First of all, this:

Second: my truck (95 Tacoma 3.4L) has made a somewhat loud whine in first ever since I got it. I assumed it was just the gear. Now It's SPREADING to 2nd and 3rd!!!

can anyone identify what it could be??

symptoms:
no whine while not in gear.
whines in first, second and third.
whine VANISHES in fourth
earlier this month, it whined in first and second, but ONLY when not giving it much gas (maintaining speed, not accel or coasting)
Now whines in all 3 modes (accel, coast, and maintaining speed)
Whine increases in pitch/volume as revs increase
whine LINKED directly to rev speed.


my old mechanic stripped my trans fill plug, so I havent been able to look in there for a while. going to drive around and try and find a place thats open today and get them to heat it up or tack a bolt on there for removal.
clutch is brand new

 

What the heck is that video? I expected a recording of your whine noise. This isnt facespace.
4th gear is direct drive, so I would suspect a countershaft bearing. Of course this is just a guess because your puppet show didn't help any

 

Haha sorry I had to. in my search I saw a thread labeled "mysterious ticking noise" and it made me think of this video.

I will try and drive around and get you some video.

If it was the countershaft bearing, why would it have only been happening in 1st a year ago, 1st and second a couple months ago, and now 1st, second and third?

 

I had the exact same problem in my 84 4runner many years ago. I had the G52 tranny. That bearing noise got worse and worse over time. I finally replaced the tranny with a completely rebuilt G54 from Marlin Crawler. A buddy helped me install it. Cost me $900 + exchange.

If you have the ability, you could remove the tranny and take to a shop to replace that bearing. Not sure how much it would cost. While in there, I would replace all the bearings and synchros.

 

Just a guess. If its the input or output bearing it would be noisy all the time so basically could be any bearing other than those two. If its even a transmission noise

 

Heres a video. It's a little hard to hear, but I can hear it with headphones, especially in 1st.
It's so hard to get a shop to do anything on a weekend. And since its a DD, its tough during the week too. Just want my damn rounded drain plug out!
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OipLh0G1sx4&feature=youtu.be[/YOUTUBE]

 

That video will haunt my dreams for a couple nights.

 

hahahaha I'm glad. which one?

 

Did someone install a supercharger when you weren't looking? HAHA!
If it is transmission noise, I think the front counter shaft bearing is suspect. Its driven by the input shaft which explains why the noise follows engine rpm. Look at the lines in the picture. It shows what connects where in each gear. As you can see, the counter shaft is not used in 4th gear.

 

ahhah well thats what I was hoping. I checked, no SC

OK, ill take a look underneath my T-case as soon as I get my subaru back on the road.

It still seems wierd that it would have started in 1st, and spread to 2nd and 3rd like a disease.

I will also focus on getting the drain plug so I can see if theres any teeth floating around in there.

 

Well, I did a trans oil change and lo & behold, no teeth or bearings.

Bad news is it came out green with a silver lining....
Im assuming that means a bearing somewhere is ground right up and has been silverizing my trans oil.
Can you pull that countershaft bearing without dropping the trans? cuz that would be nice.
Heres a pic:

sorry I had to take it at a funny angle to capture the colors without glare from the flash.

 

Tranny needs to come out. Might be best off pulling the trans and giving it to a specialist. Unless you have the necessary pullers and a press. The factory service manual comes in handy too.

 

yea figured. guess its time to put my subaru on the road..