posidon42

iTrader: (4)

Over the past week or so, the trans has been getting a little notchy and third gear had a whine that sounded like going in reverse at high speed. This evening, I changed the oil, diff fluid and trans fluid. It was about time for all of this so I decided to do it all while I was there. The fluid was a little dark even though I changed it out 20k miles ago. When I looked at the trans plug, it had an unusually large buildup of gunk on it. From what I can tell, there are no large chunks or anything. Anyway, pic below, should I be concerned?

bryantaylor

iTrader: (5)

thats normal man, dont worry about it

jayc72

iTrader: (14)

eww. Transmission smegma.

TURNS101

iTrader: (10)

Thats not too bad man.

When it lets go in boost you will know

posidon42

iTrader: (4)

Ok, thanks. Took the car for a drive and it seems a little better. Didn't want to go crazy the first time out with all new fluids. Third is quieter, but it still sounds pretty bad. Wonder if I am looking at a new tranny in the near future. :(

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Hmm. I'd say that's a bit more than "normal". So something is obviously wrong with 3rd? Sounds to me like you got some gear damage. I'd be getting a spare if I were you. I'd still drive it, just get a spare for if (when) it breaks.

TURNS101

iTrader: (10)

I am sorry I didnt suggest this before. I agree 100% with Pat.

Def get a spare.

That isnt good. I was just compairing it to my last 2 trans and they were worse. They are also blown apart now too..

posidon42

iTrader: (4)

That totally sucks. I have no idea what happened. I hadn't driven the car for a couple of weeks while I was upgrading my fuel pump. I can't remember if this problem was here before, but it is now... I don't want to replace more parts

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Word is 5 speeds suck. But good news is they're pretty cheap as far as 5 speeds go. I can't say what's wrong with it of course, but if you're getting gear noise in 3rd, and metal in the oil, I would certainly speculate you broke a few teeth of of 3rd and now it's making noise because of it. I'd just look for a used one to get to have a spare and avoid using 3rd gear. If you go boosting through second and then grab third you could break it. Just skip third till you get a spare and plan on swapping them.

turbobluemiata

iTrader: (8)

at least its not to hard or expensive???

posidon42

iTrader: (4)

True. Still sucks though.

paul

iTrader: (21)

Been there, done that too.

1 week ago. Night before dyno day. Fun.

miatamania

iTrader: (9)

That had to be a fun adventure...****.

curly

iTrader: (25)

Sorry pat, but I don't think you can break one or two teeth on a transmission gear and get away from it. If for some reason you did, it would be more than a little noise in third. posiden, you mostly likely wore down the teeth, creating the metal dust shown on the drain plug, and increasing the contacting distance between the gears, thus the noise. The danger of this is that once they wear down to the point of breaking, they'll break all at once, throwing the teeth into the other gears and doing damage to them. So yes, you should definitely get a spare tranny.

posidon42

iTrader: (4)

This sucks. But at least I can search for some parts while I wait for it to die

johndoe

iTrader: (5)

could also be an alignment issue with the trans. I forget where the link is but I believe it was olderguy who mentioned that the factory has a spec on the height of the trans in relation to the body. If it's out of range it makes more noise.

posidon42

iTrader: (4)

just in one gear? All of the rest of the gears are fine. Also, I am not sure what would have changed with this recently.

johndoe

iTrader: (5)

mine has a faint whine in all gears and a rattle sound in decel in fourth. Shifts like butter though. When did you replace the clutch?

posidon42

iTrader: (4)

When I put in the turbo last year. Maybe 15k miles ago. And it was the ACT HD, not the extreme.