I have an 07 GT with an automatic transmission. It has made a faint whistling/whirring sound from day 1 at low speeds. I asked the service department about it and they said it was normal for a high powered car. The whistling sound is audible up to around 40 mph and most noticeable under light throttle in stop-in-go traffic. When I bought the car back in July the sound was smooth, but now that it’s cold, especially in the morning, the whistling sometimes has harshness. Now I am hearing it at higher speeds under light throttle as well.

Shifting into 3rd while driving between 20 and 40 mph will stop the whistling.
Also, at the higher speeds, deactivating the O/D will stop the sound.

I remember reading somewhere that in the 5R55S, 2nd gear is derived by combining 1st gear with the O/D gear. 3.22 x 0.71 = 2.29. I may be wrong, but it helps to explain why the whistling goes away when 2nd and O/D are bypassed.

Do I have a problem with the transmission or is this normal. I am thinking about installing a supercharger, but this transmission issue concerns me.

Thanks,
Clay

 

Take it back and insist on a replacement transmission. My company remanufactures the 5R55S for Ford. The noise specs call for a rejection of any unit that whines. Force the dealer to let you drive another car. Whine is caused by damage to one of the race bearings. It will get worse over time and will cause a failure. You would be shocked at how many we get from dealers that should have never made it into a vehicle.

 

Thanks Ravenblack67 for the information.

The noise does seem to be louder now. So much so, that at times when
slowing down I mistake it for a distant approaching fire truck or police car.

It still shifts fine, but will that degrade before it fails? What causes the damage to the bearings and can they fail again in the replacement transmission?

Would the replacement be a remanufactured transmission from your company?


Thanks again,
Clay

 

Just curious if you have any updated info...did you get it replaced? Take it back to Ford, etc??

 

If the car is over 12 months or over 12,000 miles you get a reman from us. Ford made a running change to the 05 5R55S to solve the problem. Early failure (less than 100,000 miles) is predicted by the engineers but the major reason for the change was NVH complaints (Noise). The heavy duty truck using the 5R110W (torqshift) has a similar issue.

 

The dealer had their transmission tech look at it. They also called the Ford transmission hot line. The conclusion is that the transmission does not exhibit any abnormal noise at this time. They attribute the sound to normal planetary gear noise. They said I have plenty of warranty time left and to bring it back if it gets louder.

 

I just bought an 07 V6 with 28k miles. The tranny also whines in 1st and 2nd. It's louder when under heavy load. Also noticeable when letting the engine rev when shifting manually.

Originally, Ford service said it was normal planetary gear noise. Supposedly they compared it to another car from their lot. They did all the hotline stuff etc. too.

I went back Friday with the info from Ed to road test a different car with their head transmission guy. We both could hear the planetary gears very faintly.

This morning before work, I brought my car to roadtest for comparison. As I was pulling out of the dealer's driveway, the tech said, "We don't need to road test the car. I can hear it. It's not supposed to sound like that." We went around the block and I let him hear how bad it gets. Including manually shifting at >3k rpm.

When we got back, he told the service advisor to write up a warranty repair for me.

Glad the oldtimer guy checked out the car himself. We talked cars and trannies, and he knew his stuff. Got to hear about his original 67 Mach 1 that he still has. Cool guy. Gonna see if he can be the one that works on my car.

Thanks for all the info, Ed. Very much appreciated.

 

Looks like my folks will be building a transmission for you.

Glad to help.

 

No word from the service department yet. Hoping it all goes well.

Thanks again, Ed.

They are looking at the car for another problem too. I'm getting less than 15mpg combined city/highway. That's even if I'm driving slowly.

I've pumped up the tire pressure, changed out the air and fuel filters. The engine has been running smoothly, and I don't get any check engine lights.

Could that be related to transmission problems?

 

I had and have a similar problem with mine. I took it in and they replaced some differential bearing. After that I started having all sort of weird vibes coming from the rear end. I took it back in and they told me it was my tires and they couldn't replace them under wararnty...thanks Torpica Ford for wasting my time. I took it to another dealer and they fixed it by rotating the drive shaft and installing in the right position. Now, after around 5k miles, the car is whinning again under light load and after deccelerating. It's either in the differential or the tranny. Problem is, that here in Florida you can't find a good dealership that give a hoot about customer service. My car still clunks in the front end at low speeds, and the engine ticks at idle. Just really tired of having to fight with the dealer to make things right...as of now, as soon as the car goes out of warranty I'm trading it in for something else.

 

Mignt be a bad driveshaft?

There was a TSB for 2001-2003 Rangers and Explorers with 4.0 and automatic. The whining sound was traced to forward/reverse planetaries and/or driveshaft. Might be the same for your car.

The transmission guy at the dealership pulled my transmission and opened it. He said the forward and reverse planetary gears showed abnormal wear patterns. He's going to replace those. He's been ordering parts, but the wrong ones keep showing up.

So the planetary(or planetary race bearing) problem hadn't been resolved after the Ranger/Explorer problem?

Is the planetary race bearing part of the forward and reverse planetery assemblies, or is that something that's left in the tranny when the other parts are replaced?

Thanks!

 

Well, I got my car back on Friday. Didn't get there in time to talk to the transmission guy. I'd wanted to find out about the cause of the abnormal wear, and also to ask about the transmission fluid condition and if he found a lot of metal in the pan.

The forward and the low/reverse planetary assemblies were replaced, as was the ring gear, and the screen.

The tranny is quieter when cold, but after it's warmed up, it's pretty much as loud as it was before.

I'll have to take the car back during the week

 

dude i have a v6 and the same thing is happenening to me, get a new tranny, i cant go past 60 without flooring it now

 

Wow Kumar, that sucks.

So yours got worse over time?

How many miles do you have on that tranny?

So does it rev like crazy at 60?

Does is not get past the lower gears?

Or does it get into high gear but slips like crazy?

Thx.