ok so i built a transmission for the first time a while back and everything was good up until now about 6k miles later i am starting to develop a whining noise in 4th gear only ....it almost sounds like straight cut gears ..WTF

the specs on the trans are

YS1 LS cable clutch case
S4C b16 internals except for LS 5th gear
all new syncros and springs
gearspeed carbon syncros 3rd and 4th
new 3/4 hub and slider (i think thats what its called)
MFactory LSD
all new bearings and seals
i also polished the gear cones where the syncro sits with emery cloth

i even cleaned each and every part by hand to make sure there was no dirt of any kind ,put the trans together and shimmed everything to spec with the help of my brother (certified acura tech) ,and most of the miles i drive are all highway so she sits in 5th at least 90% of the time

but like i said everything was good up until now i have never missed or ground a gear even shifting at 8500rpm and it still shifts and drives fine... i am just starting to get this whine in 4th gear and i am worried about the bearings and tearing the thing up if i keep driving it the way it is

i think its inevitable that i will have to take it out and open it up to inspect but i was hoping one of you guys would have some insight on the situation
i think its odd it only whines in 4th and no other gears which leads me to believe maybe i have a chipped gear tooth or something on 4th

i also have a magnetic drain plug so some when i get back to work on monday i am going to get some fluid so i can pull the plug and check for metal

 

What did the gear teeth faces of 4th actually look like?
Did you replace ALL needle bearings?

 

^That.

If a tooth is chipped or the gear set has an odd wear pattern it could whine.

Polishing the gear cones wasn't a good idea, though that won't cause the whine.

What are the mainshaft and diff shim clearances?

 

thanks for the quick reply guys ...we can always count on you 2 to give some great info

i did not replace all of the needle bearings now that you said that, i got the kit from syncrotech that comes with all 5 seals and 6 bearings... i think dont quote me on that it was over a year ago when i bought everything
for the rest i used the best stuff i had from 4 different trannys 3 b16 and 1 LS

this trans was assembled from a couple different b16 trannys because the first one i bought was supposed to be in great condition just had a broken case where the mount bolts up but once i opened it up it had bad syncros and the dog teeth were all rounded off so i ended up buying 2 more just to get some better hard parts
i dont remember the exact specs but i did have to buy 2 shims to get everything within spec and my bro said it was "on the loose side but within spec"

i only polished the gear cones because some of them had grooves and i figured it would give it a new surface for the new syncro to sit on ...like a new brake pad and a machined rotor

i was also thinking that since i mixed up gears from different trannys that wear patterns were the cause of the noise
i really hope its nothing major and i do have a huge box of all the rest of everything if i do need something chances are i have it , its just the fact of removing it and tearing it down

 

What what the synchro clearance on the gear cone?

If you mix and matched gears, that will cause a problem.

 

Yeah, you def want to keep gear pairs together. It's one thing to pull a 3rd gear set from one trans and a 4th gear set from another; but you should shy away from using a countershaft 4th from one trans and a mainshaft 4th from another. Which is possibly what you did??? If you indeed mixed them like so, I would look to that being your problem.

 

well most likely both of you are right

i had all the gears laid out at one time from all the different trannys and used the best of each i was not thinking about mixing them up i just wanted the best looking parts

as far as the clearance of the gear cones i only polished them for a few seconds to clean up the surface i doubt i messed up any of the clearances there

DAMMIT i guess its getting torn back down

maybe its time for a MFactory gearset ...lol

thanks for the advice guys at least there are a couple people on here that are still helpful

 

Even if you didn't take enough off to change the clearance, they shouldn't be polished.

Gear cone : rotor :: synchro : brake pad

Glazed rotors don't work well, neither do polished gear cones.

MFactory gear set would be nice if you can't find any matched gear sets. PM me if you want to order one (not matched stock gears, those are reserved for customers builds).

 

i dont think the problem is with the syncros or the gear cones at all this thing shifts like butter even at 8500+ and even making a little whining noise i dont see any other problems with it


but it looks like i am in the market for a low mileage 4th gear set and ALL the bearings i didnt do before

ok instead of starting a new thread about gears would it be possible to use a GSR 4th gear in place of the b16 4th

so the setup would be b16 1-3, gsr 4th, ls 5th
would that even be possible?


i think it would even the spacing a little better on the top end , as long as it wouldnt drop out of vtec going into 4th .....time for me to spend some time on the gear calculator ...hehe

 

The gear cone won't cause a whine, but it doesn't work as effectively as it should and will probably wear faster.

You can use a GSR 4th, but the RPM drop going into 4th won't be very good. If you can't find a good matched B16 4th, order one from Honda along with the gear needle bearings.

 

ok so i ended up draining the fluid to see if there were any signs of metal on the magnetic drain plug and there was NOTHING ...i guess i am happy to see that its not eating itself up

so i guess i wasted a couple quarts or syncromesh but i feel a little better knowing its not as urgent as i was thinking ....as long as i dont hang out in 4th gear i think it will be ok for a while at least until i can afford some new gears

 

Did you shim the differential?