Honda Car Forum

Hi all,
I have lately been getting an annoying noise after driving the car (01
Prelude) for a while, eg, driving to work (about half an hour). The
noise is like a high pitched chirping sound, sort of like something
rattling. It first starts while the car is in gear and moving, while the
clutch is all the way up and the accelerator is not depressed. It
eventually progresses to making the noise whether the accelerator is
down or not. If I drive for long enough, it will eventually make the
noise while it is idling and at a standstill, with neither the clutch
nor the accelerator depressed. However, under any conditions, the noise
will always stop as soon as I depress the clutch, either a little bit or
all they way down. Does this sound like a problem with the release
bearing? I took it to the dealer and described the noise to them (I
couldn't get it to make the noise; I guess I had not been driving long
enough as the dealer is fairly close by). They said it sounded like a
problem with the release bearing.

Any thoughts, or previous experiences of a similar nature?

Thanks very much!

pHotEK wrote:
>
> Hi all,
> I have lately been getting an annoying noise after driving the car (01
> Prelude) for a while, eg, driving to work (about half an hour). The
> noise is like a high pitched chirping sound, sort of like something
> rattling. It first starts while the car is in gear and moving, while the
> clutch is all the way up and the accelerator is not depressed. It
> eventually progresses to making the noise whether the accelerator is
> down or not. If I drive for long enough, it will eventually make the
> noise while it is idling and at a standstill, with neither the clutch
> nor the accelerator depressed. However, under any conditions, the noise
> will always stop as soon as I depress the clutch, either a little bit or
> all they way down. Does this sound like a problem with the release
> bearing? I took it to the dealer and described the noise to them (I
> couldn't get it to make the noise; I guess I had not been driving long
> enough as the dealer is fairly close by). They said it sounded like a
> problem with the release bearing.
>
> Any thoughts, or previous experiences of a similar nature?
>
> Thanks very much!

It could be a release bearing. However, you stated that the noise goes away
when the clutch pedal is depressed. Under these conditions, the release bearing
is under load and it's the most likely time for the release bearing to make
noise.

However, when the clutch pedal is depressed, the transmission is disengaged from
the engine. Thus, if a noise goes away under these conditions it's usually
indicative of a problem with the transmission.

Eric

Have a similar problem with my integra. The noise would always go away if I
depressed the clutch but was there even at idle with the clutch out. It
would also do it coasting with the clutch in (basically anytime the trans
was turning). Mine turned out to be the clutch housing bearing (the bearing
in the trans nearest the clutch). I put up with it for about 6 months as it
gradually got worse before I finally took it apart the other day. The wire
mesh that spaces out the bearings was completely ate up. About $27 for the
bearing itself but lots of labor to replace.

Dave

"pHotEK" <nada@gapingvoid.org> wrote in message
news:3F417AFD.C6328EB4@gapingvoid.org...
> Hi all,
> I have lately been getting an annoying noise after driving the car (01
> Prelude) for a while, eg, driving to work (about half an hour). The
> noise is like a high pitched chirping sound, sort of like something
> rattling. It first starts while the car is in gear and moving, while the
> clutch is all the way up and the accelerator is not depressed. It
> eventually progresses to making the noise whether the accelerator is
> down or not. If I drive for long enough, it will eventually make the
> noise while it is idling and at a standstill, with neither the clutch
> nor the accelerator depressed. However, under any conditions, the noise
> will always stop as soon as I depress the clutch, either a little bit or
> all they way down. Does this sound like a problem with the release
> bearing? I took it to the dealer and described the noise to them (I
> couldn't get it to make the noise; I guess I had not been driving long
> enough as the dealer is fairly close by). They said it sounded like a
> problem with the release bearing.
>
> Any thoughts, or previous experiences of a similar nature?
>
> Thanks very much!

Try lubricating the clutch release lever both at the clutch slave cylinder
pivot point and waayy back inside the clutch housing were it pivots (use a
long brush) spay chain lube can work as a temporary measure. A lack of
lubrication and corrosion at this point is the most common cause of this
noise.


"pHotEK" <nada@gapingvoid.org> wrote in message
news:3F417AFD.C6328EB4@gapingvoid.org...
> Hi all,
> I have lately been getting an annoying noise after driving the car (01
> Prelude) for a while, eg, driving to work (about half an hour). The
> noise is like a high pitched chirping sound, sort of like something
> rattling. It first starts while the car is in gear and moving, while the
> clutch is all the way up and the accelerator is not depressed. It
> eventually progresses to making the noise whether the accelerator is
> down or not. If I drive for long enough, it will eventually make the
> noise while it is idling and at a standstill, with neither the clutch
> nor the accelerator depressed. However, under any conditions, the noise
> will always stop as soon as I depress the clutch, either a little bit or
> all they way down. Does this sound like a problem with the release
> bearing? I took it to the dealer and described the noise to them (I
> couldn't get it to make the noise; I guess I had not been driving long
> enough as the dealer is fairly close by). They said it sounded like a
> problem with the release bearing.
>
> Any thoughts, or previous experiences of a similar nature?
>
> Thanks very much!

psychicmechanic wrote:
>
> Try lubricating the clutch release lever both at the clutch slave cylinder
> pivot point and waayy back inside the clutch housing were it pivots (use a
> long brush) spay chain lube can work as a temporary measure. A lack of
> lubrication and corrosion at this point is the most common cause of this
> noise.
>


Thanks for all the helpful replies! I did some more googling and found
some varying opinions on what might cause the noise; it seems the
release bearing could be the culprit in some cases when the clutch is
not depressed, and in some cases when it is depressed. Lack of proper
lubrication also mentioned consistently. The funny thing is that this is
not the first time that the dealer worked on this; the first time, they
thought it was the timing belt auto tensioner and replaced that, along
with the timing belt. (Just under 60000 km, but still under warranty, so
hey. Only annoying thing is I'll probably have to pay the same labor
later on to get the water pump changed!) Bit inconvenient though, as
they had the car all day on a working day.