What does gear whine sound like?

[sunil6784]

Every time I hit between about 1700 and 2300 rpm, only after the car is warmed up, i hear this rattle. It's almost sounds like plastic. Sounds to be coming from the shifter/radio/heater controls. I can't figure it out and its SO annoying. I'm not sure if its the tranny, because it does it in any gear, and the more gas I give it, the worse it gets. It sux on the highway because thats my cruising rpms as well. I changed my tranny fluid to synthetic a while ago, but i can't remember if it was doing this before then. Any suggestions? Thanks fellas.

 

[darthcual]

So does it do it in gear only? Or when you rev the engine as well? Sry

 

[sunil6784]

Oh ya, forgot to mention that part. It does it not in gear and you rev the engine..., which means it couldn't be gear whine. Any suggestions as to what it could be? It really sounds like something is loose behind the dash/console, but what could make a rattle like that directly related to engine RPM?

 

[Daggar]

What does gear whine sound like?

r-r-r-r-R-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-r-r-R-R-R-R-R-R-ROOOOWOWOWOWOWOWOW-R-R-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-r-r-R-R-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-rrrrrr

 

[Mac Hmslf]

r-r-r-r-R-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-r-r-R-R-R-R-R-R-ROOOOWOWOWOWOWOWOW-R-R-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-r-r-R-R-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-rrrrrr

couldn't have said it better myself

 

[darthcual]

gotta love the way these guys help out LOL. Try an automotive stethoscope. they are helpful in finding gremlins like the one you describe. Have a friend handy to rev the engina for you. good luck Yoda-san

 

[87gtconv]

And if it is from the rear gear it goes up and down with revs when it is in gear too. It is the type of thing that is very intuitive. I put new gears in and sudenly I hear this really loud bad noise. And I ask the shop what is up and he says my used gears are junk. When I had another shop take the rear end apart they said the fluid was burnt and housing cracked. Put in a whole new rear housing from Ford with 3.73 gears assembled complete less axle shafts and brakes and all is well. One axle shaft was slightly out of rond so I did repace both with
Superior parts. Cost me over $1600 parts and labor for a job that was supose to cost me $150 for gears and $300 for labor.

 

[sunil6784]

r-r-r-r-R-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-r-r-R-R-R-R-R-R-ROOOOWOWOWOWOWOWOW-R-R-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-r-r-R-R-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-rrrrrr

Ohhhh....thanks for clearing that up.


Darth, I think I am going to get me one of those automotive stethoscopes. Thanks for the tip.

I don't think its the rear gear, because it also happens when the car is in neutral. That sux that a "small" project turned into a big deal.

 

[CoupedUp]

...... I think I am going to get me one of those automotive stethoscopes. ......

I bought one that had the solid probe on the end, so it was made to find mechanical "ticks" only. I couldn't locate any exhaust leaks I had, because the air/sound waves had no way to travel up the probe.
I went down to the parts store and bought a short, small I.D. steel brake line and cut the flared ends off and stuck it into the stethoscope rubber tube.

I can now hear exhaust and mechanical noises. Just a tid bit of info to help.

Happy Hunting

 

[Fishhawk]

Every time I hit between about 1700 and 2300 rpm, only after the car is warmed up, i hear this rattle. It's almost sounds like plastic. Sounds to be coming from the shifter/radio/heater controls. I can't figure it out and its SO annoying. I'm not sure if its the tranny, because it does it in any gear, and the more gas I give it, the worse it gets. It sux on the highway because thats my cruising rpms as well. I changed my tranny fluid to synthetic a while ago, but i can't remember if it was doing this before then. Any suggestions? Thanks fellas.

Speedometer cable? Is it the original? When one goes bad they can make some funky noises.
Do you have the stock shifter? If you have an after market shifter the sound deadening will not be there and you will hear then trans. One way to tell if the noise is reverberating through the shifter is, when you hear it wrap your hand around the shifter right at the top of the boot. If the tone changes you know where its coming from.

 

[sunil6784]

Speedometer cable? Is it the original? When one goes bad they can make some funky noises.
Do you have the stock shifter? If you have an after market shifter the sound deadening will not be there and you will hear then trans. One way to tell if the noise is reverberating through the shifter is, when you hear it wrap your hand around the shifter right at the top of the boot. If the tone changes you know where its coming from.

No, its the stock shifter, and I think the previous owner replaced the speedo cable with some junky one, because its in two pieces that connect to each other, one from the tranny, the other from the dash. My speedo does bounce, so maybe that could be it. I thought of the shifter test, but the tone doesn't change at all. Thanks for the replies

 

[Fishhawk]

No, its the stock shifter, and I think the previous owner replaced the speedo cable with some junky one, because its in two pieces that connect to each other, one from the tranny, the other from the dash. My speedo does bounce, so maybe that could be it. I thought of the shifter test, but the tone doesn't change at all. Thanks for the replies

I'll bet good money its the speedometer cable then. Thats a part that should be an OEM replacement. I looked high and low for one since Ford discontinued it for the 85 GT. Finally found a factory piece through CJ Pony. All the others were cheap imitations.

 

[sunil6784]

You know what, fishhawk you got me thinking. So i went out for a quick spin and i payed very close attention. While going about 40 or so, it was a consistent noise, so i put it in neutral and revved. It got a tad bit louder, not much. Then i stopped the car and the rattle went away. I revved it at a stop and still nothing. So you might be on to something...thansk for all the help. That will be one more thing to do this winter...

 

[Look Its Aaron]

My money is on the speedo cable

 

[Foxfan88]

when the shifter is in Neutral, the internals of the tranny do spin if i am not mistaken, its just that no torque is transferring to the output shaft since no shift forks are holding the gears to the output shaft, someone correct me if i am wrong...

 

[Fishhawk]

Yes, if you throw it in neutral you will still hear the speedometer cable. I believe the speedometer cable's gear mesh's with the tranmission driven gear which allways turns.
Does the noise/pitch increase and decrease with the speed you are driving? That is always a dead giveaway.
Can't stress enought that you replace it with a Ford OEM cable. You'll pay a little more but it will fit right the first time. Nothing more frustrating then going with a $20 aftermarket cable, hooking it up and finding out it doesn't work/fit, then have to pull everything appart again.

 

[sunil6784]

Well, its pretty much the same noise level from about 35 mph up, except when you give it more throttle...thats when you can hear it more. On my way to school, the highways are all up and down, so I am consistently playing with the pedal. At about 10 mph and below, the noise stops.

 

[OL' WHITEY]

Could the mid pipe be a little too close to the frame rail? I had a weird vibration like this and it turned out to be that.

 

[fiveohGT]

Speedometer cable? Is it the original? When one goes bad they can make some funky noises.
Do you have the stock shifter? If you have an after market shifter the sound deadening will not be there and you will hear then trans. One way to tell if the noise is reverberating through the shifter is, when you hear it wrap your hand around the shifter right at the top of the boot. If the tone changes you know where its coming from.

exactly.....my speedo used to do this. I changed out the sensor and cable and it works perfect now.

I have an aftermarket tranny and shifter and it also makes this noise.

its probably one of the two^