Transmission noise in all but 4th gear

[paddlenbike]

I have the common whirling noise coming from the transmission when idling in neutral with the clutch out and the high-pitched whine when driving in all but fourth gear. Is it the pilot bearing, throw out bearing or input shaft bearing on the transmission? Noise disappears completely when the clutch is fully depressed or when driving in 4th gear.

Vehicle is a 2000 4Runner with the 3.4 V6 & 5-speed manual.

[amgraham]

Start looking for another tranny or get ready to rebuild that one.. I just did mine. It took several months to progress to more than noise. I started with the same symptoms as yours and eventually lost 4th gear. Make sure you keep your tranny fluid full in the meantime to prolong it.

[mkgarrison5]

dang why so soon???

[Bob98SR5]

ken,

when was the last time you changed your clutch out?

when i had issues with gear noise, i had a clutch kit installed. problem was, the installer did not do it correctly. i started to hear gear noise only in 1st, 2nd, and a tad bit in 3rd. the new mechanic i picked took the whole darn thing apart, inspected the gears for wear (not bad, he said), and put everything back together. still had the noise. so we deduced it was the clutch kit itself and after putting in a new one, no more noise.

that might not be the case with your truck, but it was with mine.

bob

[paddlenbike]

Hi Bob,
I have a hard time believing it's the transmission input shaft bearings. My Supra, which used the R154 transmission (closely related to the 4Runner's R150F) made very similar noises and a new clutch kit resolved the issues. It didn't make nearly as much noise as the 4Runner makes though.

Anyways, to answer your question, the clutch is original. It made the noise at 55,000 mi when I bought it and I'm only at 73,000 now. What does the dealer charge to do a clutch change--$700 or so? I don't trust anyone else...

After Mike rode around in your truck at Pismo, he commented that yours didn't whine like mine.

[20005spd]

the noise is the trans input shaft bearing or half shaft bearing. my 2000 3.4 5spd does it as well, and its constantly getting worse. it isnt the pilot or throw out bearings. since the noise occurs when the clutch pedal is released, the transmission spins in neutral, then stops when the pedal is depressed shows it isnt the throwout since that bearing is only being used while the pedal is pushed down. if that bearing was bad it would make noise when the pedal is down, not any other time. the pilot bearing would make noise all the time since the tip of the input shaft rides in it all the time, so it isnt that bearing.

id start looking for another trans with low miles, its on my never ending list of things to get.

[paddlenbike]

I finally got tired of hearing the transmission whine so it is currently in a shop being rebuilt. My 4Runner only has 94,000 miles on it and it has made the noise since I bought it with 50,000 miles. Sure enough the input bearing was bad. I'm having it completely rebuilt with all new bearings, seals and sychros since I drove it for so long on a bad input bearing. Also getting a new clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing, the flywheel is being resurfaced and they are replacing the xfer case output seal that was starting to leak as a result of the problem in the transmission.

The shop did say they were amazed that I was having a problem with a Toyota manual transmission, regardless of mileage. They say certain vehicles have chronic trans problems, mainly Chrysler products (their minivans trans last as little as 30k) and all of the domestic fullsize pickups. They did mention 01-02 4Runners auto-trans planetary gear problems, but they say those typically start having problems at 150k+ when the previous cars I mentioned aren't even running anymore.

I'll report back in the coming days on whether or not they did a good job on the rebuild.

[4x4mike]

My parents went trough 3 transmissions in their Dodge minivan when I was a kid. First 2 were almost rightaway.

[L33T35T Tacoma]

4th gear is the non-reduction gear. When you put it in 4th, you lock input shaft to the main/output shaft, essentially creating a 1:1 gear ratio. When you do this, no power is being transmitted though the counter shaft. From what I've learned, this means that your counter-shaft bearings are toast.

Source: Diesel Technology classes, including a transmission class

[CJM]

Coulda been abused before you got it, thats usually the case.

Ill echo dodge tranmissions SUCK, they keep trans shops in biz lol.

[MTL_4runner]

The shop did say they were amazed that I was having a problem with a Toyota manual transmission, regardless of mileage. They say certain vehicles have chronic trans problems, mainly Chrysler products (their minivans trans last as little as 30k) and all of the domestic fullsize pickups. They did mention 01-02 4Runners auto-trans planetary gear problems, but they say those typically start having problems at 150k+ when the previous cars I mentioned aren't even running anymore.


That shop sounds like they know their stuff. When I worked as a machanic I can't tell you how many Dodge and Plymouth minivan transmissions I rebuilt. Another famous one was the old Ford Taurus if you weren't diligent about changing the tranny fluid and cleaning the filter screens every 15-20K miles. It doesn't sound like the input bearing is a trend on Toyota trannys like the 01-02 auto planetaries are. Hopefully they do a great job on the rebuild.

[paddlenbike]

So far it's working great. The transmission shifts a tad smoother than before and the clutch effort is even lighter than before the rebuild. That worried me that they might have used a weaker pressure plate but I did the "chirp the tires in 2nd gear" test and the clutch seems to hold strong. Before the rebuild I had a little clutch chatter when the truck was cold and that is now gone.

The whining noise was reduced a whole bunch, but there is still a little gear noise there, most noticeable when going through a parking lot in 1st gear with no load on the trans. I think it's normal to have some gear noise in a manual tranny and the noise seems comparable to what I hear in other manual trans 4Runners.

So far, so good!

[4x4mike]

The noise might go down with Redline oil.