Hi folks, I have a 99 Accord V6 with 162k. Great car, never a problem.

I have a bearing noise from the front end that started suddenly after being parked. It sounds like I'm driving with studded snow tires, the sound increases in pitch with speed.

I jacked up the entire front end of the car and put it in gear (auto tranny) to see what side the noise was from. It came from the driver's side but not from the wheel bearing or outer CV joint. It sounded like the inner CV joint on the half-shaft.

Yesterday I removed the half shaft but I can't feel any roughness. I'm going to replace it with a remanufactured unit just as a matter of course today but now I'm thinking this is not the issue.

Does anyone know of any common bearing/tranny/differential issues that I need to be aware of? THis is quickly getting above my head and my budget.

thanks.....Craig

 

I just replaced the half shaft and it the noise is still there. Differential problem?

 

It is/was a very common problem to have bad diff bearings in those transmissions.
The usual tipoff is leaky axle seal at the diff housing.
You can drive in first gear at around 4-5 MPH and let off he gas to listen for the diff to growl.

 

Thanks Hondadude. Are the differential bearings impossible to replace without pulling the tranny?

I've had Honda bikes before and we could not rebuild the differential because it took special tools to set the shims, etc.

What would you recommend as far as souring a rebuilt or used tranny?

Craig