94 Honda Accord Manual Transmission Buzzing noises

[Jakeybob]

My 94 Accord w/ 165k miles makes a noise when slowing down while in gear. It is the original clutch and manual tranny. Clutch seems good, its definitely old but doesn't seem to slip that I can notice, every gear shifts fine, and everything feels pretty good except for the noise.

Coming up to a stop, if its in 2nd or 3rd gear (can't get it to make the noise in 4th) there will itnermittently be a buzzing noise. It sounds like metal on metal. I originally thought the exhaust could be loose somewhere, but I pinpointed it as somewhere in the transmission.

If the car is in gear, and the buzzing starts, I can pop it into neutral and it stops right away. i also think it stops when I push in the clutch. So, it just happens when coasting to the stop and the gearing is slowing the car, and it usually doesnt last too long.

[Jakeybob]

Got some more information. It happens in gears 2-4 at about 2000 to 1700 rpms when slowing down. It may also happen in 5th, but I havent been in a position where I could try.

if I'm accelerating or its in neutral, theres no noise, but if im slowing down while in gear i get the vibrating/buzzing metallic noise from 2000 to 1700 rpms. It also seems to happen if the transmission is in neutral and i push in the clutch in those rpm's. It's kinda hard to be sure about that though.

[FrankVtec88]

How does the buzz sound? If it sounds like a cop siren, its still ok. hehe.

[jeffcoslacker]

Still could be a harmonic vibration in exhaust that only occurs when the driveline is torqued in the decel direction....or a broken/loose motor or tranny mount allowing the engine/trans to shift position in the cradle and make contact with the body or something...

I'd set the e-brake and torque it up in reverse with the hood up and make sure you don't get any excessive flip or diagonal twist from the motor/trans....if so, something is broken that needs attention (mount, roll restictor, etc..)

[jeffcoslacker]

PS I know you've probably already thought about it, but exhaust shields account for the major share of odd metallic buzzing sounds that only occur in certain rpm ranges under certain loading...

And Accords have a buttload of shielding....

Take a hammer and smack each one lightly, working from the one around the exhaust manifold down and back all the way past the cat covertor...one that has a broken weld and is the culprit will usually sound odd, a little dead and buzzy whereas the intact ones will kind of ring when struck.

If you find a bad one, usually one or more welds that hold the halves together have broken....you can have them welded, or get an oversize screw type hose clamp from the parts store and crank one down around it, that stops the noise too.

Make sure the exhaust hangers under there aren't broken or the hooks haven't gotten bent somehow...this will let the pipe push sideways and can make contact with the heat shielding in the floorpan tunnel, etc...

[FrankVtec88]

I just rip my heatshields off if they make noise. Is there a bad side effect of that?

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by FrankVtec88

I just rip my heatshields off if they make noise. Is there a bad side effect of that?

Not normally. I wouldn't park it in any piles of dry leaves...