need help: transmission whine

[SnS C10]

hey guys as some of you have seen i just bought myself an 84 silverado. stock 305 v8 with a 700r4. trans shifts great, very smooth into all gears. it has clean fluid and smells fine. from a stop though while accelerating through first, the transmission starts making a whining sound. it gets louder as rpms increase and then it completely goes away when it shifts to second. Any thoughts on what this is?

[Albatrossian]

It whines while you're stopped?

[SnS C10]

no not while im stopped. when im at a standstill and i begin to accelerate in 1st gear. so from say 5mph to 20mph there is a loud whine and it gets louder as the rpms increase

[D13]

It's the low carrier pinions. It gives a speed related whine/zip noise then disappears with the shift into 2nd. had that happen on my 1990 at 196,000 miles.

Unfortunately this is way down in the trans, at that point you're into a complete rebuild.

If you don't tow and drive like a little old lady and do mostly highway you'll be OK for a while. But it won't self heal. If you beat on it or tow or drive city, better plan on a rebuld before it fills the rest of the trans with metal, or jams and breaks something.

[SnS C10]

i drive about 90 percent city to and from work and everywhere else. i will not have the money to fix it either. rebuilt transmission here is about 7-800. i have a baby on the way so i may just have to sell the truck i dont know we will see. maybe i will take it to the shop and see what they say

[Albatrossian]

You could always have them rebuild your trans.. it may be a little cheaper.

[SnS C10]

i just had a 63 ford falcon and i got the c4 transmission rebuilt by a local builder here and it was 700 with converter, without installation. so im guessing since this is an overdrive transmission it will probably be more plus they will have to install it as i dont have anytime to do it. im gonna go today after work and see what he says.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Damn thats a bummer but yea I gotta agree and say if you can baby it maybe it will last for awhile if not your just going to have to get a new one or get it rebuilt.

[SnS C10]

i took it to my local tranny shop after work today. First thing he did was smell the fluid, said it smelled fine. He then looked underneath the truck, then he got up and asked to drive it. He went by himself for about 10 minutes and he came back and said this. It shifts absolutely perfect and is extremely smooth. he told me to fix the slight whining noise, he would install a new torque converter and install a brand new shift kit and that would fix the problem. He said since the oil smells perfect and it shifts so smooth that the internals of the tranny are most likely fine.

So, new converter and a shift kit, what do you guys think?

[1984 swb chevy]

That sounds good if he will guarantee the noise will go away with the repairs he is doing.

[SnS C10]

are the converter and the shift kit both parts associated with fixing a 1st gear whine?

[C-10FREK]

I had one do that I tore it down and the lower locking clutch in the bottom end, right on top of the first clutch pack was bad, if you looked close there was flat spots wore on the rollers. A new one was 20 ish dollars noise went bye bye and by the way my fluid was perfect and converter had many many miles on it. It went through at least 3 trannys maybe 4 not sure. It was a hand me down converter no one liked it but me i guess.

[SnS C10]

anyone else think the converter and shift kit will do the trick?

[Albatrossian]

Is it a new converter? Stock stall or is it higher? A shift kit will firm up the shifts and possibly change the shift points. I do know that a higher stall 700R4 converter is a bit more expensive than a TH350-400 converter.

[SnS C10]

it is a stock stall converter with the shift kit. i would get the guarantee in writing but i just worry that it may not fix the problem. But as long as it is in writing it should be fine

[D13]

If it's the converter it should whine in 2nd gear too. Try pushing the throttle and applying a little brake right after the 1-2 shift. No noise, probably not it.

Bad planetaries will not discolor the fluid.

A mild shift kit that raises pressure and improves cooling flow may be of some help but probably won't fix your problem.

Get a guarentee that if the converter and kit doesn't fix it, the labor was free (i.e. don't pay for him to pull it out and put it in a second time).

[SnS C10]

well i can very slightly hear the noise in second gear but i really have to listen for it. sometimes it seems to whine in 1st and a little in second, and other times it does not seem to whine at all. It seems to do it more when the engine is at operating temperature too