I have only had this car for a month and it has always made this noise. any time i let off the gas i hear a 'singing/whining" that sounds sort of like you are down shifting. I am rworking the interior and have a couple of panels off which may make it louder but how much of this is normal? Any remedies? the transmission was supposedly rebuilt in the last 1000 miles. it shifts fine and runs fine, just seems a little louder than what I am used too, but I havent been driving a 26 year old car either. thx

 

some whine is normal - a lot is an indication of a worn bearing or three or of worn pinion gears - I always make a point of changing trans oil when I get a new car, you may consider that - see if there are metal flakes when you drain the oil

 

Noise on decel is typical of worn bearings in the transmission. The bellwether is the front pinion bearing outer race, which you can inspect by dropping the transmission and separating the differential carrier from the gear carrier. Look at 5 o'clock on the race, in particular. Wear will show as pitting, and pits larger than about 0.5 mm tell you it's time for replacement. If the front pinion bearing shows signs of wear, the same will be true of the five other main bearings.

Kevin
Catellus Engineering

 

Do you know if you have a rubber centered clutch or a conventional clutch? A conventional clutch disc seems to telegraph more of a mechanical sound through the drive train than a rubber one. It certainly did on my car when I changed the clutch.

 

I dont know which I have, how can I determine that?