pooby1992

I'm looking at a very clean '04 with an automatic I can pick up for a very good price. I know the history of the car and know that it has been well cared for. BUT, it does have 2 weird noises coming from the transmission. One, it sounds like a whining power steering pump. I pulled the serpentine belt off just to make sure this wasn't a pulley noise. It is coming from the transmission. It also has a rhythmic tapping sound that also seems to be coming from the trans.

I googled this and found many people with '04 and '05 TSX automatics mentioning this. I saw many comments about taking it to the dealer and being told there was nothing wrong or they didn't know what it was. I also saw lots of comments that people just kept driving with the noise and nothing seemed to come of it. I couldn't find one comment from anyone saying that the transmission failed at any point. I already changed the fluid in this transmission and it made no difference. There was no metal at all on the magnetic drain plug. The transmission shifts just fine and there are no CEL codes. The only fix for the noise seems to be to replace it with a transmission from a newer TSX ('07 or '08)

My question is: Is anyone here familiar with this? Should I avoid this car? Hypothetically, if the transmission failed and I had to replace it I would do it myself. I would not be taking it to a shop, so though it would still be more than I would want to spend on a repair, it would not be super expensive.

pooby1992

Turns out it only makes the noise while idling in park. Once put into gear, no unusual noises. I'll just keep an eye (ear) on it but not sweat it much unless it gets worse.