I had a 2004 GL-1800 that had this "Death Rattle". There is a sort of cir-clip that holds the dampening springs in the Alternator Driven Gear that is made out of pot metal that sometimes fails. The springs protect the alternator from the reciprocal vibrations of the engine at idle. Kinda like the rubber dampeners located somewhere in the rear wheel to the make the bike feel smooth at slow speeds. Lug the engine a bit and you can feel the individual power strokes. Same thing except for the alternator. Honda redesigned these parts starting with the 2006 GL-1800. It is now a fluid dampener instead of using springs. It's not really that common. What makes it noteworthy is that it is so expensive to to fix. The majority of the cost is Labor. The engine has to be removed from the bike and the rear case removed from the engine to get the the ADG. I purchased all the parts to include all the gaskets, seals, rubber and crush washers per the service manual ($521 us) and special tools ($400 US) to do the job but never got around to doing it. I drove my bike just about everyday for over a year and a half before I wrecked it on I-10 in East LA. I was glad I had procrastinated because I would have been pretty upset if I had spent all that tim and money fixing it only to wreck it. I'd open my throttle a bit at stops to keep the idle above 1K RPMs. Anything above 1K RPM and the rattling stops and the bike runs as normal. I replaced the wrecked '04 with a '02 so I have what I need if it ever develops the "Death Rattle"
Also have a 2009 Gold Wing and mine has developed a similar sound. The sound is most noticeable on start up goes away completely when driving. Does yours do the same thing? Also I noticed that the figure you quoted is in Canadian Dollars. I am in Ontario, where are you? Thanks, Steve
Steve D The bike would sound normal on start up and at idle. The sound came when putting the engine under a bit of load by letting the clutch out while in gear. The sound would disappear after the bike got up to speed. I also live in Ontario. Got the work done at Motosport Plus in Kingston. Major job. It took the mechanic 24 shop hrs but i was only charged for 20. The mechanic was VERY meticulous with his work, which is absolutely necessary when working on a Wing. Regrettably he isnt there anymore, not sure where he went. Happy to answer any other questions about the dreaded ADG failure. Hopefully your problem is different.
Thanks for the quick reply. My Wing makes the noise at idle (warm or cold) and it doesn't happen all the time. That's the funny or sad part. When I start rolling it goes away and when I come to a stop, sometimes the noise is there and as I mentioned sometimes its not. It is somewhat frustrating to say the least. I am going to get it checked out here in Ottawa and see what they have to say. If its not favourable I may end up making the trip down to Kingston. As we both know I am sure, once one has a good mechanic or shop its wise to hang on to them. Again, thanks for the quick response. I will let you know how I make out. Steve
Steve D i bought the bike from Kanata Honda in January of 2016. Needless to say i couldn’t test ride it at -20°. Didn’t know there was a problem until first ride in the spring. i live near Kingston so i had Motosport Plus check it out. They “softly” said Kanata Honda was probably aware there was a problem but didn’t want to put more money into the bike. After contacting the BBB and the owner of KH and they settled on giving me a cheque for $1000 to cover the $3000+ bill ?!?!. Obviously I’ve lost faith in Kanata Honda. Anyways.....with the side cover off the left side of the bike you can see the alternator. Should be able to pinpoint with a stethoscope where the sound is coming from. Hopefully it’s just the bearing which I’ve heard of guys having to replace. The bearing is relatively “easy” to replace compared to the ADG. Yes let me know.
That is a sad adventure. I live in Ottawa and purchased my Wing new in the summer of 2010 from KH. To date I have not had any issues with them and the service dept has been good to me to date. Agree a stethoscope will probably isolate the problem. Ironically when I had it at KH for service this year the noise was not there so I couldn't get them to check it then. Surfing the net and reading various forums, failure of the ADG seems to be a hit and miss as fellow Wing owners I know here haven't had the problem and don't even know what and ADG is. That said I am hoping it is the Alternator (bearing) as that would be cheaper to fix than the ADG in the long run. I could even do it myself to defer labour costs. On another note where there are not a lot of Wings here in the NCR, I think I've seen your Wing at local car/bike meets. It's not hard to miss with all of the accessories, bling installed . Perhaps we can hook up sometime when it is warmer to share stories. You have some great roads in your area and I love riding Highway 2. Steve P.S. my Wing has approx 80K on it now and the issue started around the 75K mark.
I'm looking to purchase a 2010 GL1800, but they all seem to have varying degrees of alternator whine. did you ever repair your alternator, and if so, what was the solution?
