Whining - wheel bearing or gearbox ?

[sbk1972]

Hi all,

I have a 65K 97' Mr2 Tbar n/a manual. Ive recently noticed a louder and louder whine coming from the back when I labour the engine a bit. Say I got into 4th at 30mpg, to get as much mpg as possible, but accelerate a little I can hear a whining sound. Im sure its the gearbox as if I let off the gas, it stops.

How can I tell ? Is this the first signs the gearbox bearings are going ?? Or, do all Mr2's do this ?? This is my first Mr2 so not sure if this is standard. Differently hear a whine when in fourth or third, or whenever under load.

Any tests I can do ?

SBK

[bobhatton]

How old is the gearbox oil and what type?

[sbk1972]

I replaced the gearbox oil about 5K miles ago. What type should be in it ?? The garage used the required type, ep something.

SBK

[Ryan S]

if it was a wheel bearing, it wouldn't really matter what the engine was doing, it would depend on the speed of the car, it would wine all the time too.

[4ndee]

Sounds like the box my old n.a used to do it too.

[blue2]

Same problem, replaced my gearbox with a lower mileage one. A good way to check is to put the car in neutral when your driving, if the whine stops then you know its a gearbox related issue. Having said that towards its last few days of life mine was noisy all the time. They are quite reslient though so unless is making loads of noise all the time I wouldnt worry about it going imminently.

I paid £50 for my rev 3 box with 60k miles and paid about £150 for fitting so its not a major headache.

[sbk1972]

Cheers all. I was testing it this morning, the whine only happens in gear / on load, so is gearbox related. It isnt loud, I suppose as the cabin / car is so quiet / squeak free you can suddenly hear transmission noises.

I will change the gearbox fluid with some royal purple that I have for my M3 Evo but never used. See if that helps.

Otherwise, I will just leave it. Thanks for your replies though.

SBK

[blue2]

I may be in the same boat as you, having my mega loud Japspeed exhaust taken off today and replaced with a stock system....so all the bad noises Ive been deaf to over the last few years will become audible, or hopefully not!

[asdrewq]

NA box should be silent. I'm yet to hear a turbo box that dosen't whine in some way though. Reading the US forums there is a theory that many E153's were not assembled correctly when new (differential preload shimming incorrect iirc)