Howling after 4cyl to 5.0 swap

old_blue

15 Year Member
Nov 3, 2003
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I just finished my swap and took it for atest spin. When the power train was in the GT it ran fine. I left the motor and tranny together and took it out in one piece. Now i go down the road and after about 1 tenth of a mile I get this howling (LOUD) from the transmission tunnel area. I know since it is in that area it cud be anything from the trans to the rear end since the sound just bounces back and forth in there. I did a search and nothing matches. This is the same setup as in the GT, even the rear end is the same and i matched the drive shaft up as it was in the GT. Out of ideas here. PLease help guys!!!
 
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5-spd, does it at like 25 mph but not lower. un-bearable, havent had it faster than that, and it doesnt howl at idle, i dont think it matters which gear either. brand new clutch, t.o. bearing etc. all ran in the GT
 
You say you pulled the tranny and engine together, when you did this you certainly lost some tranny fluid, forgive me, but did you check the tranny fluid level? Without hearing the sound it's hard to make an accurate guess. :shrug:
 
diff doesnt leak unless you open it up or have it upside down, i drained and refill the tranny. I know it is hard to guess on just what i give you but i have no other way. i was thinking it was the rear end, but i have hrd that a driveline will make loud vibrations and now i am thinking this could be it, is there a way i can chk this????
 
tbadair said:
I just finished my swap and took it for atest spin. When the power train was in the GT it ran fine. I left the motor and tranny together and took it out in one piece. Now i go down the road and after about 1 tenth of a mile I get this howling (LOUD) from the transmission tunnel area. I know since it is in that area it cud be anything from the trans to the rear end since the sound just bounces back and forth in there. I did a search and nothing matches. This is the same setup as in the GT, even the rear end is the same and i matched the drive shaft up as it was in the GT. Out of ideas here. PLease help guys!!!

You might want to (carefully) put it on jack stands and get an assistant to slowly run it through the gears and see if you can pinpoint the sound from underneath. Give yourself a second backup to the jack stands if you get underneath it. Use heater hose or something like that as a stethoscope to isolate where the sound is coming from.
 
cant be low trans fluid as I know I used almost 3 quarts to fill it up.... cud it be bad trans fluid?? I had used one that had been already opened....
 
tbadair said:


i'm grasping here, but do you have an aftermarket shifter? If you do, and you set the stops incorrectly, even though the gear engages, it's not totally seated as deeply as it should be. If you do have an aftermarket shifter, try backing the stops off a couple turns, and then see if you have the same problem. Other than that, i'd drain both the trans fluid and diff fluid and look for metal particles. It might seem like a waste of time, but you might uncover something that way. Sometimes its the thing you are 100% is NOT the problem. I swapped a rear for a guy, and put in new control arms and shocks, and he had an intermittant clunk. Pulled my hair out checking everything, and it turned out that two of the four driveshaft bolts were loose, even though i was "sure" that i had them all tight. :bang: Could be you have a similar situation - recheck all the things that you are "sure" are ok just to eliminate them. Good luck - let us know ifyou find anything.