Whining noise while driving... sounds like the gearbox. Thoughts??

[Dscott]

Hi All,

This is my first VW, and i am bit concerned about the following..

While driving in 1st,2nd,3rd,4th there is this whining noise that seems to come from the gearbox (i believe it is the gearbox) I believe it is more noticable while in 4th... It can still be heard even if i turn the radio up....

I still have warranty however, i've had a my car revo'd for about a month, the same time the car was serviced. 30,000kms.

Anyone experianced this before? Is this someone the service/warranty department should look into?

From my experiance with other cars, gearboxs can make a whine while operating as normal... Am i right, could this be just the thrust bearing noise?


Thanks!


Concerned Dave.

[Hilal]

Sounds like a differential/transmission issue. Possible bearing on its way out.

Take it in for warranty, its definitely not normal.

[insanekiwi]

Hi Dave,

I had a whiny gearbox since I had it from 19000km. It's done almost 50000km. I have REVOed it since I got it. The whine is worst from 4th gear between 50 to 60km/h at light throttle (only light throttle) and this disappears once at 60km/hr above or if I am in different gear. This apparently varies - and I also tested a brand new GTI done 600km, and it had a same very faint high pitch whine / hum (but this was much quieter). As long as the foot is down, or out of that speed range - the gear hum/whine is gone.

I have changed my clutch / flywheel / bearing - and that did not fix it (it was done to make it go fast and grip better).
I have also changed the gearbox oil to Redline MTL / MT-90. No real change in noise. It's not temperature dependent.

That 4th gear hum/whine disappears in high RPM - doesn't get louder or increases in frequency.

VW techs - all normal within limit. Likely harmonics. Don't worry about it.
VW specialist I go to - don't worry too much. Some do, some don't.
Gearbox specialist - likely crown wheel bearing? common on VWs - difficult to fix, and don't get concerned unless getting louder.

Well... the car goes well and handling its 145-150kw at wheels very well. I do plan to get LSD at some point (only if I can really figure out whether it's 113 or 114mm...) and will look through the box just to double check everything.

The gearbox oil has always been clean and changed every 15000km. It shifts very smoothly at any gear at any rpm.

Is this similar to you?

[Servo]

I find that there's whining around 1600rpm and 2100 rpm in certain gears. I went to the VW guys here and they said it's normal and not to worry about it. I have to admit it's one of the VW's weakpoints and it did annoy me at first but I learnt to live with it.

[Dscott]

Very informative Insanekiwi. Yes my problem is consistent to what you're experiancing.

Its realy only between 50kms-70ish. It hasnt gotten any louder.

D

[insanekiwi]

Your welcome Dave. AT least I heard that the gearbox on our Polos are stronger than MK IV Golf units, so as long as the noise is not getting louder with revs / not popping out of gear / crunches between shifts - and have similar mechanical high pitch hum (it does sound like harmonics..) or whine - we should be okay.

I have to agree it does annoy the hell out of me from time to time, and I tend to notice it less when the windows are down. Most annoying with radio off / windows up / no fan going. I tend to up shift to 5th gear quickly by 50ish so it annoys me less.

This is worse because our speed limit is at 50km/h and we will likely be cruising on 4th gear with light throttle to coasting most of the time. If our speed limit was around 70km/h most of the time - we probably won't even notice this.

By the way mine was built in late 2005 (early models) and was on road Feb 06. No recall on this one.

[Dscott]

cheers, yeah it is damn annoying! Umm mine was built 08, so no inconsistencies there...

[philthy]

Mine has a bit of a whine as described by IP. I changed to redline oil too and that quietened it down a fair bit in my case.. Still have the light throttle 4th gear one though. Doesn't really bother me.

[Dscott]

yes, it is very evident in 4th gear, during light throttle.

D

[Gazzaco]

From my experience, if its whining in all gears, and gets louder as you go faster, it's probably the wife !!!

[Dscott]

haha so true. Also good to see a prodominately v8 man switched to a GTI =)

Or the GF!

D

[Jmac]

Mine has a bit of a whine as described by IP. I changed to redline oil too and that quietened it down a fair bit in my case.. Still have the light throttle 4th gear one though. Doesn't really bother me.

yeah sounds right, Thats the reason i plug Redline MTl for these trannies, CAN reduce the noise, not a permenant fix, as far as im concerned Redline is a toolbox in a can for many reasons, also helps with the crappy shift changes ive used it for 02a, 02J and 02R for poor shifting but at the same time the frictional purposes did reduce the whine for thw win, (reduced) whine should be a bonus. As you have already read it is common but ive suggested Redline with the chance it reduces the noise and in most cases it does, otherwise VW will continue to tell you its normal.
The story will continue im afraid, just to add ive worked on well ive forget how many of these variants, i havent seen a Polo lunch yet due to the whine, but have one in my shed that was empty due to being driven empty after a diff pin decided to go out to lunch. Hmm sounds famliar, im sure i posted the same problem back in 1998.
Jmac

[insanekiwi]

Yeah I do agree, I did like Redline better than VW oil. The shift is great.

Jmac, is there anyway to tell whether your diff pin is about to fail? Any signs? Also, if I decide to go down the route of getting LSD installed - is there anyway you can tell from production date, or VIN, whether I will have 113mm vs. 114mm so I can order the correct one. Thought I might ask you from your experience. Mine was early built likely late Nov/Dec 2005. Was on road first week of Feb 2006.

Thanks.