Hey guys, I've got an '86 TA with a 5 speed and every now and then I get a weird whine from my tranny. It's even happend in neutral as I'm turning into my driveway. Is the tranny on its way out or maybe just low on fluid?

 

If its happening in neutral, its probably not your trans. rear end maybe.

 

Had a weird episode today. She didn't want to start while I was in a parking lot, "click click click" and then I got it to start, running shitty, and then it cleared up. Coming home, and pulling into the driveway everything starts whining/groaning, I can feel it in the shifter, steering wheel, and floor boards. It almost feels like the starter is partially engaging. I parked it, and then tried starting it a couple of times and something is definately going on with my starter. It's making a clunky noise upon engagement, and then when I let off the key it's making a "schwing" (Wayne's World! Party time! NOT so excellent). So is it possible that this strange noise I've been enjoying so much is the starter occasionally just sliding/kissing into the ring gear?

 

I probably missed it, but how many miles on the car? There could be a list of things. Start simple and work more complex.

Are you throwing any codes? If some emissions sensors (O2 for example) are not running right, that car will throw more bucks than any bronc at any stampede.

If there are no codes, I would suggest you jack the car up, pull off the inspection cover at the bell housing and examine the flywheel to look for missing teeth. Was the starter motor ever changed and if there were shims, they were not re-installed? Or, was the car ever really raced hard? Also check the tranny fluid. Does the tranny shift smooth up and down? Also, is your clutch on its way out and therefore grabbing?

If the flywheel looks fine and the fluid for the tranny is good, and the tranny is good, and the clutch is good, then I would make sure the rear-end is in good shape. If everything so far looks good, then its on to the exhaust and engine......

Good luck and I hope that helps.

 

Not throwing any codes that I'm aware of but I'll check and see I guess. Does OBD1 store codes? My check engine light only comes on during the prestart thing when all of the idiot lights are on. The car has 141k on it, and is a 4barrel engine. I think that's the LG4? I don't know when the starter was changed last, and I'm 99% sure the car was never ever raced, and if it was, it wasn't hard. The guy I bought it from absolutely babied the thing and had it more than 12 years, and almost cried when he handed over the keys. If I get off work early enough tomorrow I'll hoist her up and take a peek at the transmission. The transmission doesn't shift as smoothly as my Corvette does. It comes out of gear fine, but going into the next gear there's a small amount of resistance. Nothing huge, but it's easier to just relax when shifting and kinda let it glide in. If I try and shift fast I end up having to pull it into gear. The clutch does feel alittle weird, when I let the pedal all the way out the last inch and a half or so seems to grab really hard compared to the rest of the travel on the pedal throw. I'll have to dig through the receipts I got with the car, but the clutch was supposedly replaced a few years ago. I dunno what else to say I guess until I start pokin around on it. I appreciate your help. -Karl

 

The symptoms you described in post# 3 sounds like maybe the bendix in your starter might be going south. That's the part that flings the starter gear out into the flywheel teeth, then retracts it back after the motor starts. If the spring gets weak in the bendix or the solenoid, it can cause the starter gear to hang up in the flywheel teeth once the motor starts. Might be time to exchange it for a rebuilt one at the parts store. If you do, make sure they give you one for a stickshift car. The nosecone is smaller on the manual trans starters vs. the automatic ones. As far as the shifting issue goes, it sounds like you've got plenty of pedal travel to disengage the clutch. Maybe try changing the fluid in the trans and see if that helps any.