Whining Noise - What could it be?

[SuperCNJ]

Hi All,

My wife has a 1.4 GD Sport Manual. It has just covered 50k miles and had it's last service last month. A week ago it started to develop a whining sound which is most apparent when pushing off from stationary and sounds like it is coming from the front. The best way I can describe the sound is it's very similar to the constant whining of a supercharger!

There doesn't seem to be any other obvious symptoms. Any ideas what it could be?

Do failing wheel bearings sound like this?

[tonytan]

possibly front brake pads audible warning strip touching against discs due to brake pads worn to minimum thickness?

[Pine]

Check the alternator drive belt is not slack.

[culzean]

sounds like gearbox bearing,  it starts to make whining noise in 1st gear and then works its way up to 2nd after a few more miles on the clock and then third will be affected,  never seems to make a noise in 4th and 5th.

[SuperCNJ]

sounds like gearbox bearing,  it starts to make whining noise in 1st gear and then works its way up to 2nd after a few more miles on the clock and then third will be affected,  never seems to make a noise in 4th and 5th.

This sounds plausible, as we do notice it most in 1st but it's probably because road noise generally increases as you go up the gears. Do you know if these are difficult and expensive to replace?

[culzean]

just search for 'gearbox bearings' on this forum and you will have plenty of advice

[chrisc]

Since you change gears as the car speeds up, you must determine whether the noise is there over several gear-shifts or not.  Some of the gears in the box are shared as you change ratios.  Another common gear is the differential, which is also located in the same space

If it whines when in neutral then it is likely the alternator.  Also check the battery condition, as if the battery had developed an internal short, the alternator would have to work harder

[SuperCNJ]

Since you change gears as the car speeds up, you must determine whether the noise is there over several gear-shifts or not.  Some of the gears in the box are shared as you change ratios.  Another common gear is the differential, which is also located in the same space

If it whines when in neutral then it is likely the alternator.  Also check the battery condition, as if the battery had developed an internal short, the alternator would have to work harder

Thanks mate. I actually changed the battery about 3 weeks ago so the battery should be in good nick, but not sure about the alternator. It doesn't whine when I press the clutch down and disengage the gear box from the engine but we can hear it driving in 1st and 2nd gear, but then road noise gets too loud to hear it.

The car is going into Honda tonight so we should know what it is soon...

I really hope it isn't something to do with the gearbox as I don't think Honda UK will put anything towards it now even though they did a few years ago.

If it does turn out to be the gearbox, should I let honda do the work or would be better (cheaper) to take to an independant garage?

I was saying to my wife that if it turns out to be a grand to get it all sorted, we're wondering if its worth doing or just sell it and buy another car?

[tetsky]

Hi there, my jazz had this kind of problem a month ago,when you put your foot on the clutch,the whining noise goes then comes back again if you release it,started from 1st gear eventually noticeable until 4th gear..i took it down my local garage and the guy suspected it as the gearbox input shaft bearing..phoned my local gearbox specialist and told me it will cost £700 for the gearbox complete rebuild incl. Labor..7 bearings and oil seal replacement..since my one has 90k on the clock,i thought might aswell replace the clutch kit whilst the gearbox is out, so i phoned up our mr.clutch branch and i was quoted £840 for the gearbox rebuild and new exedy clutch fitted and labor...so i took it down to them and 3days later got the car back..happy days!! 12k or 1 year warranty for the gearbox..im keeping the car thats why i needed to bite the bullet....

[tetsky]

And another option you can do is to go ebay,there are quite a few honda jazz gearbox you can buy already rebuilt but most of them will require you to send your old one back to them for a swap around £270-400 delivered..of course you still need to get a trusted garage to install it for you which will add yo the price....cut the story short,you are looking at spending £600 above,hope that helps....
 
And i actually got a quote from honda romford for this job £1100 for gearbox rebuilt and new clutch...

[SuperCNJ]

Thanks for your advice.

Honda have confimed it is the bearings in the gearbox and the service technician managed to get Honda UK to pay for the parts in full but I would need to pay for the labour - which comes to just over £600 after some strong neogotiating. I spoke with HUK and they won't budge as my car is now 9 years old and although it has been serviced at Honda, they wouldn't put a penny towards the labour.

Admittedly I am not happy with paying the £600+ as I feel Honda should have done more given that they know that this is a design fault and almost always occurs between 40k and 60k miles on 2003 - 2008 Jazz's. But because we do fairly low mileage, we have only just hit 50k miles so I feel its a little unfair for them not to contribute to the cost of repair work.

I could understand it if it was a problem that we caused or it was a wear and tear part such as the clutch or brakes, but for a part inside the gearbox to fail at 50k miles of light driving and maintained by Honda annually I find it difficult to accept the cost.

I need the problem fixed, so I'm going to go ahead and have the work done by Honda but do you guys think I have a case to escalate it up the Honda management tree?

[culzean]

No wonder Honda agreed to pay for parts - only 1 bearing involved probably cost about £20 tops.  But remember £600 labour at main dealer prices is only about 8 hours.   There are places around which will re-con the gearbox at reasonable cost,  but most of them need you to take it out and deliver it to them - not an easy job.

If you want some gearbox horror stories just google Volkswagen gearbox problems LOL - they seem to have had more than their fair share lately with normal and DSG boxes.

Not many manufacturers would be interested in a non-safety related problem on a 9 year old car no matter what the mileage