Here to help out with standard transmission problems
Just starting this post because i know alot of people have alot of questions about transmissions from why its makes a whining sound, why it flys out of gear....and so on...so if any one has any questions im more than willing to offer my advice or send you in the direction of some one who can...or if you just have good basic info you would like to put on here...Ive been working in a standard trani shop for over 4 years now we have gears on the shelf from the 1930's to present...
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03 Mustang GT, bbk cai, steeda short throw shifter, pypes 409 o/r x pipe, 40 series flow masters, mach 1 chin spoiler, mach 1 grill delete, tail light covers. Still to come is tuner,3.73 gear, throttle body intake and pendelum,udp's, and a long time from now a super charger
Just starting this post because i know alot of people have alot of questions about transmissions from why its makes a whining sound, why it flys out of gear....and so on...so if any one has any questions im more than willing to offer my advice or send you in the direction of some one who can...or if you just have good basic info you would like to put on here...Ive been working in a standard trani shop for over 4 years now we have gears on the shelf from the 1930's to present...
Glad to have you here. Now AFM can have 2 resident manual transmissions guru's.
Richard
Tech Support
Tremec TKO, T45 & T56 Transmission Systems
Go with PI heads and quit watching The Fast and the Furious. (thanks 2 IhaveadopeGT)
Remember, it is almost impossible for anyone, myself included, to diagnose a problem over the internet without seeing the car. My advice is simply that, advice based on years of experience. I don't want you or anyone taking my word as gospel. I am trying to give some direction as to what I think may be happening.
glad to be here...but if you have questions about automatic's im sorry but im pretty much useless
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03 Mustang GT, bbk cai, steeda short throw shifter, pypes 409 o/r x pipe, 40 series flow masters, mach 1 chin spoiler, mach 1 grill delete, tail light covers. Still to come is tuner,3.73 gear, throttle body intake and pendelum,udp's, and a long time from now a super charger
My car makes a whinding noise in 1-3 gears and there is no noise in 4-5. Any idea what it may be?
What grade/viscosity gear oil should I run in my 98 GT?
I assume this is a manual tranny? T45? It should have ATF Dexron III. Personally, I run Mobil 1 (our builders put that in when they installed my proto-type T45RS ).
Check the fluid level first and possibly flush it and refill it with some fresh fluid. My T45RS is a little noisy in all gears except 5th but without being able to hear yours, it's a little hard to diagnose.
Does the whining noise go away under deleration? How about if you step on the clutch while it is making noise, will it go away then? Is it just a whining noise or does it "growl" (like a bad bearing) too?
Will it do it sitting still with the engine running? How about sitting still, engine running, bringing the rpm's up?
Give me/us some more information to go on and we'll see what we can come up with.
Richard
Tech Support
Tremec TKO, T45 & T56 Transmission Systems
Go with PI heads and quit watching The Fast and the Furious. (thanks 2 IhaveadopeGT)
Remember, it is almost impossible for anyone, myself included, to diagnose a problem over the internet without seeing the car. My advice is simply that, advice based on years of experience. I don't want you or anyone taking my word as gospel. I am trying to give some direction as to what I think may be happening.
I assume this is a manual tranny? T45? It should have ATF Dexron III. Personally, I run Mobil 1 (our builders put that in when they installed my proto-type T45RS ).
Check the fluid level first and possibly flush it and refill it with some fresh fluid. My T45RS is a little noisy in all gears except 5th but without being able to hear yours, it's a little hard to diagnose.
Does the whining noise go away under deleration? How about if you step on the clutch while it is making noise, will it go away then? Is it just a whining noise or does it "growl" (like a bad bearing) too?
Will it do it sitting still with the engine running? How about sitting still, engine running, bringing the rpm's up?
Give me/us some more information to go on and we'll see what we can come up with.
Richard
Tech Support
Tremec TKO, T45 & T56 Transmission Systems
It's a T45. The whining noide sounds kind of like a loose serpentine belt. It can only be heard when accelerating in 1,2,3rd gear. When I let off the gas or just coast it goes away.
I checked the trans fluid and it looks to be about a quart low. I will drain it and refil it with new fluid shortly. Since ford runs dexron III, I'm assuming you are refering to Mobil 1 ATF fluid? Does Royal Purple make anything compatibile with the T45? (Royal purple worked great in some of my other cars.)
