Club 80-90 Forums

Hi just lately I've been having a whining sound in first gear and now second seems to be starting to do the same thing
I thought I might change the final drive oil and the ATF fluid can anyone send me a link to the correct oil I need for the final drive
Cheers phil

Right I've done some searching and found out brickworks do a t 3 final drive oil for automatic transmissions
and the ATF oil as well so I will probably go and get that orderd but I just wondered if any one had the same
symptoms and what did they do to cure the problem ? my other thought was could it be a CV joint making the
noise any help would be much appreciated
Cheers phil

its pretty normal for the transmission oil pump to whine when the ATF is cold.

changing the fluids wont stop the pump whine.

if your getting anything else the box needs to be stripped to find whatever is damaged making the noise.
when I stripped my NH coded box the crownwheel and pinion had a huge amount of play and both diff bearings where badly pitted.

But I had no funny noises other than a massive clunk when going from N to Reverse.

Hi thanks cobra88 for the reply I hope it could be just the pump, in which case it could be sounding worse with the weather cooling down,
I will take it for a drive to see if it gets quite after a long run I will also try the shift from neutral to reverse and listen for a clunk
If all else fails can anyone recommend some one who has pleanty of experience working on these auto boxes
Cheers phil

Hi Phil

Its pretty normal for them to clunk going into reverse
It was a real heavy clunk on mine

As you say do a decent 15-20 miles to get the atf properly warmed and see if the whine goes away
Mine was quite loud this morning as it was 2 deg here at 0500 when i went to work

Let me know mate
We have a few autos on here but i think im the only one stupid enough to take them to bits
Although only mine as there is too much stuff in there to go TU if its not mine

Most of mine is porsche 944 inside now apart from fwd clutch assby 944 boxes are cheap as porsche owners hate autos paid £90 for my donor box and £60 for an overhaul kit inc seals from thevUSA

Sadly you cant bolt the 944 box in as case is different but good donors for clutch plates etc
As you cant buy decent ones new anymore

Rick

Hi thanks Rick yes I will let you know when the rain clears up I will give it a go
I'm between Sheffield and worksop so we've seen quiet a bit of flooding round the area and my
daily driver Subaru Impreza has developed a leak in the back so I have a pond developing were
the spare wheel sits so that's at the top of the list for now
Thanks again for the information
I will get back to you either way
Cheers phil

Hi was your ATF dark brown or even black? Often that's a clear sign that it's being burnt. It will often have a burnt smell. I believe that letting the final drive run too low can cause a whine but it doesn't necessarily mean the box is toast.

Are there any other problems:

Does the van feel as if a clutch is slipping when you pull off

Is there a big clunk, jolt or bang when you put into reverse

Does it stick in a gear rather than change up or down

Hi sir brixalot I've been changing the ATF every couple of years over the past ten years I've owned my bus but yes the first time I changed the oil it was very dark brown so i presume it had never been changed up to that point ,I have noticed on each oil change there was a slight silvery gray residue on the inside of the sump im not sure is that just normal or what ? and I have checked the level of the final drive over the years and it's been full every time, I did check it yesterday as I could see diff oil on the underside of the starter motor and I had changed the axle flange seals in the past probably 6 - 7 years ago I did try moving the CV up and down and there was side ways movement I don't mean the drive shaft just the CV at the gearbox flange but again I'm not sure how much movement its supposed to have? the automatic shifts fine although if it's been stud for a few weeks it takes a short while before the bus will move but I think that's normal when the ATF drains down to the sump I did try shifting from neutral to reverse and didn't have a clunk I'm not sure if the kick downs working I will have to check that as I changed the accelerator cable this summer as the old one was sticking for a while so it was tricky when menovering it, it was all or nothing when pulling in to my drive so it would hurtle up all of a sudden so maybe that's caused some damage to first gear and caused the whine but as I said before it's been making a noise in second gear more recently so I think it needs some work doing before it mangles its self
Any advise on were to take it or were to get a replacement or any advice really would be much appreciated
Cheers phil

I don't have enough knowledge really, I'd be sorely tempted to drive it if it's just the whine but maybe others on here will know better. All these transmissions will have the seals hardening and need work soon. Mine is working well now but it did take a few goes to put it right. The local specialist said it was difficult because they didn't know what the previous garage had done to mess up the transmission and it's taken a few goes to put it right. For that reason, I think you need to find someone nearer to you. Good luck with it.