Howling tranny

[shiftbmw]

What would cause a tranny to howl in only third gear? It just started happening yesterday...trying to figure it out.

The sound is like something with straight cut gears, just much less offensive and quiet. It is noticable in the cabin with closed windows but not with music playing.

[SpecM]

check the fluid level?

[shiftbmw]

check the fluid level?

That is first on my to do list.

[jlevie]

If the noise is only present in third gear, the cause is probably wear on that gear set. Which means that the fix is a replacement of the transmission. That said, a change of the transmission lube to Redline MTL might reduce the noise and allow this transmission to be used a bit longer.

[shiftbmw]

So just to update, I was low on fluid. Found out why too...the tranny damn near sprays fluid out of the output shaft seal from what I can tell. Once I had fresh fluid in there, htis problem made itself readily apparent.