Whining in 1st

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Shlamden

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97 4.6 Bird
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Anyone ever experience a whining sound in 1st gear? Progressively gets louder as I speed up and instantly goes away when it shifts to 2nd.
 
Manual 1st is loud .. are you talking about 1st in Drive being loud ?
 
This transmission has a "built-in" whine in 1st. I think it has to do with the shape of the gears.

I personally owned two cars with this transmission and rented countless others. All acted identically.

You can even hear it from the outside. In fact, in NYC that characteristic whine of a cab or Town Car pulling away from a stop is a constant occurrence.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
This transmission has a "built-in" whine in 1st. I think it has to do with the shape of the gears.

I personally owned two cars with this transmission and rented countless others. All acted identically.

You can even hear it from the outside. In fact, in NYC that characteristic whine of a cab or Town Car pulling away from a stop is a constant occurrence.
Click to expand...
That makes sense cause its been doing it since day 1 of me having the car but it never bothered me until I took my sound system out and could hear it.
 
It's the gears on the planetary 'chunk'. I noticed one was distinctly louder than another one, but both were in spec; The louder one stayed a particular planetary. It had a single discolored gear, but it didn't seem different other than paler. But I could pick it out by the gear color. Those gears are only splash lubed, so don't ride along long distances in 1st or 2nd. I'd say the noise is wear, but damned if I can measure it.
 
I thought it had to do with gear shape (?).
Gears, i.e., their "teeth", when cut straight make that characteristic whine. Cut curved they are more silent.

www.carthrottle.com

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Straight Cut Gears

You probably know already that they make a racket but what are the pros and cons of straight-cut gears?
www.carthrottle.com www.carthrottle.com

Now I never actually looked at the insides of a 4r70w, so I can't confirm that theory.
 
Those gears are straight cut. If you're going to keep your car, I'd get familiar with the internals. There's a really good writeup by Glacier 99

How to: - 4R70W Transmission Rebuild Diary

Foreward to this Diary: I have only been building transmissions now for about 4 years or so. I do not claim to be a pro, expert or genius about this topic. Yet, I have been wrenching for 30 years now and at one time did work for FORD. (Seems like another life). I have built engines, component...
www.explorerforum.com www.explorerforum.com
He's really good. I use the tips in this thread in my transmission builds.
 
The main difference in the 4r75 and 4r 70 is the main planetary. Look at the thread. Go find a 2002 4r70w from a non police Gran Marquis.
Get it attached to an engine stand, over a 4" deep pan about 3' by 4', that will fit below the engine stand. I think mine was a food service tray, and is white fiberglass. Pull the pan, and let everything land in the tray. Keep up with anything that falls out. You will want a magnet tool to get the bolts out of the fluid. Keep the bolts wet with fluid, They can rust up.
Pull the sensors from the side, and pull the valvebody out. There are some longer bolts, keep track of those.
If you pull the pump bolts, you can use a 8mm bolt and a wrench, with a hammer to pop the pump loose. If it's pointing down into the pan, the entire guts will hit the pan, lol. DONT do that. Pick the pieces UP out of the case, and set aside. a heavy steel autopsy table comes in very handy. :) The blood drains work even better for atf. Hopefully, your atf does not look like clotted blood.
A rebuild consists of taking new rubber, teflon, and steel seals in for the worn out/ hardened/ cracking ones in the transmission. Without contaminating it with lint, dirt, or shaving a corner. The seals need perfect corners or they leak.
Dude shows in his thread how to use the one piece teflon shaft seals. That one item adds the most longevity to a build. All the scarf cut seals were leaking when removed.
I use Raybestos plates, Kolene steels, the spiral retainer, and a stock number of plates in all locations. For race applications, I'd go with a sonnax direct drum, and billet pump gears.
I add the superior kit for the 4r70w that adds some springs in the VB; drill the hole for increased cooler flow.
I use the "Super tuff plate" Which has the >300hp size holes in the plate. Add the sonnax reinforcing plate under the 2-3 accumulator.

If in any case, radiator failure, whatever, if water gets in your transmission, it's wasted. The glues that hold the plates together are water based, and it will waste them quick. You have to replace all the friction plates if that happens.
Get a Mark 8 or dual pattern flexplate,and a small pattern TC from a 2004 mustang auto.
 
All the gears in our trans,including manuals, are straight cut. The only ones on our cars are the diff gear; the pinion and ring gear are hypoid, the word for spiral cut.
 
The manual m5r2 does not have straight cut gears. Unfortunately I know them too well, had to rebuild several of them. That's just one of them I broke...20200615_192428.jpg
 
My bad. They do whine, that's why my mistake.
 
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