Transmission Buzzz

[PAV]

Seems that the transmission has developed a buzzz.
Engine Cradle frame was reset and welded.

Transmission started buzzing before the front engine cradle frame welds broke on the driver's side.


Now it has a light whine when it is in gear and under load acceleration/ deceleration.

It does seem like the transmission as when I push in the clutch and rev, there is no whine sound.

Sounds gearish, not as bad as an MG but you can certainly hear it in all gears.

I do believe we have REDLINE in; however, the transmission oil does not appear to be red.

Will take it to Ray's at Performance APEX regardless since I have some other work which needs to be done.

pv2

[Jim Keller]

Of course, I know you have already verified your tranny oil is up to full, so I would suspect the oil first, change it out for the real snot like oil it is supposed to have.

That said, I have had a couple Betas including my Coupe that had a slight gear whine on accell and decell if you listened for every creak and groan it makes and were parinoid about it breaking down.......what I am saying is it may have always been there and you never noticed it before, I'm one of those always listening and feeling for problems, you know, the parnoid the Parinoid type! LOL

My guess, worn or broken syncro, possible bad bearing from excess wear due to the frame being broken and drive shafts running out of alignment, moving around excessivly etc....but I never had any of the trans I noticed whines from really have any trouble or become hard to shift or anything

[PAV]

Of course, I know you have already verified your tranny oil is up to full, so I would suspect the oil first, change it out for the real snot like oil it is supposed to have.

That said, I have had a couple Betas including my Coupe that had a slight gear whine on accell and decell if you listened for every creak and groan it makes and were parinoid about it breaking down.......what I am saying is it may have always been there and you never noticed it before, I'm one of those always listening and feeling for problems, you know, the parnoid the Parinoid type! LOL

My guess, worn or broken syncro, possible bad bearing from excess wear due to the frame being broken and drive shafts running out of alignment, moving around excessivly etc....but I never had any of the trans I noticed whines from really have any trouble or become hard to shift or anything

Hi Jim: the other thing is it shifts fantastically. I tend to be a bit of a "blip" downshifter such that I use the synchros very little on performance shifting.

On a couple of ocasions, I have accidentally gone from 5th to R but pulled out with minimal grind.

I will check it out when I get the car up.

Kindest Regards and Happy 4th,

a fellow Listener,
Paul

[davidb]

My somewhat oddball idea is to change the Redline & replace it
w/TRUE GL-1 availible from Vicks. It might reduce the noise for
awhile or forever. All too often a PO put EP sulfer based oil in
"our" cars. Bad idea. I've heard of hard-core types even flushing
w/kerosine, smelling sulfer on the stick, then re-filling w/GL-1.
I hope this all works out for you PAV, gearbox/transaxle parts
for Betas, good luck.

[1,6 HF]

I'd second Jim's suggestion to check the level. And it if you don't know how long ago it was changed, it wouldn't be a bad idea to drain it and refill.

But I've never had trouble with Red Line gear oils in the Fulvia; I can't believe that it's what's making the noise in question. I run Red Line Lightweight Shockproof with great results. (BTW, not all the Red Line gear oils are red. The Heavyweight Shockproof is red, but the Lightweight Shockproof is blue.)

[SubGothius]

The Redline you'd want to be running is their MTL (Manual Transmission Lube) or MT-90 (same thing but slightly heavier); these won't look red on the dipstick, in fact I found it hard to read on the stick at all, so to read the level, I had to run a paper napkin down the stick until it hit the oil and made a spot.

You can also use straight SAE 40 motor oil, or "tractor oil" such as NAPA part # 65-201 SAE 90 Mineral Gear Oil (this is what's actually recommended by factory manuals) for under $~10/gal (seems to fluctuate with other petroleum prices). BTW, note here how SAE grades are different for gear oil vs. motor oil.

Lately I've been trying straight non-detergent SAE 30 motor oil, but that seems a bit too light, makes shifting reluctant and balky/notchy compared to the Redline MTL I'd been running the last 2-3 years, guess 30-weight isn't quite thick enough to help the syncros do their job efficiently.

[PAV]

The Redline you'd want to be running is their MTL (Manual Transmission Lube) or MT-90 (same thing but slightly heavier); these won't look red on the dipstick, in fact I found it hard to read on the stick at all, so to read the level, I had to run a paper napkin down the stick until it hit the oil and made a spot.

You can also use straight SAE 40 motor oil, or "tractor oil" such as NAPA part # 65-201 SAE 90 Mineral Gear Oil (this is what's actually recommended by factory manuals) for under $~10/gal (seems to fluctuate with other petroleum prices). BTW, note here how SAE grades are different for gear oil vs. motor oil.

Lately I've been trying straight non-detergent SAE 30 motor oil, but that seems a bit too light, makes shifting reluctant and balky/notchy compared to the Redline MTL I'd been running the last 2-3 years, guess 30-weight isn't quite thick enough to help the syncros do their job efficiently.

Hi Subg:

it had been filled with Redline MTL
May go for the lube as sold by VIC and some of the other lubes to find the best

[1,6 HF]

One thing to keep in mind is that the "factory recommendations" are based on 30-YO lubrication technology (or 40-YO, in my case). There have been a lot of improvements since then.

IMHO, the factory recommendations should be used as guidlelines for the proper viscosity, but there's no reason not to run synthetics like Red Line MTL or Shockproof that equate to the same mineral oil viscosity levels. Unless, of course, you find that they aren't compatible with the seals.

[Jim Keller]

I'm a fan of Redline's shock proof products, it'll keep even the sloppiest of gears going for some time! ha ha, a friend of mine stuck it in his Fiat Spider IT car when his rear gears were failing and it went a couple more seasons of IT racing........so he says! LOL