Probably a bad pinion bearing. The longer you wait, the more likely you
will need an additional $650 to replace the ring/pinion set.
Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of David Shepherdson
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 1:54 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
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