Whining noise while deaccelerating

[skeeboo]

Hearing a whining noise from my engine after some repairs from a local shop. I basically had my front end redone (new bumper, hood, etc) after an accident. They heard the tranny noise while working on it and brought it to the local Subaru dealership. I have a copy of the report from those guys which says:

"Drive train noise. Whine from trans/bearings after warm and deaccelerating"

Now the repair shop I used says despite that, the car got a "clean bill of health" and the whine might go away after a while. I'm worried that it wont and will get worse.

Any ideas what is causing this? The car sat in the shop yard for a couple months. I'm also in Upstate NY which is technically Winter, despite unusually warmer weather up here and no snow. Could the dip in temp have something to do with it?

The repair shop guys went over the car twice and checked everything. They're not Subaru experts though. I assume the Subaru dealer they outsourced some repair work to (solenoid, oil pan, fluids) probably know but didn't put it into the report, other than just making the note of what it was doing that I pasted above.

Any advice would be appreciated. I did a search on a few sites like this one and came up with a couple solutions like switching to a different type of transmission oil. However I didn't seem to find a solid checklist of things to look into/change.

[badbasser98]

I wouldn't be too worried about it. Mine does the same thing, though varying in noise level from time to time. Its the syncros (sp) in the tranny. Mine also did not do this until I had it serviced at a local dealership (60,000 mile maintenance) now I am at 76,000 miles and its still making that noise and no issues.

[Huffer]

Did they have to remove the transmission/engine when doing the repair work?

Did they drain fluid?

[ah_alex_]

Mine makes a noise similar to straight cut gears only when decelerating at lower speeds. i had the tranny fluid changed and it still does it so i stopped worrying about it. i hope its nothing serious

[badbasser98]

Did they have to remove the transmission/engine when doing the repair work?

Did they drain fluid?
I'll answer that question for me... Yes the block was replaced, but a while before the maintenance interval came up. At that time the trans fluid was flushed and replaced with new fluid as well as the front and rear diff fluid.

[skeeboo]

Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it. I'm hoping it doesn't become a problem, like those of you who hear similar noises and don't have any problems.

To answer one question: The entire engine was replaced with a used lower mileage one. So it's not the same engine I had before (which got killed). The engine feels stronger than the last one. I don't know what they did to it, but good grief. The repair guys kept gushing over it. The manager of the place said someone in his family has a Subaru and it doesn't have the same kick as mine does now. I can't tell if they're legit impressed (with their work/engine) or trying to cover (for their work).

I called the local Subaru dealer today that they outsourced some of the work to. They said it should be ok, but to keep an ear to it. If it gets worse, then it'll be something to be concerned about. It's a bearing or something that's causing it. I think I can live with it (hasn't driven me batty yet), I'm just worried about it getting worse and louder down the line. They also told me to call my insurance company and get them in the loop. Just to tell them that I'm hearing a strange noise and it's not doing anything now, but could be a problem down the line. They might cover it if something blows.

Just for kicks, I'll probably try changing the fluids and using some of the recommended cocktails/brands and see what that does. I assume all the fluids and stuff were checked/replaced. Especially since they brought it to the Subaru dealer to check/fix what they couldn't figure out.

[Huffer]

You have a manual?

In that case, it is probably the throw-out bearing.

These are problematic for some owners, as the installation can mess up their alignment.

You can get upgrade T/O's, that minimise the possibility of mis-alignment.

[AussieDan]

My transmission makes a nasty grinding noise when decelerating in gear, haven't tracked down the cause yet but I'm planning to swap in another transmission in a couple of weeks then tear it down and find out.

I doubt you'll be able to figure out what's wrong with it without pulling it out and taking a look, and expensive proposition if you're not doing it yourself.