My gears are screaming at me... HELP!!
02-13-2009, 12:53 AM
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My gears are screaming at me... HELP!! Well... I now have a major problem on my hands. It started 2 weeks ago when I bought the used GM 3.73 gears out of an S-10 to replace my 3.23s in my 99 TA. I got the set installed with a master rebuild kit and all for $275 plus $75 for the gear set and $70 for the kit. The pattern looked perfect according to the shop, but when driving it, on deceleration it had an annoying but constant whine to it and sometimes even a whine at lower speeds. The shop blamed it on being the fact they were used gears. The guy who sold me the gears said it was the way it had been set up. The shop took the cover off it and pulled the pinion out a thousandth of an inch. Again, more whining only this time at lower speeds and whenever you press or let off of the gas. Still they blame the used gears. The guy who sold me the gears refunded my money in full, and the shop said to buy new gears, give them another $225 and they'd make the problem go away. I gave them my car again with a brand new $165 Richmond Excel gearset. This time the whine is literaly 10 times worse, happening in constant spurts and so loud it turns heads while I'm driving (and not in a good way). SO ANNOYING!!! So they leave those gears in there sounding like a metal band saw when the car is in motion but getting REALLY loud when you put on or let off the gas (then it sounds like metal being grinded on a grinder. The shop said that's just how Richmond Excels sound according to the internet and other local shops they called around in the area. What should I do? The let me walk without paying the installation for this new set, but I now have $465 invested in getting a quiet 3.73 gear installed and am worried I'll have to eat this new gear and buy yet another new one and a whole 'nother $300 install and $70 kit (putting me at over $1000 bucks to get a rea gear changed). Any ideas to help fix this would be greatly appreciated. It doesn't sound too safe to drive, although I have to take it on a 400 mile trip this weekend. My friends all think its setup related and that the shims were installed wrong. Super techs, now's your time to shine! HELP! This thinf is literally sending me on a collision course with a nervous breakdown 
Last edited by smgbad; 02-13-2009 at 01:01 AM.
02-13-2009, 08:43 AM
#2
take it back to the shop, or get your money back for the work and the brand new gears you just spent your money on if they cant do it right.
take the other used gear to a shop that can acutally set gears right and then your set.
take the other used gear to a shop that can acutally set gears right and then your set.
02-13-2009, 09:08 AM
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My new 3.73s are a little noisy too. They were quite during the break-in but started making some noise after a trip to the track. I took it back to the shop, which I trust to be one of the best around, and everything looked great. We went ahead and replaced them but the noise came back. BTW, my noise is only at highway speeds and is really not that bad but enough to bug me. I dunno. Are 3.73s just noisy? Sounds like your's are much worse than mine though.
02-13-2009, 09:58 AM
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02-13-2009, 10:09 AM
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The shop won't give me my money back.. That I know. and now the original GM 3.73's I was putting in originally before buying this Richmond has a very slight chip in one of the teeth points on the pinion. Maybe 1/32 of an inch...very small. So I dunno if they are still usable. I just know I have to drive it out of state tonight and honestly I'm scared to death its going to hurt something (or me and my wife). I just can't believe the shop blamed something as horrible sounding as this setup on the fact Richmond gears whine according to what people say online. Anyone know anyone in the Raleigh, NC area who's good with ls1 gear installs? I got a guy who can do it next weekend, but I'm hoping not to have to wait that long if I don't have to. Anyone else think this thing is not shimmed correctly? Or what else could cause it to do this?
HJ99Z... By ticking time bomb, what do you mean? You don't think it'll destroy the rear end completely do you?
HJ99Z... By ticking time bomb, what do you mean? You don't think it'll destroy the rear end completely do you?
