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Random Electrical Snapping/Cracking Sound - Elite

152K views 340 replies 111 participants last post by  jjdaniels36 
#1 ·
Wondering if anyone else hears a random Electrical Snap/Crack sound, every now & then? I haven't been able to pinpoint what causes it to happen but I hear it quite often. It's one single crack/pop and then won't do it again for several minutes.

It happens whether the radio is on or off. We also thought there might be some kind of interference with the Bluetooth & my iPhone. I've turned off my phone completely and I still hear it randomly.

I am taking it in for warranty work later today and wondering if anyone else experiences this as well?
 
#3 ·
I have the same condition on my Elite. It is one crack sound from the stereo and it happens maybe once or twice in a 20 minute drive. I have yet to find a pattern on what conditions cause the sound. If I speculate, it is a grounding issue with the stereo or some other Electromagnetic Interference.
 
#4 ·
Yes! It occurs about 80% of the time when I unlock the doors and occurs when I put the car in drive and the doors lock automatically. I have already taken it in to the dealer and they have said that there is something wrong. I am getting ready to call and make an appointment to take back in to cover myself in terms of Ohios lemon law.
 
#5 ·
Mine started having this cracking/popping sound a few weeks ago. Usually I can reproduce it by locking unlocking the doors. Took it for service and they could not fix it, so they sent an email to Honda Corporate. Doesn't sound too promising. At least I know I am not the only one with this issue...
 
#7 ·
We have had the same mysterious clicking sound on our Elite. I am very interested to find out what Honda/dealerships are doing to correct the issue. What did the dealership say to you regarding the sound? Any chance they are going to find a fix for it?

Keep us posted...
 
#9 ·
Bumping this thread. Is this the sound everyone is experiencing?



Apparently this is caused by the compressor and condenser relays going bad. The relays are being damaged by excessive current loads coming from the AC Compressor Clutch. The problem goes back to 2010 as shown in another thread on this forum:

http://www.piloteers.org/forums/70-...tem.html#/forumsite/20573/topics/28421?page=3

In my research I found the Pilot is one of several models affected by this condition; I found this problem exists on Acura TSX and Honda Odyssey.

Replacing the relays will make the problem temporarily disappear. But the permanent solution is a change to the wiring. There needs to be a diode wired to ground in between the Compressor Relay and AC Compressor Clutch Solenoid (which itself is inside the AC Compressor assembly).
 
#17 · (Edited)
An update on the popping issue. Cycling the vehicle on/off does not make the popping go away; at least on my vehicle. I took it to the dealer two weeks ago and they could not replicate it, so all they could do was document it. The technician commented that this is something that could be related to the AC clutch relay. But since they could not make the issue occur, they could not do anything. This is understandable.

The popping occurs when the vehicle is running with air conditioning; and is most pronounced when the vehicle has been running for the first time after sitting overnight.

Apparently this popping also occurs on TL, Odyssey, Ridgeline, and TSX. The most common solution is to replace the relay that controls the Compressor Clutch Solenoid. The permanent fix is to hardwire a diode between the Compressor Clutch Solenoid and Ground. Replacing the relay is only a stop-gap fix.

Today I replaced said relay; it is in Engine Room Control Unit 2. The popping stopped, but it will return in the next 6-12 months. The circuit for the Compressor Clutch Solenoid is underengineered, so the relay takes on the shock from the A/C compressor cycling on and off. As the relay wears out, the electrical shock is not fully absorbed by the relay so it transfers into other circuits in the vehicle; namely the stereo.

The Relay is 39794-SDA-A05. I paid $13.20 from Honda of Lisle's web store (hondapartsnetwork.com). See attachment for details.

Disclaimer: YMMV. Do this at your own risk.
 

Attachments

#18 ·
Our Touring had the EXACT SAME THING about 3 months ago. The dealer couldn't replicate it, so I had to go up there and point it out to them. After 2 weeks of having the vehicle and replaced multiple parts (shooting in the dark) they finally tracked it down to the AC compressor/condenser. Once they replaced it, no more issues. The issue hasn't returned every since.
 
#19 ·
The popping sound on our touring is getting more and more. today i picked-up my wife (less than 10 min drive) i heard 3-4 popping sound.

I want to take our touring to my dealer maybe the end of this month (busy july for my family) if you can scan or take pic of your service work papers thats showing they work/replace your AC compressor/condenser i will appreciate it.

Thanks again!
 
#20 ·
I have had this popping issue for months. The dealer tried swapping out the radio, but did not fix the problem. I pointed them to this thread, but won't attempt any solutions here because Honda corporate will not pay them to do this service under warranty. Has anybody had a successful repair from their dealer?
 
#21 ·
Has there been any updates on this? It is still happening on our Elite and making my wife crazy. Last time I it was at the dealer they said they heard it but though it was the dash creaking, not a chance! Then they told me they would have me talk to the regional rep and basically just totally blew me off. Honda didn't seem to want to do anything either since the dealer was being a pain and they didn't have any other cased reported...

Let me know if anyone has discovered the source or solution to this issue.
 
#22 ·
Just this week my dealer replaced the relay for the A/C clutch assembly. It appears to have fixed the snapping coming through the speakers while driving and the A/C compressor cycles on and off. However, the fall weather has not provided many opportunities to thoroughly test multiple scenarios yet, and the pop sound still comes through the speakers whenever we lock and unlock the doors. The snap from the door locks they are trying to tell me is normal. I know the locks normally make a double click/clunk sound, but I am still getting an electrical pop coming through the speakers of the audio system.

Please keep me posted to your status, because I don't believe the root of the problem has been solved yet.
 
#23 · (Edited)
So my dealer replaced the A/C clutch relay 39794-SDA-A05 on August 29,2016. The popping returned on Oct 13,2016. I notified my dealer again this week and took more video of the pops. He shared the video with his service director and they shared this issue with Honda R&D.

