid? Are there any metal shavings in the transmission fluid? When was the last time you changed the fluid? How many miles are on your car?

I rarely hear of accord manual transmissions failing, but there have been a couple of posts on here that I read about that happening. Not sure the best way to diagnose transmission problems.

 

I changed the fluid at 150k, there is 168k on it now. The fluid was black but no metal shavings or anything in it. I put in 3quarts of Honda MTF as recomended by the guys at my local honda dealer.

 

Are you sure you filled the transmission? I've heard of draining trans and putting replacement in differential; not good.

good luck

 

In the manual, the differential is in the same shared case. There's no separate oil-fill for the differential cause it's inside the transmission.

Looking at the tranmission around the right-side axle, the drain plug is at 6-oclock and the fill plug is at 9-oclock. Is that where you filled? Not sure about 3 quarts, but you're supposed to fill until it just runs back out of the fill hole.

 

Yeah i drained and filled using the spots described. Anyone know if there is a breakdown somewhere of my transmission. It really sounds like it is coming from right where the shaft goes in on that passenger side and i was wondering if maybe there was a bearing or something in there that might be bad.

98 Accord LX i4 2.3L SOHC VTEC MT

 

Here's the right side of the transmission case showing where the axle is located.


Differential bearing is right there inside?

 

I know it's been a while since you posted, but just curious what you found out. My 93 Accord with a M/T is doing the same thing. Any ideas?

 

If the noise only happens on decell or neutral, it is most likely your pilot bearing/bushing located on the crankshaft end of the clutch assembly.

That diff bearing could be bad. Diff bearings usually only make noise upon accel, when the helical gears naturally try and push away from each other.

 

Ps my bad. There are two on either side. Does it happen on decel or accel? Or both?

Bad bearings won't cause gear clash, so that's why your not experencing harsh shifts.