Low fluid level and worn bearings (as others have posted) are likely causes. Another is that the pinion shaft nut (under the back cover of the transaxle case) may be getting loose. When you put the transaxle together, you're supposed to tighten this nut to a specified torque that gives the correct clearance between the pinion and the ring gear. Over time, as the internals of the gearbox wear, this clearance loosens up and the r&p gets noisy. Also, sometimes the lock tab on the nut fails and the nut itself can loosen up.

A slightly noisy transaxle can still run for a long time without failing, but keep an eye on the drain-plug magnet when you change fluid (which you should be doing frequently -- I change mine every time I change the oil, but I'm a pessimist!) A few fine shavings are normal, but if you start to notice a lot of big shavings or (worse yet) recognizable hunks, it's far gone enough to deserve a rebuild. The bearings, I'm told, are a standard item and still available -- but the gear sets are NOT, so the one thing you don't want to do is let the box run so long on shot bearings that the gears wiggle around and chew each other up!


One final, seemingly silly point: the transaxle does bolt right to the firewall (via its rear mount) and there's nothing to stop the noise coming through except a batt of fiberglass behind the toe board. If this fiberglass has deteriorated, even a pretty good transaxle can sound noisy!

posted by 68.227.170...

• tranny noise, Dave Capell, Tue, 18 Jan 2005 14:38:09
  • Where can you get a tranny rebuilt?, Brian, Fri, 21 Jan 2005 03:34:37
    • Check Eriksson Industries, Jim H, Sun, 23 Jan 2005 20:42:42
    • Jack Ashcraft & Chip Lamb rebuild them, Gary Piland, Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:54:54
      • Rick woolfe does it too..., Dan , Fri, 21 Jan 2005 21:18:25
        • Re: Rick woolfe does it too..., Brian, Sat, 22 Jan 2005 04:45:43
  • Re: tranny noise, Peter B., Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:06:12
  • Re: tranny noise, spiv, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:01:12 <-- Viewing This Message
  • Re: tranny noise, Bill Tubbs, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 10:18:16
  • Bad bearings maybe? Just a guess n/m, Cody, Tue, 18 Jan 2005 15:28:58

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