Auto box whine whistle

[Davezj]

I had a whine or whiste sound coming from my gear box, which changes pitch with speed.

It has been there ever since I replaced the auto box in august 2011, I just thought it was because the auto box I fitted was a bit past it.

When I fitted the auto box I found it hard to judge what the correct fill level was for the ATF as when it was warm it was too high and when it cold it was spot on. Level ground can be hard to find on the road outside you house.
So today I removed about 3/4 a litre of ATF and guess what the whine/whistle has gone.

Result!

[ex-derv]

I've had exactly the same thing since I had a new box last year as well. Mine has got a whining rear diff anyway (mechanics stethoscope at eurospec was deafening!) but I wonder if my gearbox might benefit from what you did to yours. Does your box whine change tone when you change gear or is it a steady climb as you get faster?

[Wodjno]

I had a whine or whiste sound coming from my gear box, which changes pitch with speed.

It has been there ever since I replaced the auto box in august 2011, I just thought it was because the auto box I fitted was a bit past it.

When I fitted the auto box I found it hard to judge what the correct fill level was for the ATF as when it was warm it was too high and when it cold it was spot on. Level ground can be hard to find on the road outside you house.
So today I removed about 3/4 a litre of ATF and guess what the whine/whistle has gone.

Result!

Excellent and cheap result /yes

[Davezj]

I've had exactly the same thing since I had a new box last year as well. Mine has got a whining rear diff anyway (mechanics stethoscope at eurospec was deafening!) but I wonder if my gearbox might benefit from what you did to yours. Does your box whine change tone when you change gear or is it a steady climb as you get faster?

I think it was, pitch changed dependent on revs, but it was not really noticeable until you were in 4th gear round town or 5th gear on the motorway.
If you know what I mean, the exhaust noise masked it whilst I was accelerating.
So it was at steady cruise when the whine/whistle annoyed me most.

[bigcliff]

I think it was, pitch changed dependent on revs, but it was not really noticeable until you were in 4th gear round town or 5th gear on the motorway.
If you know what I mean, the exhaust noise masked it whilst I was accelerating.
So it was at steady cruise when the whine/whistle annoyed me most.

My brother has the same noise but it only started after replacing the trannie and the transfer case....it was a used package so we may refit the original transfer unit.....been whineing for the last couple years!!!

[lateshow]

Oil level must be checked when warm, cold level isnt accurate! ...which is a shame because every time you want to know the oil level you have to drive quite a big journey and then get it to
superbly level surface. Even slight uphill or downhill will make huge difference :/

[Davezj]

Yeh, I know the hot level is the one that counts, but I must have got a bit heavy handed with ATF when I filled it.
I have checked it again since and it still has too much ATF in it.

[Nick Mann]

I have now seen two gearboxes that show a decrease in oil level on the stick when going from cold to hot. I have no idea what the process is, but when cold they show well over the hot level, but when hot they show right on the dipstick.

Sorry, not so relevant other than to highlight issues with getting the oil level right in some cars!

[Davezj]

Very true nick, my old vr4 did exactly the same, so I filled to the hot level in that one.
The only thing I could think of to make this happen would be more oil drains back into the sump then was originally thought by the manufactures from the solenoid valves, or pipe work in the auto box.