Manual Transmission Sound

If anyone ever stumbles upon this thread with similar symptoms?

The transmission shop pulled it apart, replaced several items including the input shaft bearing, put it back together and the sound was still present.

They pulled it apart again and noticed the mainshaft was skewed? Either way, the truck is dead silent now.

The previous owner stated the carrier bearing section broke and the drive shaft spun around like crazy for a second. Curious if that was what damaged the mainshaft.

 

I got my 2001 Tacoma in 2016 with 235k miles on it. It had this issue when I bought it. It's now at 280k and I haven't rebuilt the transmission yet. I wheeled it through the Mojave and many other areas multiple times.

The sound is certainly getting louder... I have a a full AISIN rebuild kit and some extra parts that I've been sitting on till I lived in a place with a garage but that still hasn't happened. I'm getting a little paranoid now in the Sierras that the transmission might take a @#$@ so I'm not doing any long drives on it or any wheeling.

I'm planning on syncing the carbs on my Honda motorcycle and then dropping the transmission in the Tacoma and driving it up to Nick with Yota1 in Riverbank CA. They've been good to chat with and after seeing Tim's video it I can't imagine taking it anyone else.

Wish I had a garage but... California

 

I'm in the same boat. My transmission is making a small amount of noise that both of my two shops I use says is input shaft bearing. My other mechanic is not as concerned about it than the 1st one and thinks I can drive it for possibly quite some time before getting to the rebuild. Both are people I trust, one is more cautious.

Seeing as the truck is our only vehicle right now, I'm going to wait. Old subaru died recently, we're shopping.

Then, if weather allows (CA, where it doesn't rain April thru Oct, generally), maybe I could drop it in the driveway and take it to yota1 or Martin Crawler.

I do hear the whirring sound faintly and have noticed a slight drop in mpg. But I really have to listen for it.

 

Sounds like you're where I was at 235k. Your Bio says* 413k, was the trans ever replaced? I plan on doing the driveway drop soon.

Im in SLO County, Marlin is a bit closer to me. But this is the primary reason I would go to Yota1: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/manual-transmission-r150f-help.828515/page-3#post-29723439

 

Thanks for the link. I'll look at carefully over the weekend. Yota is closer to me, so that's good. I'm in the east Bay Area.

Yes, I'm at 413k and going strong. Just did my 4th timing belt, my 1st new clutch after 380k on the original, new cats, new driveshaft carrier bearing, and a few other items. Engine is great, clean oil every 5k with almost no replenishment of oil in between. There's a little oil getting onto the transfer case from above, gaskets may be leaking slightly. My regular mechanic says don't do anything yet. He's says it's minimal and to be expected at 400k plus.

I've had to do a bunch of small stuff (MAF, new spark plugs when I had the timing belt done, etc). Tranny has never been changed. When the clutch was done (it really was noisy with a bad throw-out bearing), mechanic noticed the input shaft bearing noise when it was in the shop. I couldn't hear it before, perhaps due to the throw-out bearing noise. I could barely hear it after they put it all back together and thought maybe I was imagining it. But now (15k later) it is a little more. I wish I had done the tranny when the clutch was being done but couldn't wait for the rebuild due to our dead subaru. We only had one vehicle.

Let me know how your driveway drop goes. Do you have a 4cyl or 6cyl?

 

Will do. 3.4L 6 Cyl, running great.

Check out Tim's YouTube series with Yota1, the first part is dropping the transmission on the driveway. There are some foobar moments you'll want to know about. I wish Yota1 was that close to me, it's a 4.5 hr drive.

Glad to hear your trans lasted that long!! I did the clutch at ~240k hoping that would fix the noise but it's the countershaft bearings so it didn't. Sounds like you're on top of the maintenance and it's shown.

New cats, wow I've been praying and clearing every time I get the dreaded P420 I won't need to do that. Replaced the O2 sensors got me around that for now. I would suggest checking out your IAC valve and cleaning it if you haven't already. That was causing MPG and idling issues for me. Also helps with airflow.

I also had some oil on the transfer case. I did the valve covers on my truck in 2018 after I had a mechanic do it in 2017 and they didn't use OEM and didn't put FPIG in the cam corners and half moons. I've been doing everything that doesn't require a press since.

 

I just called Yota1 and they will take a 3-4 week notice prior to drop off.

If you plan to ship you need to work with them to make sure it's not a crappy company with shitty crates.

They say it will be a 2-4 week turn around on the rebuild depending on core salvage situation and what mods you want.

I'm going with the 5th gear upgrade for low rpm and better gas mileage at highway speeds.

If you have a rebuild kit and other items from Marlin and they haven't been tampered with they will use them in your rebuild.

I'm heading up that way middle of next month so I may just do it now.

 

@woad4 OP
I bought my '03 in 2016 with 86kmi. Bought from a used dealer in WA. Got home to NY and found the sound you had. Push in clutch, no sound. Idle, whirring sound.

Went to 3 shops incl. Toyota all said throwout bearing. Truck had a 90 day warranty for power train. Got dealer to pay for Trans rebuild. They did several bearings, etc., shop amazed at like new condition of trans when it was apart. All back together -- still same noise. "just how it is" he said. Fortunately, I paid nothing for this work.

Now, 9 years and 100k mi later, still same noise, no worse. I've tuned it out.

Can you be more specific what they did to fix yours? Replace the main shaft....?

thanks -

 

Yeah, I chased that P0420 for a while. I'm on my 2nd pair of new cats. The first pair was at about 250k in 2014. The aftermarkets aren't as good I guess because the rear one needed to be replaced at 280k (no cost to me). At about 318k, p0420 again. We did the usual stuff, clean MAF, throttle body, IAC cleaning, vac hoses, and O2 rear sensor at 344k. Then at 383k put a new MAF in. I was passing smog, so all good.

Then around 395k, the P0420 wouldn't go away. I'd clear it and 25-30 miles later, back again. I broke down and did the cats. Aftermarkets again because I was told originals not available, and quite expensive if they were.

There was an exhaust smell after the 1st set of cats and again at the 2nd set. After the first, they checked all over the exhaust system looking for a leak, they tightened things up (I guess) and it was sort of ok. They even used a wand to try to chase the leaks down.

2nd set of cats, the exhaust leak smell was less than the first time and gradually got better. I also think old gaskets in the firewall may let some exhaust smell in, but I don't know. I notice it mostly when climbing up a hill and the windows are open, or the moonroof is open.

I really want to do the tranny but need to wait until we get a 2nd vehicle. It just bothers me to drive it when I know the truck needs something and I'm not giving it to her. But it could also be good to wait until the noise is more definitive.

Thanks for the info on Yota in your next post. I might go for the 5th gear upgrade. I would also deliver and pickup myself rather than shipping.

Also thanks for the info on the IAC. I may look into that sooner rather than later. There was a good video posted in TW on that. I'm not having any idling issues, the truck just purrs. But mpg is down 1-2 miles. I'll monitor that better on an upcoming trip and see.

Edit: also thanks for the info on the valve cover gasket. My mechanic says not needed now, but at some point I'll want to do it because of the same reason, it bugs me....