T5 transmission noise

Roger/Sacramento

Roger/Sacramento

Senior Member
I have an Old World out of an S10 pickup. Had the ****** opened up and cleaned and checked by a shop. Installed the ****** and it worked fine but, made a whining noise in 3,4,5 gears. Talked with the shop and they said they never checked the bearings because they have to be broken down to check. Took the ****** out and had the shop replace the bearings. The originals were only slightly worn. After reinstallation the noise is still there. What experience has others had ?
 
I am no ****** expert but ....

I usually get a rebuild kit and unless what is in the ****** is near perfect, I change out all of the synchros and that goes for every part in the kit. Some trannys, like my T5Z, are so good practically nothing needed changing. Others it was everything in the kit and even some gears.

I would check on the Hamb for flat Ernie - he has a ton of T5 info and perhaps post your question there. You will probably get a more specific response from that forum vs here .....
 
What trans fluid are you using? I had a NWC T5 that had ATF in it,switched to 20-50 Mobil One and it was a lot quieter. Pete
 
I completely rebuilt my NWC T5 even though it looked good. Carefully set the end play and bearing pre load and have used Royal Purple Max Gear in it for a number of years. Shifts smooth and no noise at all. The T5's are easy to work on.
 
prpmmp said:
What trans fluid are you using? I had a NWC T5 that had ATF in it,switched to 20-50 Mobil One and it was a lot quieter. Pete
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JSeery said:
Think you can do that on a NWC, but not a WC.
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I DO NOT recommend anyone use engine oil in a T5. It doesn't have the correct additives for use in a transmission. There are special shear additives that are absent in motor oil. While folks have done it and gotten away with it, it is more because these old hot rods and Fords don't see near the mileage of daily drivers.

I run synthetic ATF in all T5 - WC & NWC. I find the GM synchromesh too thick and the gear oil originally called for in early T5 to be WAY too thick (the old Ford oil translates to a 70W gear oil). It doesn't hurt anything, but it makes them sluggish to shift, especially when cold.

Roger/Sacramento said:
I have an Old World out of an S10 pickup. Had the ****** opened up and cleaned and checked by a shop. Installed the ****** and it worked fine but, made a whining noise in 3,4,5 gears. Talked with the shop and they said they never checked the bearings because they have to be broken down to check. Took the ****** out and had the shop replace the bearings. The originals were only slightly worn. After reinstallation the noise is still there. What experience has others had ?
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I suspect end play. End play is the easiest adjustment one can do on a T5, although you need to pull the top & tail off to do it. I set mine to the tighter end of the tolerance.

Is your whine less in 4th at all? Generally, 4th has the least noise of any gear, but if it's noticeably & significantly quieter than the other gears, it is indicative of a bad input bearing...although too much end play can be almost as bad. If you have way too much end play, that will result in worn/broken synchros and dogs on the gears.
 
I have a NWC T5 in my coupe and I did a fair amount of research before buying it. I read about the input bearing and shaft needing almost dead nuts alignment to avoid premature wear and failure. Much less tolerant of mis-alignment than the typical old Ford transmissions.

The registration hole in whatever bell housing or adapter must be a certain size, be concentric with the crankshaft and the bell housing to trans mount face true perpendicular to within a certain spec. Another thing to watch out for when adapting is the pilot end of the input shaft not binding lengthwise.

Flat32
 
Flat Ernie said:
I DO NOT recommend anyone use engine oil in a T5. It doesn't have the correct additives for use in a transmission. There are special shear additives that are absent in motor oil. While folks have done it and gotten away with it, it is more because these old hot rods and Fords don't see near the mileage of daily drivers.

I run synthetic ATF in all T5 - WC & NWC. I find the GM synchromesh too thick and the gear oil originally called for in early T5 to be WAY too thick (the old Ford oil translates to a 70W gear oil). It doesn't hurt anything, but it makes them sluggish to shift, especially when cold.



I suspect end play. End play is the easiest adjustment one can do on a T5, although you need to pull the top & tail off to do it. I set mine to the tighter end of the tolerance.

Is your whine less in 4th at all? Generally, 4th has the least noise of any gear, but if it's noticeably & significantly quieter than the other gears, it is indicative of a bad input bearing...although too much end play can be almost as bad. If you have way too much end play, that will result in worn/broken synchros and dogs on the gears.
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The whine is in 3.4 and 5 equally. No noise in 1 and 2.
 
Well, it's more likely that it's bearings if you have noise in certain gears, but not others, especially if 4th is noisy. 4th gear goes straight through and all other gears go through the countershaft putting side loads on all bearings. Any slop shows up as noise. This is why end play is so critical in these transmissions (and most transmissions).

End play may still quiet it all down, but sounds like it may be best to simply go through it and put new bearings in throughout.
 
No vibration and shifting is easy. The noise is only when under load. No noise when I let up on the gas. Why is noise only in top three gears ? Not sure what is meant by endplay.
 
Roger, I had the exact same problem with my T5 which my son and I installed in his '65 Mustang. It was a non-World Class rebuilt completely by an excellent racing shop located at Sears Point. I brought the ****** back to the rebuilder, he said the only thing that he could figure was an improperly machined input shaft. He went through it again (gratis, of course), replaced that with a different (new) input shaft,and it has been perfect ever since-about 10,000 miles on it now. We use synthetic ATF.

Adam
 
Is tailshaft bushing nice and tight? I is very important that it be snug. If it is sloppy, it will allow the mainshaft to flop around in relation to the input shaft. Also, when setting total end play, a yoke should be used to center the output shaft. Just thoughts.,...jack
 
Roger/Sacramento said:
Why is noise only in top three gears ? Not sure what is meant by endplay.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
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I've never seen one that was only noise in 3,4,5...

End play is the total movement front-to-back within the case. It is set by shimming the input bearing under the input collar/bearing retainer.
 
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