i noticed a noise today in the tranny on my 96 3.02wd.
it gets louder with rpm sounds almost like a supercharger(think big hot rod )
it makes the sound in all gears except 4th it does it on OD also.
I know it needs a clutch. but what is this noise?

 

is this the mazda 5spd manual tranny?

check the fluid for starters.

 

If you have the m5od (mazda) manual tranny then I would be betting on a bearing going out, not uncommon for these transmissions in my experience.

 

I had the exact same problem you have right now. I was going to pull it out and do the work my self, replace clutch, slave, and input shaft bearing which is probably one of the reasons it's making the noise. But while pulling the tranny i ran into trouble, so i had to take it in to a tranny shop. Turns out it ran low on fluid and fried the bearings or something and i have to replace it. I've been told that whining in all gears except 4th was the kiss of death on these mazda trannies.....get it inspected, you might find you need a new one.

Probably a bad input shaft bearing, but could be many more possibilities. Only way to really know for sure is to take it in and have it looked at, you might have caught it in time. How long has it made this noise?

If you just caught it today, your tranny should be good yet, but you definately should get it checked out. A tranny can whine like that for quite a while before finally just going completely out. Sometimes when the input shaft bearing goes out, all the gears except 4th go.

 

M5OD trannys have 3 rubber plugs at the end of the shift rails, these plugs are famous for leaking. The low fluid level slowly does damage to your internals, usually by the time you hear it it's too late. These are light duty transmissions and if it is pushed to its limits coupled with a low fluid level you have a recipe for failure. I have rebuilt a lot of these trannys and use Standard Transmission and Gear for my parts, all parts I get from them have been genuine ford parts. Don't put off repairs with these if they start getting noisy. These trannys have very close clearances inside and if bearings deteriorate you can have gears touch each other and that gets very expensive. Also, metal contamination from the bearings disintgrating damages the gear tooth faces and that will cause noise issues even if you replace all the bearings. So ya know, I have spent the last 6 years rebuilding transmissions for a living and was a ASE certified heavy truck tech. I would still check the fluid level but it has been my experience based on what you describe that you need a rebuild, I would bet on it.

 

rangersvt04 - Nothing you haven't been told so far: Whining noise in the 5sp Mazda trans that comes in many of the Ranger 4x2s = Soon to be DOA. Mine did the exact same thing until it just gave out. There is a reman unit under there now.

Check the fluid level yourself at the fill plug. Also verify that you have the Mazda 5sp (tag on the trans reads something similar to E87A-FE). You shoulc also see quite a bit of fluid that has leaked from the 3 rubber plugs up near where the shifter goes into the floor board. This will cause A LOT of problems with the bearings in this trans.

 

I have been having a very similar experience (see thread - https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=395776) but the noise is in all gears (especially 4th), only while accelerating. The noise level is directly proportional to speed, not RPMs. (I can run higher RPMs in low gears, but the noise is much much quieter than when I run lower RPMs in higher gears) The noise cuts out when I press in the clutch pedal. I have been hearing this noise ever since I had the clutch replaced.

The clutch, throwout & pilot bearings were replaced this past March at the local stealership and the fluid has been changed since then. The stealership decided to drain my fluid without my authorization as they called to tell me that the fluid looked very dirty and there was a lot of metal on the magnet and needed to be replaced. (They would have had to drain the tranny to determine this) I told them that I did not authorize them to replace the fluid and that it had been replaced not 4 months before and should not be as they described. To be safe, I changed it that evening after getting home; about 6 mile trip and the fluid that I drained out had some green looking fluid floating in it. (I think they may have replaced it with fluid out of their recycle barrel)

I watched my fluid levels prior to the clutch replacement and they were never below the fill hole. I also had replaced the tranny fluid about 4 months before the clutch work. One of the recommendations I have gotten is to replace the u joints. I haven't gotten around to changing the u-joints yet as I have not had the time. Could the noise I have be the tranny bearings as described above? Am I looking at a major problem developing as I have been driving with the noise for 6 months? Am I just being paranoid now and should just proceed with the u joints?

