Transmission whine?

[ST91]

Greetings,

I bought a 2014 fiesta ST a few weeks ago but I've been hearing a high pitched whine on acceleration and cruising at higher speeds. Not really noticed as much at lower speeds but very noticeable past 50mph and when cruising on the motorway.

The dealership are not convinced there's any issues. Anyone else know what is causing this or how to fix it or if there's even a problem to fix? At the very least I find this noise to be annoying and not a 'normal characteristic'.

I took a video recording of it earlier, see attached.

 

[CSM]

Greetings,

I bought a 2014 fiesta ST a few weeks ago but I've been hearing a high pitched whine on acceleration and cruising at higher speeds. Not really noticed as much at lower speeds but very noticeable past 50mph and when cruising on the motorway.

The dealership are not convinced there's any issues. Anyone else know what is causing this or how to fix it or if there's even a problem to fix? At the very least I find this noise to be annoying and not a 'normal characteristic'.

I took a video recording of it earlier, see attached.

That's normal. My car has done it since new. Hell I even had to replace the transmission last year and I bought a brand new one from ford - it still does it.

Also if you have an aftermarket motor mount it makes it a little worse IMO

 

[ST91]

I've heard a lot of people say it's the output shaft bearing and replacing the transmission fixes this issue. But then it seems strange you still had the noise with a brand new transmission. My car did have an aftermarket rear motor mount but the dealer changed it back to stock for me because of the NVH I was complaining about.

Hard to know for sure what's going on, but I am also getting some crunching when upshifting to second gear. I've been to another garage who offered to run diagnostics to pinpoint the source of the sound. I may just pay for that to give me more confidence that there's an actual issue before going back to the dealer.

 

[ronniec687]

I've heard a lot of people say it's the output shaft bearing and replacing the transmission fixes this issue. But then it seems strange you still had the noise with a brand new transmission. My car did have an aftermarket rear motor mount but the dealer changed it back to stock for me because of the NVH I was complaining about.

Hard to know for sure what's going on, but I am also getting some crunching when upshifting to second gear. I've been to another garage who offered to run diagnostics to pinpoint the source of the sound. I may just pay for that to give me more confidence that there's an actual issue before going back to the dealer.

Could be low on fluid as well. These are known for that from the factory. I drained and refilled my transmission with 2 quarts of Syncroshift 2 and it was a night and day difference as far as smooth shifts go. I highly recommend doing this.

 

[ST91]

Could be low on fluid as well. These are known for that from the factory. I drained and refilled my transmission with 2 quarts of Syncroshift 2 and it was a night and day difference as far as smooth shifts go. I highly recommend doing this.

Yeah I'd heard about this. So I did drain and replace the transmission fluid a few days ago. About 1.6-1.7 liters came out and I refilled with 2 liters. I think shifting has become a bit smoother overall but the whine noise still persists.

 

[CSM]

Yeah I'd heard about this. So I did drain and replace the transmission fluid a few days ago. About 1.6-1.7 liters came out and I refilled with 2 liters. I think shifting has become a bit smoother overall but the whine noise still persists.

I think it is just normal transmission whine in 5th and 6th gear. Both of my transmissions have done it, two of my other friends Fiestas have done it, etc. If it were me I wouldn't worry about it that much

 

[Jabbit]

Get an MBRP exhaust. You won't worry about transmission noise or any other noises for that matter.

 

[vivix]

mine whines a little under load. did it before and after the trans was rebuilt by ford. the crunching into second could be syncros going out. youve already done fluid so id suggest looking up how to do a cable adjustment, it may help

 

[foodtruck]

Mine is at 60k miles and sounds exactly like that since day 1, in 5th and 6th gears. It may have gotten a _tiny_ bit more pronounced over its life but I may or may not be imagining it.

 

[ST91]

Hm yeah, it seems a lot of people say it's normal, but then others say they had a transmission replaced or something else repaired and it went away. And with my second gear upshifts feeling crunchy and the gearbox sounding a bit clunky in general, I'm wondering if these are signs of a worn transmission. I've got the car booked in with the dealer next week for an inspection. Guess I'll see what their assessment is.

 

[atlantaM3]

Get an MBRP exhaust. You won't worry about transmission noise or any other noises for that matter.

WHAT????

 

[foodtruck]

Hm yeah, it seems a lot of people say it's normal, but then others say they had a transmission replaced or something else repaired and it went away. And with my second gear upshifts feeling crunchy and the gearbox sounding a bit clunky in general, I'm wondering if these are signs of a worn transmission. I've got the car booked in with the dealer next week for an inspection. Guess I'll see what their assessment is.

As a disclaimer, I'm one of those people who freak out about every noise and can't relax until I understand what's causing it. What makes it difficult is when someone reads "it whined but then it stopped after repair", there's no way to know how bad it actually sounded before and whether "stopped" even means that it actually stopped or whether the whining subsided to the point where its not registered. I have a feeling that a big portion of those reports featured more actual whining than yours.

My gearbox is clunky too, and it became even clunkier when Quaife went in, but it drives fine. I think some amount of crunch is okay; I've recently driven an STI and that box too had a tiny bit of crunch as the stick moved in place, but not in a bad way, it just felt tactile. I had a actual crunch crunch when putting a Fiat 500 in reverse gear, haha, that was a cringe experience where it felt like im hurting something.

So yeah, an inspection certainly wont hurt, but don't be dismayed if they tell you they cant find anything wrong with it, chances are the gearbox is fine for many miles to come.

 

[jtsimaras]

Is this Normal to I can see a gear?

 

[M-Sport fan]

That's the flywheel's starter gear ring.

I am guessing that cutout in the case/bell housing is for inspection of the starter ring gear's teeth.

 

[jtsimaras]

That's the flywheel's starter gear ring.

I am guessing that cutout in the case/bell housing is for inspection of the starter ring gear's teeth.

Thanks for quick reply