O2J noise

[rwthomas1]

Hello All,
Have an O2J 5speed with 338K on it thats making a rumbling noise. Not really loud, but noticeable. Quiet when accelerating, or decelerating, but right at the "slack" point when just coasting with no or very little power being applied. Seems to only happen in 4th gear, maybe slightly in other gears but noticeable in 4th.

I have changed the transmission lube about every 50K, and this last fill used the VW 070 or 050 stuff, can't quite remember but I know it looked pretty thin going in. I just changed it again and put Redline MT90 in there. The noise is much quieter, but still there. Used lube was dark but no chips, chunks or significant metallic particles.

Whadda ya think? Imminent unscheduled self disassembly? or normal for a fairly high mile unit? Shifts great otherwise, no issues.

Thx

 

[BobnOH]

rumbling makes me think tires.

 

[oilhammer]

The on-off load change in noise does lean towards a gearbox type whine. But to be honest, it could do that for another 100k+ miles, really.

Has it started suddenly and gotten much worse much quicker? Or has this been a very steady thing over a long period of time?

And yes, be sure the tires are round and there is no wheel bearing noise (but your description to me does jive with a gearbox issue).

 

[rwthomas1]

Made the noise with snow tires and now summer tires. Noise goes away when clutch is depressed, so it's not wheel bearings. Didn't drive the car much over the winter, noise probably has been steadily increasing but only just registered in the brain? Wife picked up on it as well. Sounds like I'm not going to worry about it. If it lets go, I'll fix it!

 

[Brett San Diego]

If the noise goes away when you press the clutch pedal, it's probably the throwout bearing. How many miles on the current clutch and throwout bearing? If you're stationary with the clutch pedal released, do you hear the noise? And, does it go away when you press the clutch pedal then? If so, that's the throwout bearing.

Recently mine lasted ~200k miles. It stated to rumble long before 200K, but I kept my ear on it. The noise always went away when I pressed the pedal for a long time. When the noise started not going away with the clutch pedal depressed, and I started to feel the "rattle" through the clutch pedal, I decided to park it until I had a chance to replace the clutch kit including the throwout bearing. When I got it apart, surprisingly my bearing was still intact and looked like it could have gone a bit longer. But, not worth the risk. It will strand you if you suffer total failure of the bearing.

Brett

 

[P2B]

If the noise goes away when you press the clutch pedal, it's probably the throwout bearing. How many miles on the current clutch and throwout bearing? If you're stationary with the clutch pedal released, do you hear the noise? And, does it go away when you press the clutch pedal then? If so, that's the throwout bearing.

You're suggesting a bad throwout bearing makes a noise when it's stationary (clutch not pressed) which goes away when it's spinning (clutch pressed) ?

Sounds backwards to me.

 

[rwthomas1]

To clarify, clutch in or out, noise goes away. Neutral is what I should have said.