 

WHAT!? Green fluid? The first thing I would be thinking is antifreeze, but that wouldn't make any sense.

You said the noise occured when they changed the clutch? And they replaced the fluid? If it was me, I would go right back there and insist (polite, but firm) that they look it over. If it was antifreeze in there it could have gotten into the bearings.

It is possible, like you mentioned, that you need new u-joints. They are fairly cheap and depending on your miles, may be in need of changing anyway. Just make sure if you replace them, you follow all the directions. There is a right way and a wrong way to install them. I saw a repeat of Trucks! the other day and Stacey was going over that topic.

 

I thought antifreeze also when I first saw it, but that should have been on the bottom of the drain pan, not floating on top. I have no idea what it was, but it was definitely green. (soaked up a bit with the corner of a paper towel)

I have taken it back at least once a month since then. I have a problem with hesitation during takeoff that has not yet been fixed. I have gotten a runaround that has run the gammut from the flywheel has not had the time to seat itself properly, there is a small smudge of grease on the flywheel which needs to be burnt off by slipping the clutch, to its the O2 sensors, PCV, EGR & spark plugs/wires. They have not done anything to address the hesitation or noise other than take it on another road test, pull codes and tell me that it isn't the clutch work.

I am planning to replace the u-joints as they would also cause the hesitation I am feeling if they are binding. However, I cannot find any play in the joints when I am under the truck. I also caught the episode of TRUCKS this past weekend which had Stacey detailing the u-joint installation process. (had to do laundry while it was POURING buckets outside)

 

If you have whining in all gears especially 4th, you have a pretty major problem with your tranny. 4th gear is the main gear, and drives all the others. Metal shavings in the drain plug is a sure sign of a soon to come death of your tranny. I had metal on my drain plug too when i changed the fluid not too long ago. I also found out i need a whole new tranny because the old one is completely gone. Definately sounds like a serious problem, get it checked right away.

 

I drove mine for about 5 months with the whining problem. That's part of the reason the tranny needs to be replaced, because i let it go too long. Chances are your tranny is right on the edge of life or death....your going to need a rebuild or a new tranny.

For around 600 you can get yourself a completely rebuilt from www.smartpartsauto.com if it's 4wd, 500 something if it's 2wd. Don't mess with the stealer ship, they are only going to keep giving you runarounds so they can drain you of your money and get you no where. Take it to a decent tranny shop and have them inspect it, they will be a little more honest than a stealership.

And since the whining is especially in 4th, your tranny is probably worse shape than mine. That tranny could go out at any time as your going down the road and leave you stranded. Get it checked asap.

 

74duster318,

I am confused now and am not trying to be contradictary, I just want to be sure I know what I am dealing with. The way I understand it, the tranny is spinning whenever the vehicle is moving and is in gear, regardless of whether or not the clutch is pressed in. If this is so, why is the noise disappearing when I de-accelerate or press the clutch in? Did the noise you heard do the same thing?

I allowed the noise to linger for so long, thinking it was the u joints. Since the stress angles were changed when de-accelerating or with the clutch depressed I had assumed the stress on the u joints during acceleration was what was making the humming noise. If it is the tranny bearings, I would expect the noise to be constant.

Thanks!

 

First off...if there was alot of metal on the drain plug, why would you suspect the u joints and just let it go? Metal on the drain plug is not good, even if it was the u joints, there is still a pretty serious issue with your tranny. If you haven't changed the fluid in a month or more, change it once to see what the plug looks like again, if it has even more metal mush it's most likely the tranny.

The whining i heard was almost exactly the same as you describe it, although i could hear it almost all the time, but it got very quiet when i pushed the clutch or let off the gas.

 

I never noticed a large amount of metal on the drain plug magnet. It was the stealership that claimed that there was. When I changed it 4 months before the clutch was replaced, there was only a minor amount of the "black fuzz" on the magnet. (No more than I would normally expect) I will have some time this weekend and I'll try to get the fluid changed. If the u joints don't make a difference in the noise, I'll take the truck into a tranny shop and have them look at it.

Thanks!

 

Sounds like a good plan...i'm gona bet it isn't the u joints...but anything is possible.