The Sounds of a Dying Transmission

[frosho]

Sounds like the same thing you went through in this thread, Eric V. Here's a little video I made of me at first taking it easy and then getting on it on an on-ramp.



The noise is present in first through fourth gears, and then disappears entirely when I get into fifth. So it must be an internal transmission issue, and it can't be the differential since it disappears in fifth. I know it's pretty much shot now, but I'm curious if anyone has any ideas about what it is inside the tranny that went bad. I'm thinking bad bearing, but would stripped teeth make a noise like that?

 

[fitefanSHO]

Damn, I can't believe you even got that car back on the road after the accident.

 

[frosho]

It wasn't too tough. Tied the car to a tree to pull the radiator support out a bit, threw a new radiator in, and buttoned it up. It's still in rough shape, but it's getting me from point A to point B.

 

[Eric VerValin]

Ok here's how it went away for me and what I changed. I pressed another bearing in after I found that one.. and its still making that noise. (also still a good bearing when I pressed this one in myself I wont pay for anything anymore) Noise was still there... so I found a spare transmission, and swapped my old one out. I still haven't gotten my old one rebuilt yet but I would assume its an input shaft bearing. Haven't heard from Bizzy in a while, but I'm sure she'll see this thread eventually. Whatever it was she told me it sounded like is probally what your is doing. sounds very very similar.

I checked for any kind of wear inside the bell housing or for loose bolts on the PP but everything looked ok. For diagnosis sake I didn't even try to tighten anything else up. I did however when dropping the subframe replace the sway bar bushings with polys, and the front strut rod bushings with polys, but don't think those played a part. But I don't have the noise anymore so it was definately in the tranny.

I havent cracked it open yet, but when Bizzy gets a chance to fix it for me I'll let ya know. I didn't want to lose any evedience or disturb anything she might be able to see.

See if she can get yours fixed by first, mine is doin ok.. just got a crappy 2nd gear lining and I grind second if I am not cautious with it.. I got other things to replace currently. (entire suspension)


Also IIRC it was a pretty bad idea to drive it sounding like that. Something is probally making contact with the housing.. not a good thing. sorry for the bad news. Good luck!




Edit: This started only after the accident? Or was it beginning to happen before?

 

[frosho]

It started before the accident.

And, at least in my case, it wouldn't have anything to do with the bellhousing/pp/flywheel/etc. It completely disappears in fifth, even when I shift into it going relatively slow to keep other road noise to a minimum, say, 35ish. In all other gears it's very audible both when I give it throttle, and when I'm engine braking, with a little spot inbetween where it doesn't do much at all. So basically, it does it when it's under any sort of load.

EDIT: Also, I can't stop driving it 'cause it's my only mode of transportation. I finished off the ATX my brother's 190K '91 626 in December, lol. I guess I just don't get along with transmissions. I blew the diff in my original MTX in June of '06, then killed the 626, and now this. :angelnot:

 

[Eric VerValin]

Yep same thing. I could have it in the other gears but just even out the engine speed / pedal so there was the least torque going thru the halfshafts it would be almost non existant. If the pedal went down, or up a little more it was loud. I couldn't hear it in 5th either. FWIW.

 

[frosho]

Dude, we must've gotten a bad batch of SHOs lol. I've experienced quite a few of the same issues you've posted about. I end up reading through your threads to diagnose and fix my problems.

 

[Eric VerValin]

Well it just had a lot of miles on it. I always took care of it, never had to replace much, a sway bar link once, and brakes that sort of thing. Everything just fell apart in 5,000 miles after I got the motor squared away. Anything rubber went away, heater core was leaking, everything "common" but for 191,000 miles I can't really complain. Once I get my suspension in order and this other transmission rebuilt she should be good for a longggg time, and I can save that money I've been spending on some kind of forced induction.


Thats why I wanted to bring all my issues to the forum man, so people could find and search. Thats how and why mine is running as good as it is now from the help I found here. Trying to give back what I learned here. I'm no mechanic but my baby is getting high 20's MPG wise, screams like a ***** ape, and in a few weeks will have the suspension to go with it. I'm in love again, all thanks to the people here. Just glad I could help.

 

[fitefanSHO]

It wasn't too tough. Tied the car to a tree to pull the radiator support out a bit, threw a new radiator in, and buttoned it up. It's still in rough shape, but it's getting me from point A to point B.

Well,we both have new radiators then because I just had a new one put in yesterday. Finally, my cooling system is not leaking and it's doing it's job. Plus I Just got 4 new Yokahamas too. Getting ready for spring. Hope to see ya on the road!

 

[green91SHOPlus]

That sounds almost exactly like my atx sounded like before it exploded on the inside. It would make a noise that was consistent with the speed. The only difference is it would be persistent only while moving; under load or not. I couldn't ever figure it out, mostly because it's still in the car, and also because I'm no transmission guy.

 

[frosho]

Well,we both have new radiators then because I just had a new one put in yesterday. Finally, my cooling system is not leaking and it's doing it's job. Plus I Just got 4 new Yokahamas too. Getting ready for spring. Hope to see ya on the road!

Word, I just got a new set of tires too. BFG Traction T/A's. New tires FTW. 'Cept they'll probably outlast the car. Oh well. I'll sell em on here.

 

[Eric VerValin]

Another thing too, you said under load or not. If mine was out of gear engine speed didnt create any noise, only when it was in gear and moving. Let me know if you wanna sell those tires. lol

 

[MADDOG11]

Damn!!! I though mine sounded bad, but at least mine has a big friggin hole in the side (for the second time!)!

 

[93rev2sev]

You drive it with a hole in the side? I guess as long as it keeps going...why not?!

 

[frosho]

:laugh_ti:

As a little update of sorts, I changed the fluid again over the weekend. That's the fourth time in 2-3 years. First was after I blew the diff in my original trans. I probably had around 122-124K on it at that point, threw in a 92K trans, and filled her up with RP.

Then I had to do a wheel bearing and an axle so I lost some fluid and syphoned a bit more as well during that process. It looked and smelled fine at that point and I wasn't having any problems so I refilled with more RP.

Sometime around the end of Summer I first caught the faint sound of what was apparently my trans, but it wasn't very consistent or often. I thought it was another bearing or axle going out, so I was just going to ignore it until it was at least loud enough to diagnose. Then it disappeared entirely for about a month, so I figured I was fine.

Came back around the end of Fall and slowly began to grow louder. I was still kind of ignoring it for a while until it started doing it all the time and bumped the volume up a bunch of notches within a relatively short period of time. I finally opened it up again to drain to find it full and still looking like trans fluid. No metal flakes. Filled it this time with whatever dex/merc ATF my Dad had around, I forget which one. The noise was somewhat quieter so I just moved on.

Fast forward to this weekend. It's obviously gotten loud as ****, and now the fluid shows how bad it's gotten. I'll grab a pic in a few. I filled it up this time with Valvoline MaxLife. It's a tad quieter but still pretty loud. Oh well, nothin I can really afford to do but to run it to the end.

 

[frosho]

Here's a pic.

 

[MADDOG11]

You drive it with a hole in the side? I guess as long as it keeps going...why not?!

NO! Only to move it out of the way. Right now I'm forced to drive my Expedition, which sucks the gas down like it's dying of thirst! At this point it just sits at the dealership wiating for a new case half, Quaife and more money than I can spare at this time.

The funny thing is even after blowing approx 3" hole through the case (for the second time) and partially dislodging the driver's side cv axle it still shifts and drives fine. It blew about half way to work one morning and still got me the rest of the way!

Hopefully back on the road before the end of summer (of which year I'm not sure)!?!