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Very strange noise - 1995 Accord LX

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Mojoed

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Last week I bought a very new looking 1995 Honda Accord LX automatic for $1000. It had a new engine put in last year and there are no visible leaks. New battery and the brakes are new and at 95%. I thought I got a killer deal.

Anyway, I will try to describe this noise as best I can. The other day I got a new muffler and had the power steering rack and pinion replaced. (9 hours labor cost, ouch) :frown:

Since then there has been a very noticeable loudish noise which seems to be coming from either the exhaust or somewhere in the engine ONLY when the gas pedal is at a very specific point near the start of acceleration. It sounds like your typical bad muffler resonating noise, but it's coming from somewhere in the front of the car. The sound is very fleeting during normal driving since I quickly pass right by this "spot" on the accelerator.

I've since figured out how to reproduce and maintain this noise and drive around with a very noisy Accord if I'm very precise on the gas pedal. 😕 If I let up on the gas or accelerate by a hair, the noise is gone.

I tried to explain this to my mechanic on the phone and by my description, he had no idea and it's gonna be over a week before he can check this out. 🙁

Oh heh, and my ABS light has been on since the work I had was done. Is this more likely a coincidence or possibly related to the work I had done? Please be easy on me, I know nothing about cars. 😉 Other than this noise and the ABS thing, the car looks and runs very well and drives as tight as an Accord can possibly run.

Anyone have any idea what's going on with this?

Thanks!

Update 1/30/09

As far as the ABS goes, I was quoted $361 to replace a sensor located underneath the car near the rear brake line. Ouch. 🙁

As far as the noise problem above, it wasn't a heat shield I'm told. They are trying to figure that out tomorrow. They did say the front pipe was missing a hanger. And some frontal flex pipe could be bad. We'll see I guess. Hopefully it's nothing major.
 
Noise is likely a loose heat shield that is vibrating only with certain resonant frequencies.

As for the ABS light, it's odd that it coincides with the work you had done. The steering rack and muffler shouldn't require messing with the ABS system, but it's possible that they had to disconnect an ABS sensor to get at something in the steering system and forgot to reconnect it.

ZV
 
I've heard it's way cheaper to install non-ABS brakes; perhaps the previous owner did that.

I agree with the resonant frequency comment above. I thought of that also, but couldn't think of what part of your car it would be coming from.

IMO you should take the car to an exhaust shop and have them inspect the undercarriage, and check for anything that might be loose.
 
Originally posted by: SickBeast
I've heard it's way cheaper to install non-ABS brakes; perhaps the previous owner did that.
Click to expand...

No. The light did not come on until after the OP had bought the car. Also, there is no difference in the pads or calipers, the ABS module is a separate part. There's no normal maintenance item that would make it cheaper to pull out the ABS components.

ZV
 
I would tend to think a heat shield got knocked loose when they were under there or perhaps they did not re-hang the exhaust correctly when they put the new muffler on. Only way to tell for sure is to get the car up on jack stands and get under there and poke around. Will it make the noise when the car is in neutral? If you put the car and neutral and give it gas till you're at the same RPM you hear it when you're moving? That will help you locate the source easier because you can have someone do that for you while you try and locate the noise.
As far as the ABS light goes, I would suspect the same thing ZV said. They probably forgot to plug back in a wheel sensor. It could just be a bad wheel sensor and the timing is coincidental. I think the ABS box is located in the trunk on those cars and there's an indicator light on it that will flash a code when the dashboard ABS light is lit. Let me see if I can find a faq on that.
 
My wife has a 94 Accord EX and the ABS light has been on for quite some time. It seems this gen accord has a lot of ABS issues. The good thing is, as with most cars, you only lose the ABS functionality when the ABS light is on AKA your tires will lock up.
 
Update 1/30/09

As far as the ABS goes, I was quoted $361 to replace a sensor located underneath the car near the rear brake line. Ouch.

As far as the noise problem above, it wasn't a heat shield I'm told. They are trying to figure that out tomorrow. They did say the front pipe was missing a hanger. And some frontal exhaust flex pipe could be bad. We'll see I guess. Hopefully it's nothing major.
 
Originally posted by: Mojoed
Update 1/30/09

As far as the ABS goes, I was quoted $361 to replace a sensor located underneath the car near the rear brake line. Ouch.

As far as the noise problem above, it wasn't a heat shield I'm told. They are trying to figure that out tomorrow. They did say the front pipe was missing a hanger. And some frontal exhaust flex pipe could be bad. We'll see I guess. Hopefully it's nothing major.
Click to expand...

Yikes. I just looked at ABS wheel sensors for your car. $250 each! $361 sounds about right then for getting one replaced. Bolting it on and connecting it is probably easy. They will have to reset the ABS system though and maybe calibrate.
 
I suspect it's just something loose that's resonating at a certain frequency. I get something similar in my 89' 323 at a certain point in the rev range in every gear. It is particularly noticeable when slowing in gear (engine braking). Started about two years ago and has stayed exactly the same since then.
 
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