Transmission noise

Anything related to the stock drivetrain, engine, transmission, axles, wheels...

Moderator: F9K9

nodamean
New Member
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:59 pm
Location: Central Indiana

Transmission noise

Post by nodamean »

Hey,
I've been hearing a strange noise that I think is coming from the transmission. It's kind of intermittent, but has been happening more often lately, especially after everything's all warmed up on hot days. Here's what happens: under medium to hard acceleration there is a buzzing sound and vibration that starts about the time it shifts from first into second. The noise will continue through second, third and even into fourth gear unless I back off the accelerator pedal for a few seconds. Occasionally, after letting off the pedal to make it stop, it will restart when shifting into third or fourth. I'm not talking about extremely hard acceleration, just normal daily driving through the suburbs.

Any ideas about what I should start checking? I'm not an experienced mechanic but I like to do things myself. (Or at least try to check it out myself before taking it to a shop so I have an idea if they're trying to screw me or not.)

Thanks for all the other advice I've received trolling these forums. You all convinced me to install a 2" body lift and some rear wheel spacers to make room for a set of 30" Firestone Destination MT's last fall. (Otherwise, it's all stock.)
User avatar
HenryJ
Admin K Elite
Admin K Elite
Posts: 12705
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 9:14 pm
Location: Ontario, Oregon
Contact:

Re: Transmission noise

Post by HenryJ »

Does it sort of sound like a tiny bike with cards in the spokes?
What year is your truck?
Have you serviced the transmission?

"Speed doesn't kill, suddenly becoming stationary does." - Richard Hammond
"Speed is just a matter of Money - How fast do YOU want to go?"-Mechanic from Mad Max-
If at first you don't succeed - Don't take up Skydiving!
- ThunderII KE7CSK
nodamean
New Member
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:59 pm
Location: Central Indiana

Re: Transmission noise

Post by nodamean »

I guess you could describe it like that, but it's a little more high pitched. The truck is a 2004 ZR5 with about 75,000 miles. I had the transmission serviced about a year ago at around 60,000 miles.

Funny story: When I went to pick it up, it was revving really high and would barely accelerate. I went back to have them look at it and it turned out that there was a "bad" solenoid. The service advisor said the mechanic noticed it when he was pulling it out and then he asked "why did you bring it in, anyway." As if I limped it in so I could blame a bigger problem on them. (It was due for service, but I mostly just wanted the gasket to be replaced to stop a leak and I didn't want to deal with the mess.) I figured they probably damaged it trying to get the pan off because they fixed it for free.
User avatar
HenryJ
Admin K Elite
Admin K Elite
Posts: 12705
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 9:14 pm
Location: Ontario, Oregon
Contact:

Re: Transmission noise

Post by HenryJ »

The tiny bike noise is the PCV solenoid vibrating on the throttle cable and transferring to the cab via the firewall. That one can be intermittent and hard to chase. Moving or insulating takes care of that.

If we had a tin dust shield, I might suspect something like that. That is not a possibility though for us. Any chance it is a heat shield on the cat , or worse... a bad cat?
Banging around underneath with a deadblow hammer can help find stuff like that.

Lets cross our fingers that it is no an internal transmission problem.

"Speed doesn't kill, suddenly becoming stationary does." - Richard Hammond
"Speed is just a matter of Money - How fast do YOU want to go?"-Mechanic from Mad Max-
If at first you don't succeed - Don't take up Skydiving!
- ThunderII KE7CSK
nodamean
New Member
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:59 pm
Location: Central Indiana

Re: Transmission noise

Post by nodamean »

I'll crawl under there with a hammer and give that a try. It's just strange how it stops as soon as I back off the gas pedal for a few seconds. Then I can usually get back on it and continue accelerating to highway speed, although it sometimes restarts when it shifts into the next gear.

Oh well, I need to get under there and replace my transfer case encoder motor anyway. I'm getting tired of disconnecting my battery to clear the fault every third or fourth time I use 4 wheel drive. It's not a big deal now, but winter will sneak back up on me if I'm not careful. Hopefully I can get it off without pulling the front drive shaft, but that's a topic that has been thoroughly covered elsewhere.

Thanks again for the advice.
User avatar
F9K9
Mod K Elite
Mod K Elite
Posts: 6183
Joined: Sun May 30, 2004 12:26 pm
Location: London, Kentucky, United States

Re: Transmission noise

Post by F9K9 »

HenryJ wrote:The tiny bike noise is the PCV solenoid vibrating on the throttle cable and transferring to the cab via the firewall. That one can be intermittent and hard to chase. Moving or insulating takes care of that................
Now I am confused. I thought that the PCV issues ended with the '01s but, I am probably wrong.
Yes, I am! That was the EGR problems.
[size=75][b]"For those who have fought for it, [i][color=red]FR[/color][color=white]EE[/color][color=blue]DOM[/color][/i] has a taste that the protected will never know."
[url=http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73349]GUIDE TO SEARCHING. [i] (Some of the forum software is different but, it has helped me a lot.)[/i][/url][/b]
[b]"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." Edmund Burke[/b][/size]