transmission noise

[38plymouth]

The other day I had my 38 plymouth out for a drive. I noticed when I stopped and downshifted into first gear there was a loud humming noise coming from the transmission. It went away as soon as I let the clutch out and started moving. It happened 3 times that day, the vast majority of the time it did not do it. I have not had time to look at anything including the fluid level in the trans. Does anyone have any ideas what I would cause this?

[Reg Evans]

Sounds like you may need a new throwout/clutch release bearing.

Edited July 28, 2009 by Reg Evans

[RobertKB]

Possibly a pilot bushing?

[38plymouth]

This is not good, I won't have a chance to look at it until Friday. If it is something like that do you think there would be a problem driving it a little while longer? I'm supposed to drive in a wedding in 2 weeks and it will be about 100 miles round trip. There's no way I will have time to pull the transmission and get things fixed before then.

[Normspeed]

Release bearings usually give quite a bit of warning before they fail. Meanwhile I would at least get the gear oil level checked and topped off in case it's something else.

[38plymouth]

I'll check the oil Friday and give her another drive, thank you.

[38plymouth]

I had a chance to climb under the car and I found the trnas. fluid low. I topped it off and took it for a test drive. The noise is still there but it doesn't happen all the time. I put it up on stands and had my wife start it and put it in gear. The noise only happens whe the the car is in gear with the clutch pushed in. It doesn't happen in neutral with the clutch in or out or when driving with the clutch out. I climbed under it while the noise was happening and it is definately coming from the clutch area. I don't have time to pull the transmission so it will have to wait until winter.

I'm now trying to decide if it's time to swap a T-5 in. I would really love to have an overdrive so I can drive the car more. I'm just not sure it's worth the time, money and effort to put one together. I tried searching to find posts that show how involved this would be and I didn't have alot of luck finding posts. If anyone could point me toward some good threads on doing this swap I would be grateful.

[greg g]

Noise with clutch in indicates a throwoutbearing contemplating retirement.

[38plymouth]

Noise with clutch in indicates a throwoutbearing contemplating retirement.

I think the bearing is the problem. I just have to decide if I fix what I have or swap in a T-5. I should stick with what I have now but I would love to have overdrive.

[Reg Evans]

Cheap overdrive = Larger diameter tires on the rear.

I have some 750 16 (31" diam.) wide white radials on my 42 Bizzy coupe and I can scoot along just fine at a mile a minute.

If you are only changing the throughout bearing the job should only take about 1/2 a day.

[38plymouth]

I agree with the others' date=' it sounds like the clutch making the noise. Could be the throwout bearing, but it could be something a lot simpler that doesn't require any work to fix.

If you've had a lot of dampness in your area and the car isn't driven much, it could be it's just rust that's formed on the flywheel. If that's the case, it won't make any noise when the clutch is fully depressed and held there, or after you let off the clutch. The noise happens as the flywheel meets the clutch pads. The noise is caused by the pads erasing the rust. Sort of the same process that happens on rusty disc brake rotors and pads. It may even make it hard or impossible to get into low gear when the car is running, if the rust builds up too much. This happened to me a few years ago when I wasn't moving the car around during the winter months. To solve the problem just start the car up and either drive it around more, or just sit with the engine running and keep operating the clutch to wear off the rust. The noise will stop eventually.

If you are in an area like that and don't plan on moving the car for a long period, you can depress the clutch fully and put something on it to keep it depressed while not driving it. This will keep the clutch from becoming stuck on the flywheel from the rust.[/quote']

I don't get to drive the car much and it has rained just about every day this summer. I drove the car about 4 miles yesterday and the noise didn't go away. I wish this were the problem but unfortunately I'm almost convinced it's the throwout bearing.

[38plymouth]

Well, after weighing my options I have decided to pull my transmission and fix whatever needs fixing. I also have a leak coming from the clutch cover so I'm assuming I'll need to replace a rear seal in there too. The next couple of months are pretty busy for me so I will have to do a little work here and there when I have time. I like driving the car the most in the fall so parking it and waiting to do a T-5 over the winter doesn't sound appealing to me.

I'm going to have a ton of questions about where to get parts and exactly how to pull a trans. and change the clutch and bearings. I would like to replace parts that wear out while I'm in there. My shop manual doesn't go into much detail on doing this and I have never done one. I'm pretty sure I have most of the tools to do it and I know I can probably figure it out if I spend enough time working on it.

[greg g]

I see you are in the finger lakes, Are you in Skaneateles or ear by??? If so semd me a PM and I can perhaps come down and give you a hand. Will work for adult beverages.

Have guid pins that make puting stuff back in easy and have a template for the gasket that goes between the trans and bell housing.

shoot me a PM.