williamb82

this morning on the way to work, i was going ~70mph as usual on the interstate. i felt a split second vibration, and then there was a howling sound. its kinda loud. like a wind howling. if i turn the od off and let it drop to 3rd gear the sound is totally gone. i checked the fluid, its a lil low. im gonna fill it up on my lunch break, but have never heard of a trans howling because its low. a manual trans yes, auto no. it still shifts fine and everything. is this a common issue when it gets low? or is the sound an indication of something going out? theres no more vibrations or anything at all. maybe the trans mount let go and the extra load of overdrive is making the noise?

idk, if od is on, when accelerating from a stop its fine until exactly 20mph, no matter how slow or fast i accelerate. i would think a bad mount would make noise dependent on load, not speed. is it something that can be fixed easily? or should i go to the junkyard and pull another transmission?

williamb82

i put more fluid in it. it seemed quieter but was still there. might have been quieter just because the car had cooled all the way off. ill know for sure on the way home though.

Thermactor

iTrader: (1)

ck the trans fluid filter, it probably has a fine sediment layer on it - i recommend changing it

williamb82

i checked it. dont see anything in it. also it is full and the sound is still the same. on the way to work it sounded just as loud as yesterday. it happened after a very short vibration so at this point im positive a fluid change wont change it. its something physical in the trans. it sounds like a howling bearing.

i had a r154 that had sat outside for a year or so once, input shaft wouldnt move by hand, put a disc on it to break it loose. ran auto trans fluid in it with the rear jacked up in 1st to flush it. did this twice. 2nd time fluid drained looked clean, put gear oil in it and it worked great except the input shaft bearing always howled. i ended up busting the thrust washer like a year later but the bearing never failed. just made noise.

this sounds pretty much the same so im guessing whatever cluster is engaged in overdrive only has a bearing making noise. instead of rebuilding ill just see if i can get a replacement trans. theres a few at the local pick and pull. a 90-92 trans will work in my 93 right? shouldnt be anything different. it is the same trans, but are the electrical plugs the same? or am i gonna be repinning stuff? i can do it no prob, just would like to know beforehand.

SRV1

iTrader: (2)

Check the driveshaft for bad joints.

James

williamb82

why would they only howl when od is engaged? it howls at 20mph or 80mph. as soon as od is switched off the sound goes away. a u joint would be load dependent so at higher speeds should howl even when od is off.