TypeRod

Hi all,

So lately I'm hearing a whining noise, either from my front right wheel bearing, or its coming from the trans. I'm having a hard time narrowing down where the noise is originating. I just had the front right wheel bearing replaced last summer, and it only has about 4000 miles on it, so unless that part is defective, which is highly unlikely, I think the noise is coming from the trans. The car is a 98 Type R, has 246K miles on it. Trans is all original. From my intense google research, I'm leaning towards a bad main shaft bearing, but I'm not knowledgeable about transmissions at all.

You can hearing the whine on acceleration, but the engine noise is so damn loud in my car, you can best hear it at about 50-52 mph, with a light throttle pressure. You can especially hear it say while driving in the 50-52 mph range, during acceleration, then slightly left off a tad bit on the gas pedal. The whine changes in pitch instantly with throttle and release of throttle which leads me to believe its something in the trans and not the front right wheel bearing. Im not knowledgeable about transmissions at all, and I will not tackle this project if it is a trans issue. I get sick to my stomach thinking if I had to take apart the casing and deal with those shafts and gears...no thanks! lol!

Any help or insight to what the problem might be is appreciated! Thanks!

EDIT: Also if anyone has a recommendation for a transmission shop (Honda specialty preferred) that is trustworthy and does great work, and in the Northern VA area, please mention in your post. Thanks!

Posting here in the Type R forum, since I don't seem to be getting any help on the transmission section.

RTW DC2R

Doubt its the wheel bearing if it was just replaced. Sounds like a tranny bearing especially since the sound responds to throttle inputs (load on the tranny/bearings). Ive never had good luck diagnosing which bearing might be the problem until getting into the tranny, but the main and countershaft and LSD bearings are good bets. Once you get the trans apart, manually spin bearings with your fingers and youll be able to tell which ones are potential issues. They will feel lumpy when they spin, or loose, or loud, or dont spin smoothly, etc. Its a good time to examine gears and refresh the synchros as well.

TypeRod

I'm trying to find a good pic online of the mainshaft bearing and the counter shaft bearing. Are those the bearings that are pressed into the trans casing? How many bearings are there for the LSD? Thanks for the insight!

RTW DC2R

The LSD has two large bearings on each side, and is attached to the large final drive (FD) gear.
The Countershaft sits in a bearing that is pressed into the case, and the other side has a nut on it to hold the countershaft together.
The Mainshaft sits in a bearing that is pressed into the case, and the shaft extends through the case for the Clutch and Flywheel. The other end of the Mainshaft has a large bearing that floats on top and is held together when you put the tranny case back on.



#16 (mainshaft) and #18 (countershaft) are the two bearings that are pressed into the case.

TypeRod

Dude, Thanks so much for taking the time to post this! Super helpful!

RTW DC2R

No problem. Slow at work and helps refresh my memory since its been a while. Transmission work isnt really all that complicated once you get in there and understand how the pieces work. Especially if you have a garage and the tools. The hardest part is putting things back together the first time (you have to make sure a bunch of things line up before the case will fit back on properly). Helms is super helpful. Doing this yourself is very gratifying.

And places like MFactory sell rebuild kits to help save a few bucks instead of buying each piece separately. They have full rebuild kits that include all the bearings and synchros, or just the bearings. And you can consider a final drive swap which will completely change how the car accelerates.

Something like this which is the full master rebuild kit.
Synchros at the bottom (gold), synchro rings on the left, selectors at the top, seals and boot, and bearings (two left ones go on the Counter shaft, big one in the middle is the floater at the top of the mainshaft, and the two right ones are the ones that are pressed in the case - left is the countershaft bearing, right is the mainshaft).

TypeRod

Is this rebuild kit comparable to Honda OEM parts? Something so delicate and costly to work on like the trans, I would want to use nothing but OEM parts. Might be more costly but at least I know the quality and reliability will be there in those parts. I'll look into MFactory and I was also going to look into synchrotech as well, since they are a HT sponsor. Thanks again for your time and help!

