Rebuild service dilemma

Folks, I have a problem.

I just had a engine and transmission swap on 1997 tacoma. It was done by a longstanding business that specializes in rebuilds and does them in shop. Tacomas are nothing new to them.

Mine is 1997 4wd v6, manual, 270k.

The problem is noise - a constant and loud whine when she’s in gear and im giving her gas. Pitch increases with acceleration. 15 years, never had this happen and now it’s happening out of the gate of a rebuild.

Very loud coming out of 1st, fairly loud in 2nd, audible in 3rd, SILENT in 4th, and faint but clear and persistent in 5th.

I get that we have old designs and some noise is normal but this is little child-style irritating, can’t be ignored and prob give headaches over long distances.

Also, the engine lugs in second gear between 1-1.5k rpm.

The shop said they had done everything to spec - which i believe to be sincere. But still, i feel pretty firm that these issues should not be happening.

Q1: any diagnosis?
Q2: How accountable should the shop be for these issues? Are my expectations reasonable?

We can’t walk away from this, but the shop seems to be saying “We’ve done our job”...

 

Lugging at 1-1.5 RPM is normal. That’s really low to rev your engine. Look up the torque/hp curve for the V6 and you’ll understand why.

 

Sounds like a transmission issue from what you describe .

Being it is quiet in 4th gear that is the only direct gear all the others run on other shafts.

What is the history of the transmission might just be one of those freak things that just happened now.

 

Countershaft bearings in the trans. In 4th it's locked straight through 1:1 so no load on the countershaft like there is in every other gear.

 

Normal if it disappears in 4th...
Been covered but just pretend you have a supercharger lol.
Guys have tripped out and ordered new trannys only to have it happen again after some time.
Toyota sticks whine.
Little known fact is to jack up your truck on fill plug side and add another quarter quart of fluid...they did this at the factory apparently.
I used redline in mine and this quieted er down a bit..

It is the countershaft but just a whine.
Do a search and there is a big thread on it. Try not to worry you just got stuck with a whiner..
I have the w59 and the w stands for whiner hahah.

 

Copy re: 4th gear. But in terms of the whine

- this tranny has 40 miles on it
- the whine is loud. In 1-3 it’s dominant over the engine, exhaust, and regular tranny metal grinding sounds. In 5th it’s like chinese water torture.
- it was never present in original tranny, and i’ve never noticed it in any other 1st gen i’ve rode in.

I can see this shop convo may effin suck - y’all are sayin it’s mechanically OK, but at best it’ll be mad irritating and headache-inducing for the next ten years?

 

New Transmission ?? Something is for sure not correct !!

Was it rebuilt ?? Forget to put gear oil in?? All mine always came back without gear oil.

 

Yes, new rebuild, along with new engine rebuild, clutch etc and a bunch of other stuff. Major investment meant to re-set the girl for the next 15 yrs.

So jus to be clear, the whine should not be there with a new rebuild? Obvs that my stance, but the shop owner is kinda sayin what you all were saying, “That’s normal for these models”....

 

Check the fluid level in the trans. Also might be worth asking what gear oil the mechanic put in, it’s possible they put in too little or not the right grade. If both of those check out then it’s likely something internal to the transmission like a bearing.

 

post a video...
a guy had same problem from new ,had toyota put a new one in under warranty (tho they said it was normal) and it whined again in 20k.
A guy tripped out from a whine and ordered a rebuilt one from marlin crawler and it did the same thing, they said normal.
These examples are mass plentiful the more you dig..
Far as i can tell some did and some didn't whine and there is no difference in operational lifespan..
I put redline mt in (with extra) and it quieted it a bit.
Post video so we can hear if you are way off the charts..
And remember that chinese water torture requires the victim to go mad in order to work, your participation is voluntary.

 

Not normal. A rebuilt trans should not have whining that loud and noticeable. It's "normal" to have a slight whine in an older trans but brand new you shouldn't hear anything. I'd be taking it back for warranty imo. And there shouldn't be any metal grinding sounds lol.

Possibly run without oil as mentioned, who knows. But definitely that's not right and something needs to be done about it

 

Im sorry but 40 miles in it shouldn't be whining so loud that it's noisy over all other vehicle noise. Definitely something not right.

 

yah nobody likes a whiner. an odd issue to be sure-

 

I gotta wonder why do some whine and others don`t??

Different vendors for the same Transmission ??

I can say if mine makes any noise my hearing is to bad to hear those frequencies .

at 250,000 miles

 

^^This I’ve been through a similar situation with a rebuilt rear end. The shop that rebuilt it used a better quality bearing and it didn’t like the stock diff grease and roared like hell...Changed to Amsoil and quiet as a mouse couldn’t believe it.

 

I just bought a Marlin Crawler rebuilt R150F and I hope it doesn't whine like that. I will be very disappointed. I personally wouldn't live with something that was so annoying. It's going to ruin your enjoyment of the vehicle, especially after paying a premium to have it professionally rebuilt to avoid issue exactly like this.

Hope you get it sorted OP. Video would be really helpful and will be good evidence in case the shop won't do the right thing if you figure out it isn't right.

Though I will add what others are saying and suggest putting Redline MT-90 gear oil in that tranny. Works well with our trans and I run it in my other gear boxes with great success.

 

Something is wrong with the transmission they gave you

 

Reporting back...

Yes redline was in play from start.

Went to the shop today braced for a rough convo. Turns out they only specialize in engine rebuilds and source tranny from partner... and this shop’s priority is keeping us happy. They agree, the situation is a bit off.

We agreed on 1,000 mile break in period to re/confirm, then pull trigger on warranty. So I finally have an excuse to upgrade from a stock soundsystem (embarrassing, I admit).

 

Generally it's the W series trans that people notice whining in.

Again as far as I know the W series trans generally are the ones people notice whine, the R series is reputed to be a stronger more heavily built trans.

Don't forget about it....if it's there or worse after 1000 miles warranty it. Honestly I'd warranty it now...there's nothing in that trans that will "break in" and cause the whine to go away. I hate it when people put stuff together and say "oh it'll wear in....." There's very little in even an engine that breaks in besides rings and clutch, and possibly cam. Bearings never need to break in so they'll stop making noise.