Suby Trans whining on decel (with vid), Fixed it...I'm stoopid. Options

[Chris H.]

OK guys, I'm hoping someone knows WTF this is...I bought my 2006 WRX trans from a reputable guy on NASIOC. It only has 66k on it. The 2006 WRX was a 2.5T so more than capable of handling the 3.3L engine. It has a whine only on decel, and ONLY in gears 3-5. It has plenty of trans oil in it, Subaru OEM ($$$), compensating for the angle and missing center diff. I've done a lot of research on bad Subaru transes and when they go out there are a lot of other "bad noises". Terminal noises usually occur all the time, more often on accel than decel. There is NO grinding, ticking, squealing, humming, etc. in this thing. Just the "school bus whine" on decel.

Have a look at this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Xj8GA6BDY


Just to clarify my comments on the video:

1. I ran the test several times and I ONLY got the whine on decel
2. It ONLY whines in gears 3-5 and gets louder with each gear

I was a little wishy-washy on those those things in the vid.

I had one odd thought...could it be the gear selector is slightly off kilter and rubbing something in gears 3-5 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) ?

There were a few threads on NASIOC that said "just ignore it"..hard to do that when it's so loud and I would hate to make it worse if there something wrong with it...but...it's hard to believe there's something too terribly wrong when it shifts well with no grinding, never pops out of gear, hauls ass, etc.

Anyone have thoughts on what it is?

[Chris H.]

Ian did. That wasn't it though I don't think.

Turns out I may not have reinstalled one of the two 4mm adjusting washers which go BEHIND the locking spool. Don't know why I would do that but I did. I'll test it later today but I'm thinking a couple of mm of slack would cause some sliding around and make the gears quite a bit off. Lesson learned: look at the exploded view diagram for your trans before installing your spool, no matter how easy it seems.