What would cause an auto tranny to whine in first gear?
 

Hey all,

A buddy and I just replaced the automatic transmission (4R70W) in my '96 GT. We made sure everything was hooked back up and there was plenty of fluid in the tranny, but when we started it up it has a slight whine at idle. We checked the fluid again and it was still good. We then took it for a test drive around the block and it only whines through first gear....as soon as second hits (and it hits hard ) the whine stops instantly. The guy I bought it from supposedly bulletproofed it. It was rebuilt using Borg Warner friction plates, new steel plates, larger direct clutch pack (8 vs. stock 6 friction disks), replaced roller clutch with mechanical diode, Fairbanks Stage 2 Shift kit, Raybestos Kevlar HD Overdrive band, larger OD Servo. Other than the whine everything seems to work perfectly so far. My question is, could it be one of the components used in the build up or something else?

Thanks a bunch and sorry this was so long

Bennett

i have never heard of a auto whining it could be the converter but only in first has got me stumped wish i could help

I should have said in my original post that we tried it with two different converters....it whined both times.

I have 3 cars with 4R70W's backing up 4.6 2V's in the driveway and they all whine to a certain extent in 1st gear. Its more pronounced if you are manually holding the trans in 1st, and get past 2K rpms. See if you can drive a stock 4R70W car and then compare that whine to the new trans.
Check out www.mtcforum.com and ask they question over there, One of the engineers who designed/built the 4R70W, and who is now an engineer at Roush Racing posts over there. His name is Jerry and he should be able to help you out.

I didn't know Jerry was an engineer for Roush. Isn't also one of the guys in charge of Fordchip?