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02-13-2009, 10:24 AM
#9
A relatively quiet whine is usually no big deal (probably the install) but what you described sounds like something bad could come of it. Grinding is never good. Buy a 12bolt or a 9in, i wouldn't waste anymore money on the 10bolt IMO
02-13-2009, 10:51 AM
#10
The shop won't give me my money back.. That I know. and now the original GM 3.73's I was putting in originally before buying this Richmond has a very slight chip in one of the teeth points on the pinion. Maybe 1/32 of an inch...very small. So I dunno if they are still usable. I just know I have to drive it out of state tonight and honestly I'm scared to death its going to hurt something (or me and my wife). I just can't believe the shop blamed something as horrible sounding as this setup on the fact Richmond gears whine according to what people say online. Anyone know anyone in the Raleigh, NC area who's good with ls1 gear installs? I got a guy who can do it next weekend, but I'm hoping not to have to wait that long if I don't have to. Anyone else think this thing is not shimmed correctly? Or what else could cause it to do this?
HJ99Z... By ticking time bomb, what do you mean? You don't think it'll destroy the rear end completely do you?
HJ99Z... By ticking time bomb, what do you mean? You don't think it'll destroy the rear end completely do you?
02-13-2009, 11:30 AM
#12
i can vouch for those gears not being whiney. i have that same setup up, richmond 3.73's and its dead nuts perfect. sounds EXACTLY like stock. so your guy just cant install. i had mine done at a place down here, but go into the southern section of the forum and see if there are any shops around that can help you out. I know Tick Performance is in NC, but i cant remember where
02-13-2009, 12:08 PM
#13
Not everyone has that much money to kill. I know I don't.
As for solutions that are set up in the immediate reality.... go back to the place and get the gear fixed. It shouldn't be whining. Or get a refund so you can go to another place and get it fixed. If you settle for what you have, you're only doing a disservice to yourself.
02-15-2009, 11:33 PM
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Took it over 350 miles to the beach and back this weekend. It ran smoothly, but the gear whining is driving me absolutly batsh!t. Its silent when you very first start the car and go about maybe 40 feet, then as you accelerate, it gets constant. Then with it constant at a low volume whine, as soon as you press on the gas or let off the gas it goes into a louder whine for a second or two until you are coasting again. You can even just put a slight amount of pressure on the gas pedal and keep it right there at that sweet spot and the louder whine continues til you leave that spot and it goes back into the quieter but still obnoxiuos constant whine. It also gets a slightly louder and lower pitched whine on low speed deceleration like slowing for a stoplight from 45-50 all the way til you've stopped, or even when you're turning at low speed. Over bumpy areas of the highway, I noticed the whine would go quiet-whine-quiet-whine-quiet-whine-quiet-whine along with the bumpsof the road. And also once while I was going down a section of highway that was at a steeper than normal downward incline the sound went away entirely for a few seconds until we leveled out again. My friend is going to do a reinstall of the new gear this coming weekend. Anyone think it's ruined, or does this sound like a shim or something that can simply be corrected. I'd rather not buy 2 new gears within a month if I can help it.
02-16-2009, 10:08 AM
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any ideas anyone? Think I should buy a new gear so I can have it for this weekend or from the sound of things should the one making all this noise right now be a simple realignment problem?
02-16-2009, 11:29 AM
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how many miles are on this incorrect gear set? After a certain point of wear there will be no making it right as the face of the teeth will be permanently cut. Kinda like a tire that runs out of alignment it keeps wearing bad even if the problem with the car is corrected.
02-16-2009, 12:14 PM
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My Motiv Gears whine also. I have the box it came in and it clearly states some whine is normal. I don't think that this is too annoying though. Good luck though.
02-16-2009, 12:33 PM
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i would definitely have somebody look at it... sounds like the guys that installed yours arent looking to make it right... or find out what's wrong for that matter. get a second opinion. tick performance is in mooresville, about an hour and a half from you i guess. i put richmonds in my 3rd gen, and they whine a little, but i can only tell when i'm listening for it. i could recommend the guy that did my install, but he's in seven lakes... which is about an hour and a half from you, just like tick. good luck bro.
02-16-2009, 12:41 PM
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you said you went from 3.23s to the 3.73s. so i assume this is an automatic car. does the whining start once it shifts into 2nd? like others have said i would definately take it to a shop that specializes in LS cars