Help !!Auto Box High Pitch Screech Whilst In Gear

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mrjb

New Member
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21
Location
Kent
Hi Guys,
Ive done some searching but cant seem to find what Im looking for. I went out to my disco this morning (2003 metropolis auto) and when putting into gear there is a terrible high pitch screaching whine when I put the car into Drive reverse, infact any gear.

It is fine in neutral. Has any one else experienced this? Im wondering if its the auto box low on oil, but I cant see any oil on the drive. I need to sort the problem asap as we use the disco for our dogs.
 
Hi Guys,
Ive done some searching but cant seem to find what Im looking for. I went out to my disco this morning (2003 metropolis auto) and when putting into gear there is a terrible high pitch screaching whine when I put the car into Drive reverse, infact any gear.

It is fine in neutral. Has any one else experienced this? Im wondering if its the auto box low on oil, but I cant see any oil on the drive. I need to sort the problem asap as we use the disco for our dogs.

The first thing I would be doing is to check the oil level in the gearbox - there is a specific procedure for doing this - then to up as necessary.
 
Cheers. I will go out and have a look. Is it easy to see the level in the box?

It needs to be checked underneath the vehicle via the level/fill plug on the front face of the auto-box sump. You will need a suitable-sized Torx plug to undo it (T50 from memory)

The procedure to follow BEFORE checking the level is as follows:

1. Start with a cold engine - start the engine and leave it running throughout the whole process;

2. Sit in drivers seat and select each gear position in turn, leaving a second or two to take up drive, then go back to P;

3. Now get under the car and carefully undo/remove the level fill plug - if fluid starts to flow, the box has enough oil in it. If there is no flow from the hole, top up until it starts to flow back out continuously, then refit the level/fill plug and you're done.

My advice?

1. Locate the level/fill plug in advance and crack it off slightly - it will make things go easier when you are underneath check the level.

2. Have a suitable tool ready to put more oil in, should it be required. I use a 500ml syringe that you can buy at any quality DIY store.
 
Thanks for the advice mate. Before I do this I decided take your advice and went out and aquired a syringe which I know have. So will try tomorrow night.

Im dubios though that it is the oil as the screaching is loud when I am outside the Disco. And there is no sign of oil what so ever on the ground under the car. Although the diffs look slightly wet in places.

Typical though.. Ive built my own track car.. have done rewires and engine management swaps.. but when it comes to the magic of auto boxes im lost. :mad:
 
Filled the gearbox with oil. It hasnt made any difference. The noise is almost like a high pitched whirring like two cogs whizzing around together. When you take the car out of gear the noise fades instantly. It almost sounds like the starter motor. Infact when turning the engine over the starter has started to continue slightly making a dull noise.

Has anyone ever heard of the starter some how engaging itself when moving an auto into gear in a td5.

Will it hurt if i pull the starter motor relay whilst in gear? I can see from wiring diagrams it looks like the starter realy goes back to the BCU. Dont want to knacker that.
 
cogs are wooden teeth as used in windmills and such,does the gears work all right,unlikely to be starter dog as it wouldnt be effected by gear selection,auto boxes run with epicyclic gear sets and its not unknown for carrier to break up hence checking a capful of oil for metal sheen or filings ,if is easy fix for someone with experience,but dont run vehicle till checked unless something daft other wise more damage will be done ,autos normally suffer with clutch packs burning out (slipping) or one way clutch not grabbing but i have done a few with gear faults
 
The car drives forwards and back. It's just making a high pitched zzzzzzz type noise. There's no noise in neutral or park.
The local automatic transmission people came out today and have gone away to ponder as they too haven't heard this sort of noise before without any noise in neutral.

It literally drove perfectly as usual on Saturday night but come Sunday morning this noise had started. Which makes me suspicious its something electrical. I'll try my local dealership to see if they've heard of any similar cases
 
After a bit of fiddling, it appears that when you put the transfer box into nuetral then select a gear, there is no noise...

Ive tried both high and low ratio and the high pitch gear meshing noise is there when puting it in gear but not when the transfer is in neutral. Is it possible the fault is in the transfer box.
 
so it only does it when driving ,drain oil whip sump off t/box and check teeth on gears q boxes arent as strong as earlier 300 tdi boxes they have a habit of wearing teeth if lubrication poor or worked hard
 
Last edited:
so it only does it when driving ,drain oil whip sump off t/box and check teeth on gears q boxes arent as strong as earlier 300 tdi boxes they have a habit of wearing teeth if lubrication poor or worked hard


To make it clearer, when the car is stationary and the transfer box is in nuetral there is no whirring noise in any gear when I put it into D, R, 1,2,3..

If I put the transfer box iin low or high then select a gear, whether stationary or driving i get the high pitched whirring sound.

Strangely its never been worked har. Its just to take our dogs out, all be it big dogs :D
 
just trying to work out if t/box gears are turning ,but if it makes the noise when staionary with t/box in gear then they arent turning as they would be with t/box in neutral,so not t/box but gearbox with load,so me thinks what i first said
 
just trying to work out if t/box gears are turning ,but if it makes the noise when staionary with t/box in gear then they arent turning as they would be with t/box in neutral,so not t/box but gearbox with load,so me thinks what i first said

Think ing about it how would any of this make a noise. When a car is stationary i didnt think anything was rotating in an Auto box. So how could anything in the transfer box be rotating. Thats whats confusing me.
 
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