Hi all, first time on the site.

I own a 2004 Honda Accord EX V-6. I noticed a noise the other day when I started the car, sounded like a Power Steering Pump whine.

I then drove the car to check it out. While driving the heat was fine. When I came to a Stop Light or Stop Sign, the heat would turn to a very cool air. Once I accelerated up to speed, the heat would turn hot again. It continues to do this at every stop once the RPM's get low. It seems that once it gets around 2,000 RPM's it goes hot again.

My car has 176,000 miles on it and has ALL the components it came with from the factory except Brakes, Tires and a Battery Change.

Anyone tell me what they have experienced?

Thanks for the help!

Ryan

 

It could be caused by a couple of problems.

When the car is cold, open radiator cap and see if the coolant is filled up to the top. Also check the level in the overflow bottle.

1. Thermostat stuck open? Does the coolant temperature gauge on the instrument cluster drop when you are at a stop? When the car is warmed up and the heat is not working, feel both radiator hoses. Be careful, because they are hot. If one is much cooler than the other, then I would replace the thermostat and do a coolant change as well. Use a thermostat from the Honda dealership for your car.

2. Clog in the coolant system. Depending on the location, the temperature gauge in the car could start moving towards H. Doing a proper flush of the coolant system could fix this problem. We can give more details if you go this route.

3. Clogged heater core. Feel the two hoses going to the heater core. There will be two of them that go to the firewall on the passenger side of the car. They should be the same temperature.

4. Failing water pump. If the water pump propeller is degraded, then it may pump enough coolant when the engine is running fast. I am not sure how the water pump is driven on a newer V6 though. That would be my last thing to try, because it will be the most expensive and the hardest to do IMO.

 

1. Coolant Temperature is the same as it has been since I bought it.

2. As stated in 1, it does not go above the normal opperating level.

3. I will check this tomorrow after I drive the car.

4. This is what I was thinking but wanted someone to confirm that this can happen.

Thanks for the Tips!!!

 

No problem. The other thing I will suggest is to try to locate where the noise is coming from.

It looks like from the parts blowup, the water pump is on the passenger side. It is boxed with E-15-1 to give you an idea of where it is at.

It looks like your accord has a timing belt, so if you find that the water pump is the source of the noise, and it is driven by the timing belt, I would have both done at the same time.

 

The noise is coming from the Passenger Side.

I called around this spring to get prices on the Timing Belt and everyone told me they would replace the Water Pump at the same time. One of the guys I talked to said he had not seen any V-6 Timing Belts go out. At that point, I said the heck with it and kept driving it. Now it seems that I will have to have it all done anyway.....lol

Thanks again for the help!

Ryan

 

There is a TSB on the 03 v6, might also cover other years, where the o-ring on the ps line allows air into the ps system. According to my memory, when cold the noise happens. Once warm it goes away.

Might not be your issue, I'm betting that durning the wp, t-belt change they will disconnect the line, I'd replace the o-ring to be sure...176K and original t-belt....

 

For the power steering whine, the o-ring should be replaced. Here is the technical service bulletin:

honda-tech.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5850&d=1229542781

I agree that the timing belt should be changed at 176K if it is the original.

The heating issue like previously posted could be low coolant and air in system, etc.

If you had some other noise at idle other than the power steering, it may be a tilted idler pulley. Here the tsb on that:

dvpatel.homelinux.com/forumfiles/SB/A08-045.PDF

 

Evidently, I am a freaking idiot! Before I took it in, I decided to check the coolant level. Dumped a 1/2 Gallon in it. Noise went away. I am going to monitor this level and see what happens. I am going to schedule the timing belt and water pump to be changed.....

 

Thank You RedBull-1, Poorman 212, PAhonda
I had a power steering whine noise on my 04 Honda Accord EX V6. So after reading the post above I took my car into Honda dealship. Honda could not find anything wrong, because the car engine was warm. I showed the technical service bulletin Redbull listed above..boy did the Honda Rep looked shocked to see a Woman with this info. I asked him to replace my O-ring...next mornning I started my car and the noise was gone...Honda charged Labor $27.75 Part-O-Ring $1.92
Thank you All for all your help.

 

Excellent story!