5 speed trans Whine

[Bizjet]

93 Explorer Sport 4x4, 5 Speed, 160k miles. At about 110k, while towing a rather heavy boat I noticed the shifter felt very warm. The next day I noticed a whining sound coming from the trans. Upon inspection found a slow leak from the trans and fluid low. Fixed the leak and changed the fluid and has been functioning fine since but still whines. 1st is the loudest and gets quiter from there, 4th makes no abnormal noise at all, 5th slight whine. I figured I would drive it till i went out but it just keeps on going. My question is: Is this common to go 50k + miles with a whining trany? I have also heard of putting gear oil in to quite things down, what anyone's take on that? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[briwayjones]

I would say that's not normal, I don't know much about transmissions though. Whatever you do though don't tow with it in 5th gear. You'll wear out the trans. in no time. The manual transmissions in the Explorers are pretty weak and not very durable.

 

[Spdrcer34]

Manual Transmissions ARE NOT like Automatic Trans when it comes to towing...Towing in 5th gear is FINE on a M/T.....where as Towing in OD is NOT a good thing with a A/T.

Ryan

 

[TheFox88]

When i changed the stock shifter to a Hurst short shifter on my manual, i noticed a slight increase in noise from the tranny. This noise is a whining sound. However, it was said that this was fairly normal and nothing i should worry about. I guess it just goes on personal judgement as to what is normal and what is not. It also might be wise to search for the thread that contains the info on the three shift rail plugs on the top of our tranny's. I believe that it is actually in the useful info section.

Also, welcome to the site and we hope you find every thing that you are looking for. Best of luck with your explorer.

 

[briwayjones]

Manual Transmissions ARE NOT like Automatic Trans when it comes to towing...Towing in 5th gear is FINE on a M/T.....where as Towing in OD is NOT a good thing with a A/T.

Ryan

Generally yeah when the manual tranmission is a decent one. With most manuals you can tow in 5th. I wasn't talking about manuals in general. You shouldn't tow in 5th with the manuals in Explorers. The transmissions are very weak and not durable enough.

 

[itsastocker]

The manual tranny in the first generation will stand up to anything that the stock 4.0 OHV can throw at it. It shouldn't matter what you're towing, if your motor can take it, then your tranny should be fine, too. The automatics are a completely different story. They over heat and build up too much pressure.

 

[briwayjones]

Nah, not the case with the Mazda trans. they really are weak. It should be the case that the trans. should be able to take whatever the motor can through at it. But auto manufactures often don't design stuff the way they should be. A manual trans. should generally not go out. I heard of people with manuals in explorers that the transmission went out in. The Ford dealers said it was because they towed with it in 5th gear and to not tow in 5th gear.

 

[crash45]

I just had the same thing happen to mine! Same 4th making no noise & all. My problem was the freeze plugs on top leaked & the tranny ran dry. I sealed it, filled it & have a little over 200 miles on it & the sound hasn't changed. I don't think I'll trust mine for too long. Sounds like that aren't supposed to come from a standard tranny!

 

[Bizjet]

Thanks for everyones input. Crash, I didn't figure mine would last long either but that was 50,000 miles ago and it's still operates fine, just the anoying whine in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I think I'm going to try some 90w gear oil to quite it down and see what happens, I really don't have anything to lose, plus its not my only vehicle if it does go out on me I'll still have something to drive.

By the way, I've been towing 2000 lb boat and trailer for several years during the summer long distance and up and down very steep mountains and use 5th all the time when I can, and the trany doesn't seem to have gotten any worse.......???? Go figure.

 

[frstxplorer]

my tranny has the same whine fixed a leak refilled it whine still there in 1,2,3 not 4,5 has been like that for ever 100,000 at least no change in performance or whine.. What ever you do DO NOT use gear oil in trans they are designed to be run with the atf if you put any thing thicker in it you WILL NOT be able to shif the thing any more they lock right up...

 

[BigBlueWolf]

The exact same scenario just starting with mine just 1 week ago. It's amazing that they all whine in 1, 2, 3, 4th-no whine, and a slight wine in 5th. Has anyone come up with any answer? It still drives the same, but the noise is irritating. I was thinking that the tranny is just about shot. I have 307,000 miles on it.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Hang on. The no towing in 5th may be right for this tranny...

When I got my GT, 5th gear was out of it but all others were fine (it would pop out of gear with about any throttle applied). In some old posts it was said that 5th gear can get hot in these and fry. I thin kit was a syncro thing. Besides, it had a U-haul hitch anyway

I replaced the tranny with a good used one and its been fine. I wouldn't worry about it though if the oil is clean, changed often, and is something at least as good as Mobil 1 ATF

 

[Bwana Bob]

They are designed to use ATF, but they run better with synthetic ATF. I had mine overhauled at 150,000 miles. A year later I put in Mobil 1 and the trans shifts better, especially when its hot.


Bob

 

[bmxking5]

This sounds very similar to what happened to me. I was driving and ended up having a slow leak from the tranny (which ended up being the shift rail plugs) and since I was driving home late at night, unable to get any fluid, I had to drive it while it was low on fluid. My transmission now whines due to gear(s) grinding a bit while low on fluid. When you changed the fluid, did you find any metal in the fluid or on the magnetic drain plug?

 

[Creager]

The noise probably started from the loss in fluid. The low fluid might of allowed the gears to pit. When gears start pitting, the noise is irreversible, as the pitting becomes inevitable. The gears are slowly chipping away at themselves. Changing the fluid may slow the process, but it can’t stop it completely. I would say a rebuild is the only way to fix it, but ya never know, it might outlive everything else, hehe.

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

low fluid, more heat, caused the gears to warp slightly and now they don't mesh they way they did when new.

drive it till it explodes

my brothers 2-wheel drive ranger has over 200,000 miles and it has this infamous whine in the transmission.

just get a loud stereo to cover up the noise

 

[F14CRAZY]

Get a Flowmaster and floor it. The noise will go away

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

haha....Earmuff it Max

 

[CodePoet]

Mine whined for 200 miles....then the gears shredded

Fun stuff, the m5 is crap just like it's auto counterpart. Next time it blows i'm putting a c4 in it

 

[ol_ben]

The reason the trans would whine in 1,2,3 but not 4th is due to the fact that 1,2,&3 run off the counter shaft and 4th is a direct connection between the input shaft and output shaft.
Low trans fluid will cause the the gears that mesh on the input shaft and counter shaft to wear abnormally. This could result in whine. Continued running with low fluid will fry the input/counter shaft gears leaving you with no 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, but you will still have 4th.

-Ben