The culprit is probably the pinion bearing and if it's loud enough to hear
that bad next to a median, it's probably trying to ruin the ring/pinion
itself and cause the shafts to move around and cause other issues...The good
news is it probably won't fail catastrophically but just get worse. Deal
with it as soon as possible, but if it has been going on for 5K, a couple
more won't likely hurt...
If the noise suddenly goes away...Park it. It won't go far.
Daryl of AA Transaxle
Duvall, WA. (Seattle area)
1-877-377-0773 toll free
425-788-4070
aatransaxle.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Shepherdson" <shepherdsond@METRO.DST.OR.US>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 10:53 AM
Subject: Transmission whine

>I would appreciate some feed back on this.  My 1990 Westy transmission
> is whining quite loudly, it started quite quickly about 5000 miles ago
> (500 miles after I purchased it!).  It whines in every gear when power
> is on and more or less goes away when you take your foot off the pedal.
> I assume it's the final drive pinion gear (?).  If I drive uphill at 70
> next to a concrete median divider with the window open its quite an
> earfull (reflected noise).  My question is how long is it likely to go
> before catostrophic failure (or other problems).  Can I wait a few
> thousand miles until it is convenient or should I do something now? Any
> thoughts?
> Thanks,
> David
>