Whine...Torque Converter, Transmission?

[Nick McCardle]

I'm leaning towards Torque Converter. Transmission only has 250 miles on it, drained some fluid- perfect color, no burned smell...just had a "street/strip" type build from a reputable builder. Torque Converter was picked up used with claimed 750 miles and is a Pat's 3500 L/U. Whine is louder than it seems in video and does not occur in Park or Neutral...volume increases with RPMs. I haven't really been able to diagnose driving issues with it, seems to shift fine, etc...haven't had much chance at making WOT pulls to observe issues. Transmission and Converter have both been in this car for about 250 miles and there was no issue in the first 225 or so

Video with whine sound when shifting into gear.
Video - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

 

[charlief1]

The 700r4 and the 2004r both had an issue with the pump whinning when they came out. Check with Chris or Brian. I think it may be the noise.

 

[quickt]

If you put the car in gear with foot on the brake and you have whine it is the torque converter. If it whines in park and neutral its typically the pump.

 

[charlief1]

Thanks Lonnie.

 

[HeatleyRacing]

Amazing someone else just posted this issue. I took my GN out saturday. It has a stock converter in it.. It has a very LIGHT whine when I power brake the car.. Its something that just started.. I was also wondering if it was in the tranny or converter.. Car shifts hard and pulls good..Does not make any noise at all in park or neutral when revved.. The trans had some some work done to it prior to me buying it.. Im wondering if I should have the trans gone through this week when I pull it to buy a new converter..

 

[Nick McCardle]

Thanks for the advice Lonnie. Looks like I've got a converter to pull...again. :frown:

Better than rebuilding a trans though!

 

[street6]

Wow, I'm having the same issue with a pat's 10" 3200 l/u converter. The converter was installed about 5 months ago, and only had about 500 street miles on it before I went to cecil last month. After about 5 passes (1.62 to 1.71 60') it began whinning, but only so when the car is engaged in gear (fwd & rev but, does not whine in park or neutral). I too was first wondering if it were the tranny or the converter, but leaned toward the converter after noticing that the car was still shifting good. I called Pat's performance converters and was told that if I sent the converter back to them they would go over it to locate the problem. They informed me that it's possible a faulty bearing was installed in it and that if that the converter was bad they would replace it. Atleast they were willing to stand behind their work. This next time around I'm going non-lock up with an Extreme Automatics tranny.

If I were you I would give them a call to see if they will replace your converter if it if found to be faulty. Who knows.....maybe they got a bad batch of bearings. Their number is 610-237-6900 (located in Folsom, PA), good luck and please post the outcome.

 

[Nick McCardle]

If I were you I would give them a call to see if they will replace your converter if it if found to be faulty. Who knows.....maybe they got a bad batch of bearings. Their number is 610-237-6900 (located in Folsom, PA), good luck and please post the outcome.

The only issue is I'm not the original buyer of the converter. I gave them a call yesterday and got pricing for cutting it open and fixing if possible. Fair pricing in my mind, just hoping it's fixable.

 

[street6]

That is understandable....however if they got a bad batch of bearing I would think they would (or maybe should) replace it anyway, even if your not the original owner. If you have the original owners name they may be able to tell you when it was purchased.....good luck.

 

[DetroitMuscle]

That sounds like the converter in my GN. Transmission and converter (2800, lock up unit)) are both from BowTie Overdrive, 2000 miles on it. However, the transmission is working (running and shifting) with no problems and no leaks. It has hit speeds of 125 on the freeway with no problem
So I don't think I'll be doing anything about the whining until some other problem comes up.