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Tom
96 Cobra
68 Hardtop
93 Ford Probe GT Turbo Megasquirt'ed Sleeper
It's a T45. The whining noide sounds kind of like a loose serpentine belt. It can only be heard when accelerating in 1,2,3rd gear. When I let off the gas or just coast it goes away.
I checked the trans fluid and it looks to be about a quart low. I will drain it and refil it with new fluid shortly. Since ford runs dexron III, I'm assuming you are refering to Mobil 1 ATF fluid? Does Royal Purple make anything compatibile with the T45? (Royal purple worked great in some of my other cars.)
Low fluid, 1 qt low, would definitely cause it to whine. Not only that, but you run the risk of burning up the headset to boot.
I am referring to Mobil 1 Synthetic. I was using straight Dexron III until about 3 weeks ago when we( the company I work for) did some more R&D on our proto-type T45RS transmissions using my car. We drained the fluid and all we had in the shop was the Mobil 1 stuff so that's what went back in there.
Royal Purple does make a synthetic ATF but I don't know anything about it. I know some guys on here are using it and like it though.
Drain out what's left in your case and pour a quart or 2 of regular ATF Dexron III through it to flush and then fill it with whatever fluid you want to run in it and see if that helps at all. They hold 3.2 liters (about 3 1/2 quarts). Just pump it up through the fill plug on the side of the main case until it start to trickle out and then put the plug back in and tighten it up. You can also remove the shifter tower assembly and pour it in through there as well. If you do it that way, it'll coat all the gearsets, shafts and bearings but be sure to have the fill plug out of the case and like the first method, pour it in until it starts to trickle out of the fill plug hole then cap it off and you're done.
Depending on how long you let it go on low fluid levels, it may or may not quiet down now.
Richard
Tech Support
Tremec TKO, T45 & T56 Transmission Systems
Go with PI heads and quit watching The Fast and the Furious. (thanks 2 IhaveadopeGT)
Remember, it is almost impossible for anyone, myself included, to diagnose a problem over the internet without seeing the car. My advice is simply that, advice based on years of experience. I don't want you or anyone taking my word as gospel. I am trying to give some direction as to what I think may be happening.
Low fluid, 1 qt low, would definitely cause it to whine. Not only that, but you run the risk of burning up the headset to boot.
I am referring to Mobil 1 Synthetic. I was using straight Dexron III until about 3 weeks ago when we( the company I work for) did some more R&D on our proto-type T45RS transmissions using my car.
Richard
Tech Support
Tremec TKO, T45 & T56 Transmission Systems
Richard,
Do you remember what viscosity Mobil one you used? 10w30?
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Tom
96 Cobra
68 Hardtop
93 Ford Probe GT Turbo Megasquirt'ed Sleeper
Richard,
Do you remember what viscosity Mobil one you used? 10w30?
The ATF doesn't come in a "viscosity". It is simply Mobil 1 ATF Synthetic Mercon V.
Now in my motor, I use Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W-30. In fact, I use that same oil(and viscosity) in my 2001 F-150 4wd.
I thought about switching to a "heavier" viscosity but was told by one of our installers that the Ford 4.6 and 5.4 oil passages are so small that a heavier oil such as 10W-30 and such would actually damage the motor because of the smaller passages and it not being able to get through them and properly lubricate.
I went home that night and drained it all out and switched back to 5W-30 and have used it ever since.
Richard
Tech Support
Tremec TKO, T$5 & T56 Transmission Systems
Go with PI heads and quit watching The Fast and the Furious. (thanks 2 IhaveadopeGT)
Remember, it is almost impossible for anyone, myself included, to diagnose a problem over the internet without seeing the car. My advice is simply that, advice based on years of experience. I don't want you or anyone taking my word as gospel. I am trying to give some direction as to what I think may be happening.
Thanks for the clearification. BTW... I hate to bring this up but my wife's accord uses 10w30 motor oil in the 5spd gearbox. 150k on it and still shifts like butter.
__________________
Tom
96 Cobra
68 Hardtop
93 Ford Probe GT Turbo Megasquirt'ed Sleeper
Thanks for the clearification. BTW... I hate to bring this up but my wife's accord uses 10w30 motor oil in the 5spd gearbox. 150k on it and still shifts like butter.
It calls for motor oil from the factory? I have never heard of that but then again, I don't know much about front wheel drive tranny's or foreign car tranny's for that matter.
