1980SC

Hello,
The transmission in my 1980SC has what sounds like a bad bearing. Is this something that needs attention now, or can a tranny still work for a while making this noise? The syncros and differential are both fine.

Thanks,
Rob

Thom Fitzpatrick

What are the conditions under which it whines? When was the last time changed the fluid? I've 'silenced' whines by switching to a heavier fluid in my VW's.

1980SC

It whines under load. On throttle it will whine, off throttle it gets quiet. The fluid was just changed with that Swepco stuff.

Thom Fitzpatrick

Did it whine before the swepco? Did they put enough in? If you rush the fill, you won't get enough in, especially in cold weather!

1980SC

I'll check the level tomorrow. The noise was
there before the transmission oil change though. It's an intermittent noise. Sometimes
it's quiet, sometimes it's whiny.

-Rob

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi Rob:

As you know, its tough to diagnose noises long-distance, but I would tell you that if the noise is the same in all gears, on-throttle and is quiet in all gears, off-throttle, this might be the ring & pinion.

I would listen very carefully to see if the noise is the same in all 5 gears, on-throttle.

As long as the tranny has a full load of clean transmission oil like Swepco,...it will go long time before needing attention. Just remember, delaying this might raise the parts bill significantly when its finally repaired.

1980SC

Steve,
I purchased this car recently knowing that a transmission rebuild may be in the near future. The noise happens exactly as you have stated. The previous owner had the ring & pinion checked, but was told it looked great. Then the case was filled with swepco.

I was just wondering if someone else here has
had a noise like this, and whether or not the tranny will be okay for a while. My Haynes manual says "...transmissions which howl may continue to perform for a long time in this state."

???

- Rob

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi Rob:

I hope the PO had the differential removed and the ring gear & pinion closely inspected. This can be done with the tranny in the car but the smallest imperfection in these highly stressed surfaces can make all that noise.

It will likely be OK for awhile,.......

Paul Brewer

I've got the same noise in my '82 SC. It occurs from 1800 RPM to 3500 RPM, under high load.
Steve is correct in stating that the probable cause is the ring and pinion. I'm a manufacturing engineer in the auto industry and I used to work in a facility that made rear axles. The ring and pinion are run together in the "green" (annealed) state and spend their service life together as they are heat treated and installed in the axle. The pinion is shimmed to the proper position on the ring gear during assembly. If this position changes (say, due to pinion bearing failure)or is initally incorrect at the time of assembly the result is a noisy axle.
Repair will include the replacement of both ring and pinion and careful re-assembly.

1980SC

I am assuming that the differential and the ring & pinion are the same thing. Am I wrong?

I'm guessing that having the ring & pinion replaced will not be near as expensive has a whole tranny rebuild. That's good news !

- Rob

Paul Brewer

The ring and pinion are part of the differential assembly and rebuilding WILL be relatively expensive.
Unless a pinion bearing is failing you will just be contending with an annoying noise.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi Rob:

The ring and pinion are 2 different but matched parts and are only available in sets and replaced, as such. Not cheap!

Unfortunately, the entire tranny must be disassembled to replace these parts and reset the pinion depth and ring gear backlash. The pinion bearing is also changed at this time as this is usually the root case for the
R & P failure. We charge about 16 hours of labor to do this.

1980SC

Oh. I thought since you could remove the differential with the tranny still in the car, that you could also replace it with a new one then.

I've looked around, but can't find any prices for ring & pinion gears. Are they really only a dealer sold item? How much?

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

You can remove the differential from the car with the transmission in place through the side cover, but this only places the ring gear (bolted to the differential) in your hands. The pinion gear is machined onto the countershaft of the transmission and cannot removed until the entire unit is disassembled. Its rather labor intensive.

A new R&P runs about $ 1700 and you'll still need bearings,........The R&P is a Dealer-only item.

1980SC

Wow! $1700.

I'd be better off trading my tranny in for a rebuilt one through Vertex, or Motormeister.