chris101910

Hi everyone.

So I changed my tranny fluid tonight. Everything went fine and I went to go for a little test drive... I started the car and noticed that when the clutch is engaged (pedal up), the rpms drop ever so slightly (you can hear a little bit of engine load) and there is a slight noise coming from the shifter/tranny. It's not a grinding noise, more of a little whine. This goes away when you press the clutch.

I'm really not sure what to make of this. Is it possible I didn't fill the tranny up all the way? I got almost 3 quarts in there...

I'm done for the night so I figured I would see if anyone had any suggestions before I get back on it tomorrow. I don't want to drive it until I figure out why it's doing this.

I sure would appreciate any ideas...

Oh - it's an 88 TII by the way.

Thanks alot.

idsigloo

Checked your clutch fluid?

chris101910

Yes... It's full.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

As you stated, with the pedal up that's transmission noise. As when the pedal is depressed, the clutch is disengaged, and the trans shaft stops turning. I believe the max capacity is only 2.6 qts. As it's a turbo, did you remove both top plugs and fill the front until the fluid runs out the rear hole? Naturally car must be level.
Even with Redline, I can hear a slight decrease in RPM's when clutch is engaged in my S5 TII at idle. The rotary doesn't develop much torque. Over the life of my car, which I purchased new, and have always used Redline, the trans was rebuilt at 88,000 miles, then again at 155,000 miles. This last time it needed bearings along with syncros.
What transmission fluid did you use?

K.ronic

I have the same noise your describing when the car ('89 TII) is in neutral and idling. It's just a little whiring sound from the tranny and when I depress the clutch it stops. It's close to rebuild time for me so I figured it was a bearing needing to be replaced. My clutch feels fine also. There's no slippage or any noticable clutch wear. My u-joint is in the process of going bad so my guess was that the tranny bearings and such were also going bad. Speaking of u-joints...anyone know where to mail order an aftermarket drive shaft with replacable u-joints for an '89 TII besides Mazdatrix?

DanicaTimesSeven

I have the same exact problem. This appears to be a common thing.

chris101910

Thanks for the replies. What's weird is that it didn't make this noise before. Now I change the fluid and the noise is there. Strange. I am going to check the fluid in there to make sure it is full, although it seems that it must be as I think I got a little over 2.5 quarts (lowered the car to let excess drain from the fill holes).

DanicaTimesSeven

Well I changed my tranny oil too, but that won't do anything except make your shifts feel all marshmellowy-smooth for a few days. The noise was still there though. What it is are bearings in the transmission. Some say input shaft, some say throw out. There are many types of bearings in there, even if I don't know all of them. On Nopistons, this was discussed for a while. Even some RX-8s with 30 grand on the clock making a whirring noise when in neutral and the clutch out. While this is not necessarily a good thing, it hasn't caused any problems other than noise.
Noise doesn't mean nothing is wrong though. Something is worn, that's what the noise is telling you. Rebuilding or replacing your transmission will fix it, so long as you replace all the bearings.

I've also read about the gears in a transmission banging into eachother and making noise. With the clutch out, I guess some things are still spinning or whatever. Regardless, what I read is that they bump into eachother constantly and make a bit of noise. I also read, from the same book, that it isn't curable.

Factoring in the fact that I doubt this noise is natural in design (Meaning been there since new, because that's how the tranny is) , I've ruled out the gears.

Does it also make a similar noise in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th? (Excluding fourth because it's supposedly direct drive) - Is that noise louder when it's cold and increase in volume as you drive faster? - Does the noise lower in volume after you've been driving a while?

I have noise when I'm in gear, too. It may or may not be linked directly to the bearing noise. It shuts up after about 30 minutes of driving though, once all the oil has expanded into the imperfections of the gears and bearings and lubes them up nicely. The whirring, however, can still be heard no matter how long I've been driving - but it is quieter.

Don't worry about it, and just keep in mind you'll need a new tranny or rebuild. Or, just don't sit there with the clutch out in neutral...I usually don't. I don't let it idle in neutral unless I HAVE to.

Hope this helps you,
-Collin

Boostmaniac

This is actually discussed on another thread. I believe it is the bearings on the front of the input shaft. Someone snapped some pics of it torn halfway down. Take a peek, it was only a few days ago. It was a thread on rebuilding the transmission again or something.

chris101910

Thanks alot for your input. I went back at it today and put in some of the Lucas. It did take most of the bottle so I may have not had it quite full. The noise was still there, but I drove around for a little while and it went away. It has not come back like it was, although I do still hear a slight noise... no big deal. So I think my immediate concerns are fixed (for now at least).

I have been having another problem with the tranmission, which is why I decided to change the fluid in the first place. 5th gear sometimes grinds when going in. Nothing seems to make it decide to grind or not. I've tried double clutching, rev matching, etc. I'd say it does it 75% of the time though... Just a slight crunch. And sometimes I have trouble getting the car in first/reverse from a stop. It is very hard. This is maybe 10% of the time though and hopefully my fluid change helped that some. But the 5th gear grind is still there.

I think you are right Collin... I will keep in mind that my tranny is old (125k) and maybe I'll need a rebuild sometime.

Thanks everyone for your comments. You've been a big help.

DanicaTimesSeven

125 isn't a lot, mine has 197k on it as of today. My Eclipse had 182 on it when 2nd started grinding. My amigo had 224,000 on it and shifted beautifully (For a truck).

It's all in how you treat them. 5th gear sucks for grinding man. I have 2nd gear grinding for the first two or three shifts of a day, but it's fine for the rest of the day and it's not really a grind, it's just like...I dunno...strange.

chris101910

Well I only got the car about 2k ago, so I have no idea how it's been driven. This 5th gear problem just started a few weeks ago. I do mostly city driving so it's not a huge deal... and once it goes in to 5th it seems to drive fine. 125k isn't alot... But I think these cars get beat on alot and who knows how's it's been treated. I have 2 volkswagens approaching 300k on the original engine/tranny and they still run strong and shift great. You're absolutely right... it's all about how they are treated.

sintri

mm where is the clutch and transmission fluids located at? I've been getting this sort of grinding sound when I push the clutch in that started happening today, when the clutch is out and it's in gear or neutral there's no griding noises, it's only been happening with the clutch in so I'm planning on taking in look into that tommorow, need to get down to the dmv and get my plates renewed, so can anyone help?

don't think it's the bearing either, like coming to a stop with the clutch in after being in gear it'll be fine, but after like 5 seconds a grind'll come on..