I have a 2010 Accord EX-L 2.4 L 4cyl with 45,000 miles. Recently, while returning from the beach, I noticed a humming noise. The noise is apparent only when the car is moving (distinct at speeds > 40 mph).

I thought it might be the tires, so took it to Firestone. They told me that the tires were fine, but that my left front bearing appeared to be failing. They said that since the car was relatively new, I should take it to Honda and see if they can do something for me.

The dealer said that the noise was coming from the power steering - that it had been low on fluid. They filled the fluid, but the noise did not go away. They told me to drive till the air bled out. It's been a couple of days (about 50 miles driving), but the noise is still there.

The noise is there even if I put the car in neutral while it is moving. The noise also persists if I switch off the engine while the car is moving in neutral (so can it be the power steering?).

Help! I need some information so that I can be better informed when I talk to Honda. Also, if it is the bearing, is it safe to drive it around?

Thanks.

 

OK, it can be dangerous to actually shut off the engine & coast at any substantial speed. And it can be damaging to an automatic transmission.

So did you coast very fast with the engine shut off? Was the noise still there long enough to convince yourself the engine had actually come to a stop?

Gotta be a wheel bearing or something that is still spinning when the engine is turned off.

 

Thanks for the reply. The car was in neutral when I turned off the engine. The noise was still there while the engine had come to a stop.

Since the engine has stopped does this mean that the noise is from the wheel and not from the power steering?

 

Sort of...
The noise can't be from the power steering pump because it's no longer turning.

The wheel bearing isn't the only thing still moving after the engine stops. There's a few other things to check. Some of them should be easy to rule out.

- bearings inside the transmission? (I'm no auto-trans guru, so I don't know how to rule this out)

- steering rack? If you were driving straight & not moving the steering wheel, then the rack isn't moving.

- rear wheel bearing rather than front? Noise travels funny when you're inside the car, so maybe you can lift up each rear corner & spin the wheel.

- brakes beginning to drag? Sometimes the wear-indicator tab (part of the brake pad) makes an almost musical tone before it gets worse & becomes a screetching sound. It's easy to look & see if your inboard brake pads are anywhere close to being worn out.

 

Thanks again.

When I was coasting, the car was in neutral. So does this rule out the transmission bearing(s)?

The noise is pretty constant when the car is moving, and the frequency of the hum seems to correlated with the speed of the car.

I think things are narrowing down to some wheel bearing (whether front or rear). I guess the next thing is to get the car up on a rack and turn each wheel individually...

 

I'm sure there's bearings in the transmission that are still turning. Differential bearings? Final drive gearset is still engaged & spinning?

I agree it's really looking like a wheel bearing, but not hearing it firsthand I'm trying not to take anything for granted.

 

Thanks. I think I am ready to talk to the Honda folks.

Promod

 

Thanks for all your help. I took the car to the Honda service center, and they told me that indeed the problem was the left front bearing. They told me that it was covered by the power train warranty, so I was not charged.

 

COOL...............

Thank you for coming back with the end of the story.

 

My 2006 Accord with 73k miles 4-cyl. sedan driver front wheel bearing also failed. A Honda dealership replaced it and noise went away.