Two weeks ago I bought a '88 L98 IROC and have truly enjoyed the car so far. I have replaced the tranny mount with the one from energy suspension to get rid of the 'clunk' under hard acceleration and I am happy with the results. The last noise/problem that is bothering me is the whine I hear when the car is in drive. If it is in nuetral or park, the sound goes away, but as soon as I put the shifter in one of the drive gears(including reverse) the whine comes on. It sounds like a power steering pump that is low on fluid. I have noticed the sound follows the pitch of the motor and not the speed of the car, i.e., the noise increases as I accelerate and when I let totally off the gas the sound gets quieter regardless of the speed.

Things I have tried:
- new tranny mount(to get rid of possible metal to metal vibration)
- changed filter and filled up with B&M synthetic trick shift

The car still makes the noise.

 

Maybe it's not your tranny. Perhaps you're low on P.S fluid

 

possible the transmission pump alothought if it only happens when in gear.

 

I posted this question on another board I frequent, http://www.streetcarforums.com and someone suggested the pump or converter. My beef with that is that the pump and converter are always going, regardless of what gear it is in. He stated that when the tranny is in a drive gear, the converter and pump are under more pressure, so that could explain the difference. What do you think? I really hope I do not have to tear into this tranny. That will get expensive.

 

That is what I was thinking as well. Netural/park pressures are near nothing, drive they are high and reverse they are at there highest. There for the pump is working it hardest when in drive and reverse. And it is not to hard to remove the transmission is it comes down to it. Had mine out 3 times in less than a 2 month period.

 

if its the pump it really not that hard to fix. and you could through a higher stall a shift kit in it while you got it out