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I had a 2004 GL-1800 that had this "Death Rattle". There is a sort of cir-clip that holds the dampening springs in the Alternator Driven Gear that is made out of pot metal that sometimes fails. The springs protect the alternator from the reciprocal vibrations of the engine at idle. Kinda like the rubber dampeners located somewhere in the rear wheel to the make the bike feel smooth at slow speeds. Lug the engine a bit and you can feel the individual power strokes. Same thing except for the alternator. Honda redesigned these parts starting with the 2006 GL-1800. It is now a fluid dampener instead of using springs. It's not really that common. What makes it noteworthy is that it is so expensive to to fix. The majority of the cost is Labor. The engine has to be removed from the bike and the rear case removed from the engine to get the the ADG. I purchased all the parts to include all the gaskets, seals, rubber and crush washers per the service manual ($521 us) and special tools ($400 US) to do the job but never got around to doing it. I drove my bike just about everyday for over a year and a half before I wrecked it on I-10 in East LA. I was glad I had procrastinated because I would have been pretty upset if I had spent all that tim and money fixing it only to wreck it. I'd open my throttle a bit at stops to keep the idle above 1K RPMs. Anything above 1K RPM and the rattling stops and the bike runs as normal. I replaced the wrecked '04 with a '02 so I have what I need if it ever develops the "Death Rattle"
Do you know what was the cause of the sound? I have a similar noise in my 2002 gl1800 - could be the alternator gear?
WALID FENNANE Yep. In the video description and my comments below. Alternator Driven gear. An expensive fix.
Did you discover what the noise was? And how did you fix it?
Also have a 2009 Gold Wing and mine has developed a similar sound. The sound is most noticeable on start up goes away completely when driving. Does yours do the same thing? Also I noticed that the figure you quoted is in Canadian Dollars. I am in Ontario, where are you? Thanks, Steve
Steve D The bike would sound normal on start up and at idle. The sound came when putting the engine under a bit of load by letting the clutch out while in gear. The sound would disappear after the bike got up to speed. I also live in Ontario. Got the work done at Motosport Plus in Kingston. Major job. It took the mechanic 24 shop hrs but i was only charged for 20. The mechanic was VERY meticulous with his work, which is absolutely necessary when working on a Wing. Regrettably he isnt there anymore, not sure where he went. Happy to answer any other questions about the dreaded ADG failure. Hopefully your problem is different.
Thanks for the quick reply. My Wing makes the noise at idle (warm or cold) and it doesn't happen all the time. That's the funny or sad part. When I start rolling it goes away and when I come to a stop, sometimes the noise is there and as I mentioned sometimes its not. It is somewhat frustrating to say the least. I am going to get it checked out here in Ottawa and see what they have to say. If its not favourable I may end up making the trip down to Kingston. As we both know I am sure, once one has a good mechanic or shop its wise to hang on to them. Again, thanks for the quick response. I will let you know how I make out. Steve
Steve D i bought the bike from Kanata Honda in January of 2016. Needless to say i couldn’t test ride it at -20°. Didn’t know there was a problem until first ride in the spring. i live near Kingston so i had Motosport Plus check it out. They “softly” said Kanata Honda was probably aware there was a problem but didn’t want to put more money into the bike. After contacting the BBB and the owner of KH and they settled on giving me a cheque for $1000 to cover the $3000+ bill ?!?!. Obviously I’ve lost faith in Kanata Honda. Anyways.....with the side cover off the left side of the bike you can see the alternator. Should be able to pinpoint with a stethoscope where the sound is coming from. Hopefully it’s just the bearing which I’ve heard of guys having to replace. The bearing is relatively “easy” to replace compared to the ADG. Yes let me know.
That is a sad adventure. I live in Ottawa and purchased my Wing new in the summer of 2010 from KH. To date I have not had any issues with them and the service dept has been good to me to date. Agree a stethoscope will probably isolate the problem. Ironically when I had it at KH for service this year the noise was not there so I couldn't get them to check it then. Surfing the net and reading various forums, failure of the ADG seems to be a hit and miss as fellow Wing owners I know here haven't had the problem and don't even know what and ADG is. That said I am hoping it is the Alternator (bearing) as that would be cheaper to fix than the ADG in the long run. I could even do it myself to defer labour costs. On another note where there are not a lot of Wings here in the NCR, I think I've seen your Wing at local car/bike meets. It's not hard to miss with all of the accessories, bling installed . Perhaps we can hook up sometime when it is warmer to share stories. You have some great roads in your area and I love riding Highway 2. Steve P.S. my Wing has approx 80K on it now and the issue started around the 75K mark.
I'm looking to purchase a 2010 GL1800, but they all seem to have varying degrees of alternator whine. did you ever repair your alternator, and if so, what was the solution?