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I’m new here, just bought an auto 2002 ohv Cavalier a few weeks ago. I’ve been driving with the radio off lately and have noticed there’s a whine from the front of the vehicle that isn’t there when in park or neutral, or when I give it gas in drive with my foot on the brake. It’s got me confused because it changes pitch depending on the engine speed, but only while moving and in gear. I’ve taken it out of gear while rolling and it goes away–or at least isn’t noticeable–at idle. Giving it gas while rolling in neutral will raise the pitch but not nearly as much as when it’s in gear. Trans fluid looks ok, power steering fluid level is ok and fluid looks ok, drives and shifts crisp and smooth. I’m stumped.
So I checked the atf level today after a drive to warm it up; left it running in park and pulled out the check plug(no dipstick on these cars), not a drop came out. I picked up a quart of atf to put in and thought I’d take the plug out while the engine was off to see how much would come out… barely any, just a trickle. So I started it up and poured the bottle in slowly and checked to see when it came out of the check port. I got the whole quart in and no overflow! I took it for a brief test drive and the whine is maybe a little bit quieter, but it’s tough to tell. I’m going to get a few more quarts to put in tomorrow.
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The fluid level is supposed to be checked with the engine running. Fill it up until you get a dribble out of the plug with the engine and trans up to normal operating temperature. Have you had any problems with slipping or flare shifts?
I know it needs to be checked while running, I figured I’d take the plug out while it was off to see how much, if any, would come out since nothing came out when I checked it earlier while it was running.
I can go get more fluid tonight but I wont be able to put it in until tomorrow since I have to do this in my apartment parking lot and its dark out 🙁
Aside from the whine there’s no problems shifting at all. Crisp and smooth, no rpm jump between gears. I first doubted it was even coming from the transmission but I don’t know what else it could be, wouldn’t anything powered by the serpentine belt make noise regardless of whether it was in gear or not?[quote=”Slow_dime” post=121218]I know it needs to be checked while running, I figured I’d take the plug out while it was off to see how much, if any, would come out since nothing came out when I checked it earlier while it was running.
I can go get more fluid tonight but I wont be able to put it in until tomorrow since I have to do this in my apartment parking lot and its dark out 🙁
Aside from the whine there’s no problems shifting at all. Crisp and smooth, no rpm jump between gears. I first doubted it was even coming from the transmission but I don’t know what else it could be, wouldn’t anything powered by the serpentine belt make noise regardless of whether it was in gear or not?[/quote]keep us posted if the noise gets better when topped off. 🙂
So I got it topped off. It took a whole 2.5 quarts to get it there. It still whines. The plus is at least it’s full, I wonder where the fluid that was in there went? There aren’t any leaks, all I can think of is that it wasn’t properly filled last time it was serviced. I’m not too familiar with automatic transmissions and what can cause noises but I was thinking maybe the oil pump based on different things I’ve read. Maybe it’s just a quirk about this car. It’s got 157k miles on it. I bought it as a cheap commuter to get me through my last year of college after a tree fell on my beloved ol’ truck. Any insight or suggestion of things to try? Maybe swap out the filter?
I should note its not a very loud whine. It’s audible but can be hard to hear over road noise at times.
Did another test on my drive home tonight. It doesn’t seem to whine when I manually put it in 1st and 2nd. It only whines in 3rd and ‘D’. I took a short video–really just audio–of it. I can put it up on youtube if anyone thinks it’ll help. It isn’t terribly audible in the video but there’s a few parts where it is.
Following.
My 2004 acura is EXACTLY the same, except tranny fluid level is perfect.
No one else thinks it’s a big deal, but it drives me crazy! & I have the exact same car in a 99 & that does not do it… Its silent. You expect that with acura.
I’ve been thinking a belt, but all except the timing belt are brand new. None fixed the whining. Sadly the timing belt has 90,00 mile on it. So maybe timing?
Except…my acura came with this fake hard plastic key. Theres a tiny panel next to the gear shifter that lifts off (but hard to get off) if the Tran wont shift. Then you stick this false key into the slot & you can manually shift the trans with that so at least its not completely frozen & locked,
that little cover is missing & so is that false key, so im wondering if it had a trans problem, & perhsps it was replaced with a crappy aftermarket that acuras detest. i need to have it checked at a transmission place.
2004 acura rl. 199,+++ miles. Puchased mid oct for my son who is about to get his license. $4,000 car.
So I didn’t want to start a new thread.. The whine I first posted about was probably not the transmission. I say this because this morning I went to head out for the day and there was a much louder whine that was present in all gears, including park, and it was proportionate to engine speed. Its the coldest day we’ve had so far this year(low 20s) and it didn’t make this noise at all last night. It doesn’t completely go away but gets quieter when the car warms up.. What do you think? Just cold weather? Should that even happen in cold weather? I’ve never owned a car with an auto trans before and those black magic boxes kind of weird me out a little.
I uploaded a video to youtube so you all can hear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ed97ueclwE&feature=youtu.beDon’t overlook something as simple as the speed ometer cable… They can make noise when going bad…best of luck
Well i took it to a reputable transmission shop near me and I explained what was going on. One of the techs took it for a test drive for about 10 minutes or so and told me it could be something as simple as a drive belt pulley or the front pump could be on its way out. He said it shifted fine and nothing was acting up aside from the whine. I told him I was only l planning on having the car for another year or so and he said it’s probably nothing that I should worry too much about. I’ll take off the serpentine belt and see if any pulleys are loose and see if thats the culprit. If not I’ll probably drop the pan and change the filter when the weather warms up a little.
I really just wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to take a crap on me before I spent all the money I would use for a repair on a new computer!
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