Richard
Tech Support
Tremec TKO, T45 & T56 Transmission Systems
Go with PI heads and quit watching The Fast and the Furious. (thanks 2 IhaveadopeGT)
Remember, it is almost impossible for anyone, myself included, to diagnose a problem over the internet without seeing the car. My advice is simply that, advice based on years of experience. I don't want you or anyone taking my word as gospel. I am trying to give some direction as to what I think may be happening.
I never heard of any trans using ATF in a gearbox untill now. Most cars I've seen use gear oil 75w90 or such. Honda uses motor oil.
I like the way my T45 shifts with the ATF fluid in it. Not much difference whether it's cold or warm.
What material are the synchros made from? brass?
The old school tranny's used the heavy gear oil but that went out back in the late '70's and early '80's if I'm not mistaken. Ford's T5 always used ATF Dexron II. Nowadays, they use Dexron III.
The factory T45 syncros and blockers are brass. The T45R and T45RS that we have use an upgraded, carbon fiber based syncro and blockers.
With the exception of the pop out of gear issue that the T45's had from the factory, IMO, they are a pretty good tranny and hold up well. Their biggest downside is that they (and all Ford tranny's) use a 10 spline input shaft. They are notoriously weak and will twist when power is added(more than stock). 26 spline input shafts, like they use on the TKO's, are much stronger and will not twist. Our T45RS will use a 26 spline input as well as do away with the integral bell housing and give you the option of bolting on any bell housing you want, including a scattershield.
Richard
Tech Support
Tremec TKO, T45 & T56 Transmission Systems
Go with PI heads and quit watching The Fast and the Furious. (thanks 2 IhaveadopeGT)
Remember, it is almost impossible for anyone, myself included, to diagnose a problem over the internet without seeing the car. My advice is simply that, advice based on years of experience. I don't want you or anyone taking my word as gospel. I am trying to give some direction as to what I think may be happening.
The factory T45 syncros and blockers are brass. The T45R and T45RS that we have use an upgraded, carbon fiber based syncro and blockers.
With the exception of the pop out of gear issue that the T45's had from the factory, IMO, they are a pretty good tranny and hold up well. Their biggest downside is that they (and all Ford tranny's) use a 10 spline input shaft. They are notoriously weak and will twist when power is added(more than stock). 26 spline input shafts, like they use on the TKO's, are much stronger and will not twist. Our T45RS will use a 26 spline input as well as do away with the integral bell housing and give you the option of bolting on any bell housing you want, including a scattershield.
Richard
Tech Support
Tremec TKO, T45 & T56 Transmission Systems
Wish the T45Rs was out when i got my t45r
Richard, Ive been runing the mobile 1 syn atf fluid in mine and when cold out it has a very notchy 1-2 shift if im under ~3500 rpm.
once its warm though, man it shifts like butter at any rpm. Is this common ( fluid level is correct, checked when i change oil on the lift at work)
I may try penzoil synchromesh in this next to see if its cold weather performance is better for me. One this is for sure, I dont miss having to hold the shifter down to use reverse.
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White 1998 Mustang GT
Mods: Full PI headswap,3.73's, Frpp shortys, UPD's, MM subframe connectors, Bassani X pipe w/cats, Mac catback, C&L 80mm MAF/intake,FRPP 70mm TB, C&L Plenum, Keisler T45R tranny/shifter, Steeda firewall adjuster, FRPP cobra R hood, cobra bumper....
Ive had a used t56 in my car for about 6 months now, and a couple of weeks ago, the trans developed a very faint whine. But just the other night after going on a cruise, my trans started to become noticely loud, louder than the exhaust. So I checked the fluid level, which was fine, then drained the fluid and checked for any shavings... none. I refilled the trans with synthetic fluid, and took it out for a spin. Same problem. So I narrowed the symptoms down... the trans only whines under a light load in 1st, 2nd and 3rd... in 4th gear you cant really hear anything, and 5th has a small amount of whine. 6th gear was hard to tell but there may be alittle. If you let decel in gear it goes away... under accel it goes away... 1st gear has it the worst and the higher the gear the less apparent the noise. The whine also seems to be more RPM related than speed. Anyone ever has a similar problem?? Anything?
Here to help out with standard transmission problems 
Now AFM can have 2 resident manual transmissions guru's. 
(thanks 2 IhaveadopeGT)
).
