I'm thinking big time tranny problems :cry:

I have always had a little tick or knock in my tranny, it was very slight. I was driving home Thursday night and the little knock turned into a big knock and I have a quiter, much quicker constant tick. Trying to explain it the best I can on here but like I said quick, quiter tick, slower much louder knock. Does it in every gear, and is relative to my speed. It's still shifting smooth but is sounding god awful. So if someone can give me some advice, maybe point me in the direction of another t90, or if you think I can drive on this for a bit longer before it gives up the ghost. It's my daily driver and I dont exactly have the money or time at the moment to deal with this gahhh.

 

Don't junk the tranny just yet. A ticking noise isn't a common noise in a tranny from my experience. A problem in the tranny shows up with a bearing going bad and a subsequent "whirring" sound when you let out the clutch. Shifting problems are reminescent of a problem in the tranny. A ticking sound seems to me to be more like a clutch related issue. If it is the tranny I know Libson Truck Parts in Mpls MN on the 2000 block of Washington Ave. N. has a rebuilt t-90 on the shelf. Talk to Jeff the owner or Tom a sales guy. Can you put the whole Jeep on blocks and run it in gear at idle. Go underneath with a mechanics stethoscope and listen on the tranny, shifter and bellhousing? Any metal in the fluid? Check the bolts holding the tranny and bellhousing in to make sure its not slightly loose and causing the clutch to be misaligned. Good luck.

 

Its more of a knock and all I hear it is through is the shifter. I can even feel it in the shifter. When the Jeep is at idle wether at a stand still or moving at any speed down the road I hear nothing. Only when the tranny is under load does it make any noise.


I will crawl under and check to make sure everything is tightened up well.

 

check the somple things first....U-joints will sometimes make a clicking noise when the needle bearings are going bad or are missing/smashed.

 

Check your t-case. I too had a noise that I thought was the tranny but it turned out the be the intermediate shaft in the d18. I could even feel in the tranny shifter.
The easiest way to check is to remove the t-case back cover and peek in to inspect all the teeth you can see. A broken tooth can be the source of the ticking sound.
Or, you can drop the pan.

 

Broken tooth was all I could picture when trying to put the sound with the image.

 

Go for the cheap things first, check out your u-joints on the rear driveshaft before you tear anything else apart. That's the quickest and easiest thing to check, and a u-joint is more likely to go bad than a gear, IMHO. You might even have a piece of wire wrapped around the driveshaft somewhere that's whacking something, seen that before.

 

My guess is a broken gear tooth, possibly more than one. My T-14 did the same thing after the V8 sheared 2 teeth off the input shaft. Pull the top off the tranny and crank the engine over with the coil wire disconnected. (Don't start it, it'll likely sling gear oil all over.) Look at all the gears to try to find a missing tooth.

 

Taking the cover/shifter off makes it easier to get out too (if you have to take it out). Mine was a missing tooth (someone punched my tranny in the mouth). I would at least pull the top cover and look.

 

Ok, everything underneath looked and felt good. U-Joints didnt seem to have any play and nothing underneath is slapping. Next step will be taking the cover off and checking for missing teeth. The only problem is I dont think I'll be able to get into the shop before this weekend. I know its not the best idea but I need to drive this thing to work everyday. Do you guys think this will grenade on me or do I have a pretty good chance of it hanging in there. I know its probably hard to say but...

 

I wouldn't be too quick to blame the transmission. Noises can be very hard to localize, since the sound will be conducted through the drivetrain to where you are listening.

That said, I'd first make a careful, systematic listening test of every gear combination, speed and load: TC in 2WD, 4WD, and neutral, hubs in, hubs out, in all of the gears and at all engine speeds. Then take the top off of the transmission and look (easy - remove the floor boards). Check the oil levels in trans, TC and axles. Remove the front driveshaft, drive & listen, replace, remove the rear driveshaft, drive & listen, replace. This will possibly eliminate any axle or differential noise.

If you don't find any surprises, then the noise could be from a broken gear in the trans or TC. Remember that gears in the Dana 18 TC spin in both 2WD and 4WD, so if the noise is related to wheel speed, it could just as well be coming from the TC as the trans.

hth

 

BTW unless your Jeep came from the factory with the F134, and was converted to a V6, your transmission is a T-14.

 

If it is broken teeth the more you drive it the better chance if getting the broken tooth to break more teeth and having to buy more gears or a whole tranny. I'd at least pull the cover and try and get the broken teeth out of the bottom of the tranny (if that is your problem).

 

pull the trans drain plug and drain the oil
if broken teeth are present, you'll quickly find them
better to get the broken ones out of there now if you insist on driving the Jeep
no floaters allowed

 

Well the verdict is in, pretty good chip outta second gear. Tempting to just try to buy the parts and rebuild but getting a rebuilt tranny from herm wuld be less of a headache I would think.

 

I'm kinda bringing this back from the dead. I learned the hard way recently to inspect everything that could be the culprit even thought you think you have found the problem. I spent about $300 on a rebuilt t14 only get it installed backed out of the garage and have it pop and grind and jump 10x worse than it did. Got the transfer pulled out and the gears were toothless. Hmm another $200-$300 to have a guy rebuild it for me. Just Empty Every Pocket is right. This past month I have wanted to get rid of this thing and my girlfriend wants me to get rid of it alot more than I do but just thinking of spring, and summer cruising topless makes me wanna stay in the game.