Honda Engineering is basically a black hole for problem solving, so I don't hold much hope this will be resolved during my ownership. The first link is of my latest popping since the relay replacement in August. The second link below demonstrates this issue existed since the prior generation Pilot and other Acura/Honda vehicles.

https://youtu.be/-uOYD1gQGBY

http://www.piloteers.org/forums/70-2009-2011-pilot/28421-popping-cracking-noise-audio-system.html
 
#24 ·
Glad I found this thread. This issue just started with my 2017 Elite. Bought the car 12/28/2016, and the popping started maybe a week ago. Car only has 2200 miles, and was made in November 2016.

Had Gardena Honda check it out today, and they said it was because my bass was up too high. Lol.

Should have checked here first.

Has anyone managed to get this permanently fixed? Or is the fix to replace that relay wherever the popping returns?

This sucks...
 
#27 ·
The A/C Relay replacement is only a temporary fix. I am on my third A/C Relay since August 2016. My dealer worked with their tech line and field engineer on my case; they will replace the A/C compressor next. The pops/snaps resumed in June 2017, but not as loud as last year.

The same pop/sound from the door locks is caused by a different circuit. I would consider that "normal" given the underengineered state of the Pilot's electrical systems.
 
#28 · (Edited)
A new update on my Pilot’s popping noise. In April my Pilot resumed popping when the A/C season started. I logged each pop for over four months and waited for an increase in frequency before contacting the dealer again. In late July, 3-5 pops would occur within the first ten minutes of a cold start. Now that I had a pattern with high frequency, I contacted Honda corporate to reopen my case from 2016, and contacted my service advisor who worked with me on this topic since last year. I shared the log and he agreed to take the vehicle and have the same technician from last year look at it again. Additionally, he coordinated his field engineer to reassess the vehicle.

I dropped off my Pilot on 8/15 and was given an Odyssey as a loaner. As my paperwork was being written up, the service advisor indicated there was another Pilot prior to mine that had the same issue. The resolution was to replace the A/C Compressor, Clutch Relay, Compressor Coil, and Compressor Clutch.

On 8/17 the technician and field engineer successfully repeated the popping noise and ordered all of the parts mentioned above. Here are the part numbers that were replaced under warranty:

Compressor: 38810-RLV-A02
Clutch Set: 38900-5J6-A02
Coil Set: 38924-5J6-A03

I crosschecked the PN’s above with the database at hondapartsnetwork.com. The part numbers above replace following:

Compressor: 38810-RLV-A01
Clutch Set: 38900-5J6-A01
Coil Set: 38924-5J6-A02

Notice the last position of the PN’s. The new parts my Pilot received under warranty is a subsequent engineering change. Honda R&D must have implemented some changes, perhaps to address this very problem (my speculation; I'm a design/release engineer myself and I compile several changes together before rolling revisions). The new PN’s are effective with the 2017 Pilot and Ridgeline, so these models were likely the cut-in for the new parts.
 
#29 ·
I'm also In the same situation and anyone watching I will update as information also comes available to me for finding a solution and fix.
I have a 2016 pilot touring with16k miles. Immediately when I bought the vehicle it would randomly make a high pitched snap noise in and around my dash. I thought it was the windshield settling and ignored it. Months later it's still popping and when I lock and unlock the doors you can hear a snap noise every time you lock and unlock the car. I'm hoping others who have the same problem have also posted online like this for I believe this could be difficult to trace the source. Not sure what unlocking and locking doors could have to do with the a/c system though after talking to the lead of this thread those could be separate problems. But still a common electrical issue. it still pops randomly as well Without the doors being messed with so who really knows we shall see I have an appointment next week
 
#30 ·
Just purchased a 16 touring and having the same issue. I have taken it to the dealership for other things but mentioned this one specific thing. Of course when they had my car for a week they fixed the other problems but couldn't replicate that sound (even though the service manager heard it and acknowledged it). I thought I could just ignore it but it's really starting to get on my nerves. And with it probably being related to the A/C and that I live in south Louisiana and it's always 90 degrees it won't be a seasonal thing. Anyone had any luck fixing this easily. I am to the point of showing the service dept this forum since they say they have never heard it.
 
#31 ·
And with it probably being related to the A/C and that I live in south Louisiana and it's always 90 degrees it won't be a seasonal thing.
Ak3: Take a look at Post #17 of this thread. Your servicing dealer can replace the 39794-SDA-A05 Compressor Relay very easily. This will likely be the dealership's first response to your complaint. If the relay is replaced, expect the problem will come back after 8-10 weeks. You could also do it yourself for $15, but at risk of not being reimbursed for fried relays.

Post #18 of this thread was another forum member whose A/C Compressor replacement resolved the problem. I went through four relays in 1.5 years before having the A/C Compressor, Clutch, Coil replaced back in August 2017. I was the second Pilot Touring/Elite owner at my servicing dealership (in IL) to have the same symptom and diagnosis on the A/C Popping.

The cause of the A/C Pops is Back-EMF, which is an artifact of a marginally designed electrical system. Back-EMF on the A/C Relay circuit has existed in prior Acura/Honda vehicles, namely the TSX, Odyssey, Pilot. If you search this forum for A/C Pops and you will see others in the 2009-2012 model years have the same issue. On the TSX Forums, owners are wiring their own diodes between the Relay and Ground to prevent the Back-EMF. The diode in this location of the A/C Circuit is the engineered solution that Honda R&D should have designed-in. But these particular diodes (High Amperage) are anywhere from $3-10 each, so it is likely that Honda R&D's Engineering or Program Managers nixed the diodes to prevent cost overruns in their new product development program.
 
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