What causes a transmission to whine severely??

[Kdubslugga]

I have a question. I have a z-code t5 in my car with like 3000 miles on it. Now granted I know this tranny is shot because it sounds god awful, the thing is ive never once power shifted I hardly ever drag race, and I figured all my power, "510" rwhp would break something not wear something out excessivley fast. Tranny shifts very smooth, doesnt grind, but like I said, whines extremely loud. Is the only thing that causes whinning worn out gears? Like I said, im not trying to fix the whine, tranny is getting replaced, just trying to learn something.

 

[wythors]

What causes a transmission to whine severly??

It's female and not getting it's way?











Sorry, I have nothing constructive here.

 

[Kdubslugga]

lol, awesome!!

 

[Chrome_Rust]

fluid.... yup

Might be low, take 15 minutes and pull it out and tear it down to see inside of it.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Lack of fluid, incorrect fluid, or low fluid causing the bearings to scpre and become damaged are two leaking causes.

 

[93project]

It's female and not getting it's way?











Sorry, I have nothing constructive here.

lmfao! PERFECT!!!

 

[tannerc91gt]

Like stated, not enough fluid or the wrong fluid. Might be able to get away with just
changing it for now, but if you've damaged the bearings and possibly the synchros (they tend to burn up and the grooves wear out with low/wrong fluid) you might be better off just fixing it now

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Refresh my memory....I know the Z-Spec T5 was stronger…but why? What type of gears does it run? If to strengthen them they went to a strait cut gear set over the standard helical cut gear set, then that's probably the source of your whine?

For the life of me though, I can't remember if that's how they designed the gear sets in the Z-spec, or if they also used the helical cut gears, but made them slightly thicker, with different alloys to improve the strength?

Does it whine in every gear, or just certain gears?

 

[Mustang5L5]

Refresh my memory....I know the Z-Spec T5 was stronger…but why? What type of gears does it run? If to strengthen them they went to a strait cut gear set over the standard helical cut gear set, then that's probably the source of your whine?

For the life of me though, I can't remember if that's how they designed the gear sets in the Z-spec, or if they also used the helical cut gears, but made them slightly thicker, with different alloys to improve the strength?

Does it whine in every gear, or just certain gears?

It's helical gearing.

The strenght increase is due to reducing the gear ratios slightly. The materials are the same as the 90+ T-5, but the different torque rating is due to the taller gear resulting in lesser torque multiplication. Also, the pocket bearing was redesigned to allow for less flex of the mainshaft which prevents 3rd gear spread. When gears spread, the load transfers to the thinner part of the gear, which shears easier

It's why the 4-bangers have a lower rating...they have steeper gears, so it allows for more torque multiplication which is when you get in the tooth shearing zone.

 

[cammed89lx]

Plus arent t5's notorious for whining overly loud?

 

[Rick 91GT]

The front bearing in the t5s starve for fluid, if they go bad and explode it does a lot of damage. Like others, check the fluid level first.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Plus arent t5's notorious for whining overly loud?

Doesn't mean it's "right". The one I just rebuilt for my car with new bearings and gears is completely silent.

Whining t-5s (other than shifter noise) are usually starved bearings.

Check your fluid level frequently.

 

[MadRed92GT]

Might be a dumb question, but how do you check the fluid? My whine sound seem to come from the rear end.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Passenger side of trans. There are two plugs that a 3/8" drive rachet fits into. Top is fill, bottom is drain.

With car level, remove the top plug. Fluid should be right at the plug level. If you can stick a finger in and not feel the fluid level, you are low

DO NOT remove the big torx-style plug on the driver's side of the transmission. This holds the 5-R linkage. If you unscrew this, big problem. The fill/drain plugs are on the PASSENGER side

 

[ID89GT]

What usually needs replaced to fix this whine problem? Mine does it as well, and I know it was low on fluid. Just wondering if its cheaper to replace the parts that need fixed or to buy a whole other tranny

 

[Mustang5L5]

Depends on which parts are scored up.

I had a trans that whined. The 15 roller bearings between input shaft and mainshaft were scored...as well as tip of mainshaft.

Got a good used mainshaft for $75, and a new set of roller bearings for $15 or so...swapped them in and good as new.


If the trans whines in every gear BUT 4th, that's a scored mainshaft. Factor in that shaft as the main replacement part.

Other bearings do fail as well

 

[MadRed92GT]

Never had to do this before, so what type fluid & can you but it at O'rielly or Autozone? You can do this without dropping the trans. out right?

 

[Mustang5L5]

Non-synthetic ATF is recommended fill....fill capacity is 2.8 quarts (so get 3)

No need to drop trans. Just get it up and level. All you need is a 3/8" drive rachet. Drain from bottom plug into a pan. You can remove the shifter and fill there, but it's quicket to just buy the pump that screws onto the top of a quart bottle and pump the fluid nto the top hole. Will take 3 mins...vs 20 mins removing the shifter.

 

[ID89GT]

Mine whines in 1st through 3rd I believe. It shifts fine and all, just has the annoying whine

 

[MadRed92GT]

Thanks Mustang5L5, needed that. You know if low fluid makes the rear end whine, I think that is where my whine is coming from.