RTW DC2R

Im not 100% sure on who uses what. Contact Aquafina (here or ITRCA) about the MFactory kits and he will give you all the details. Places like JHP have various rebuild kits as well using NTN bearings which are a supplier for Honda IIRC. You'd have to dig deeper on that.

TypeRod

Will do! Thanks again!

TypeRod

Hey RTW, I wanted to get your thoughts on this...I was driving to work, and got to the speed where I could hear the whining, and I threw the trans into neutral, and coasted and could still heard the whine until just about coming to a complete stop. If one of the bearings (be it the mainshaft or countershaft or any bearing in the trans for that matter) in the trans was bad, would I still hear the whine while the car is moving and the trans in neutral? Would you still think this is transmission related and not wheel bearing related? Thanks!

RTW DC2R

If the car is in neutral but still moving, the axles are spinning which are connected to the trans so the trans is still moving but no gears are engaged. If no gears are engaged, I think the entire trans assembly is still rotating since the LSD/FD rotates with the CS, and the CS gears mesh with the MS gears. There is just no gear engaged. Someone correct me if Im wrong. Im still learning towards a tranny issue.

Any clunking from the LSD on slow sharp turns? And how about the axles? Boots look ok? What about the other front wheel bearing? Is it possible the noise is coming from that side? Jack up the car and hold the wheel at 12 and 6 oclock, and shake it. That can help determine if the bearing is going.

TypeRod

Thanks for the fast response! I do have a clunk on slow steering maneuvers like in a parking lot, but in my steering wheel I can feel the clunk, doesn't feel like a trans clunk from the LSD. I haven't looked under the car in a while, I will this weekend, I gotta modify the stupid plastic underbody shield, its torn and hanging low, and scraping from the stupid blizzard, lol.

I don't think the noise is from the back. I hear it in my right ear so its coming from the wheel or the trans tunnel. The left front wheel bearing was replaced back in 2014, so assuming that one isnt defective, then it can't be the front left wheel bearing. To me its def. either the front right wheel or coming from the trans. I wish my wife could drive stick, I would just ride shotgun and listen down from the trans, lol. She's clueless about cars and would be no help if I asked her to listen for the noise, lol.

But I'm with you, I think its def. the trans. I just wanted to be sure the whine would still be there if the car was moving and wasn't in gear.

After listening closer, I can hear it whine pretty good, louder than the 5th gear 50-52 mph scenario, while accelerating thru first gear - third gear. And its more of a grumble/groan than just a faint whine.

Thanks again!

Aquafina

iTrader: (3)

ISB, top ISB and top CSB are the most likely to make a noise. The MFactory rebuild kits are Synchrotech rebuild kits. The Synchrotech kit is fine to use. The bearings aren't as good as OEM but you will never be able to tell a difference. Seals are OEM. Synchros are a little better than OEM, the carbon option is much better than OEM. The sliders are better than OEM IMO as they weigh less.

All parts needed can be ordered through me and I can take care of the rebuild if you want to ship the trans down here.

Seedc2

iTrader: (1)

This is great info!

Sorry for intrusion but when in reverse I hear a whine, is this normal?

TypeRod

Thanks for the insight! Sorry for the ignorance, what does ISB stand for? Is it the same thing as the main shaft bearing? I'm not looking for a beefier trans to be built, but since I'm going to have the thing opened up....but what I do want is to have an uber reliable trans just like my stock one has been. It has ~246K miles on it. I don't have any grinds or other issues within the gearbox, but may have issues with the clutch side.

Does synchrotech offer the bearings for the LSD too?

I think shipping would be ridiculous if I sent it out to you and had it shipped back to me, lol. How much would labor be for an entire rebuild? Whats the turn around time? and where exactly are you located?

Thanks!

Im not knowledgeable, but I believe its because the reverse gear is straight cut, vs. an angled cut. Straight cut gears are noisy. Someone correct if Im wrong....

Aquafina

iTrader: (3)

ISB is input shaft bearing, same thing as mainshaft in this case. Yes, diff bearings are available. Shipping won't be too bad, I'm in NE TN.

Turnaround is typically one week but can be as little as half a day.

Reverse whines as it is straight cut.

TypeRod

Thank you sir!