Has anybody experienced a "whiny" drivetrain in their Ranger or Mazda? I have a 94 Mazda B3000. The clutch doesn't slip, it stills has good umph, but when I give it gas the transmission makes a high-pitched whirring noise that seems to follow the RPM. 4th gear is the only one that doesn't seem to make the noise. It doesn't make the noise when I let off the gas or when just revving the engine in neutral.

 

Welcome to FTE.

Have you checked the tranny fluid recently? If the answer is no, check the fluid now and without delay. There are some shift rail plugs on the top of the tranny that swell and leak over time; often the driver only sees a small drip on the floor underneath the truck and thinks its just a small leak and not a big deal. But in reality, the fluid is dripping out while driving. This situation is quite common. If undetected/ignored, the end result is not nice.

 

Yikes. Thanks for the tip. Yes, I have seen fluid on the garage floor, and I didn't think it was a big deal. For the sake of ease, could Jiffy Lube not only check the fluid level but replace the plugs?

 

Yes, well, um maybe (read on) an oil change shop can check the fluid level, but the fix, assuming it's the shift rail plugs, is beyond the scope of a lube shop. You can DIY, visit a tranny shop, or even a general auto repair shop can handle it; this issue is very common. The shift rail plugs are at the top of the tranny and directly under the center hump of the floor board. If you look at the sticky in the Ranger forum you will find a link to info on this subject. Here's the link Repairing Shift Rail Plugs.

I read the article where someone with small hands claimed he was able to reach up in there and pull them out with a needle nose pliers and replace them. I've replaced mine already (brass plugs), but I decided to try to reach up in there and replicate the repair; my hands are about average. I was unable to do it. The best and final fix is to replace them with small soft plugs or brass plugs.

I spoke with a person that owns a tranny shop last winter. One of his customers brought in a Ranger with a failed tranny due to low oil as a consequence of leaking shift rail plugs. The customer was using a popular oil change business (one at the national level). The customer had complained to the business about tranny noises and had asked them over three oil changes to check the tranny fluid and he forced them to document it. Each time the oil change facility reported that the level was fine. Well, they were actually choosing the lazy route and not checking it. Guess what. His tranny ran virtually dry and he went after that oil change business. He won, and they paid for his tranny rebuild. Cases like this are why I don't trust shops.

 

I hope yours has not gone for too long. Mine was just like what you described and it went bad. I had Jiffy Lube check the fluid and they were stupid about it. "Oh yea we can put some in." The next day it broke. There is alot of info in this post that I have going about the same thing.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=184106

 

Sometimes i hear a whining sound whil driving my 1995 explorer. So i just stop and kick the wife out.

LOL
JK