Holding monSteR

Well, i managed to damage my transmission my very first time out on a road course. I attended a Performance Driving School a few weekends ago and took the R onto a road circuit for the very first time. The course was excellent and i am now hooked on raod racing. But, in my excited state, i seem to have done some damage to my tranny getting a little overzealous trying to shift too fast. I suspect this is the cause of my problem: I was caught up in the moment in one of the last sessions of the day, trying to gain much more exit speed onto the main straight than the Sti chasing behind me so i could stay ahead of him. When i tried to shift from 2nd to 3rd coming onto the straight i ground the gear and couldn't get it in. I started losing speed fumbling and trying to get the car into 3rd. Finally i managed to to get into gear, but when i let the clutch out i quickly discovered that i had been attempting to shift into 1st, and had been "successful". The engine over-revved for a split second as the car slammed down a gear, until i quickly put the clutch back in and shifted into the proper gear. The guy in the Sti, who had almost completely caught up to me by the time i put it in first, got a big surprise and almost rear-ended me. So i learned a valuable lesson about trying to shift too fast and getting caught up in the excitement of racing. Fortunately it appears i didn't damage the engine at all, but i did hurt the tranny, so here's the diagnosis.

As i started the 3 hour drive back home i noticed a whining sound as i got up to about 60 kph (35mph) and the whining got louder and higher pitched up to about 80kph (50 mph). The whine died down a bit (or got covered up by engine noise) at speeds above 80 kph but the whine got steadily higher pitched. The whine occurs in 4th and 5th for sure, but i suspect in all gears, i just can't hear it in lower gears because of engine noise. The whine pretty much goes away when push the clutch pedal in and also goes away with the clutch engaged when i decelerate. It only whines when i accelerate, or stay at neutral throttle.

So i took the car to a dealership where a friend is an apprentice Tech ( a Honda Dealership) and had on of the Tech's look at it for me. I had drained and replaced the tranny fluid a couple of days after the incident and found nothing significant in the fluid or on the magnetic drain plug. Anyway, the Tech told me that 5th gear on the main and countershaft need to be replaced as well as a release bearing, all to the tune of $1200 CDN. This sounds like a total guess to me. He told me 5th gear is damaged (likely scored) and feels this because he claims the whine only occurs in 5th. But, that's total BS, i know my car and it whines in 4th and 5th for sure. It turns out he drove the car less than 1 kilometre to road test it. So can anyone tell me what they think the problem really is? And is there even a release bearing in the tranny? I'm guessing it's a bearing somewhere in the tranny causing this noise, but i'm hoping someone can help me narrow it down and offer some suggestions.

No need to tell me i'm an idiot for the shifting or that i'm also lucky i didn't destroy the engine, because i realize this, and have learned a valuable lesson because of it.

TypeR0186

ur in for some troble.. this happen to me too. it makes the sound in everygear just gotta listen for it. I DO KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT. i took it in to acura. they try to fix it the first time but the sound was still there. took it back to acura they said it was a normal noise now because of the new tranny. i didnt believed them and drove off with a new tranny and the noise was still there but just not loud. drove it for a month r two then the sound grow louder and louder. took it in to acura because the car was idling wierd and the NOISE. they said i have bent all my valve and 3 and 5 gear mess up. it's been a month in a half now still not done with my car. getting ****. they take too long... if it's not the tranny the first time i think it's the crankshaft or axle area. good luck to you. acura still don't know what the problem is with my car. it cost acura like $8000 us dollar aready. they should of just fix it right the first time. JUST give me a new engine and tranny.

Holding monSteR

Only one reply in 24 hours? Man, i was hoping for at least a few replies. Well, i'm sure i haven't bent any valves or anything in the engine, it runs exactly the same as before. It's definately something in the transmaission or axles, because the whine is speed sensitive, not gearing or engine rpm sensitive. That also kinda rules out gears being pooched, in my opinion, because the whine is only speed sensitive. Anyone got any ideas, suggestions? Anyone recommend a gear oil i could try to lessen the whine? I'm using Synchromesh now, and am thinking of trying some Redline, perhaps.

Bbasso

Throwout bearing shot?

Or an internal bearing took a dump.

Other wise I dunno

try doing the MTF again and search thru the oil good...

BoostedITR41

mine does it at low RPM and I have no idea what it is....I was thinking maybe a diff?

asubennett

I did this once and it ended up that the very tip of a tooth on the the ring gear had sharred off. I too had drained and checked the fluid for any metal scraps but found nothing. I thought it was the input shaft bearing. THe weekend before I planned on replacing the input shaft bearing, that little bur on the ring gear got caught up on the pinion gear and stripped every single one of the teeth off of that gear. I was just cruising @ 40mph when it happened and the tranny locked up consequently snapping both axles. My problem began after a hard 4-2 down shift. But the whining noise I was experiencing came from that one little missing end of a gear tooth on the ring gear on the differential. Might be someting for you to look for.