Thread: Tranmission noise

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I have a 1942 Ford super deluxe. The stock trans makes a lot of noise in low, but no other gear. is this normal?

Wow! '42-'48 Fat Fendered Ford, a "Time Machine" for me!

This is something I remember. First, is there a repetitive "click"? If so, you probably chipped a tooth and maybe the chip is swimming around in the oil just waiting for a chance to jam a gear, that is not good and the very least you could do would be to drain the oil and see if any metal comes out. If this is just a "rumble" it is probably only a worn bearing and you should be able to rebuild the box with new bearings. As I recall the cluster gear is not cheap, but parts should still be available. I really envy you, I would love to have a '42-'48 fat fender Ford again. I almost bought a '41/'42 Merc convertible (it was the fat fender body like '46-'48 with a longer hood but they said it was a '41, maybe it was really a '42, I don't know Mercs well except that the hood is longer). Anyway the floor was gone and the reason I did not buy it was because the side frame rails were totally rusted away and it was held together by the x-frame. I looked enviously at the picture you posted and even though it is a sedan it really takes me back to old adventures with a '47 convt. The convt. really chattered in reverse, almost "bucking"; does the sedan resist chatter any better? Anyway I am not much help on the trans except to say that I went through three of them in two years and it was always low gear. The best thing to do is get the box out and replace the bearings and whatever gears are worn or chipped. While you are there you have a chance to replace the clutch and the throwout bearing. The throwout bearing can make noise also if it is worn and the noise might go away once you get in high gear. I would drain the oil first and look for metal, but there is probably no way around pulling out the box for examination and repair. Look at it this way, you will end up with a new clutch and throwout bearing at the very least. I would like to know what you find. People today do not realize that it is more difficult to remove a transmission from the closed drive line than with the modern open drive shaft, but there is no way around it, you have to get the box out for inspection and repair.
All of this discussion assumes you have the stock transmission, if that is not so, then this may be the second or third time this year I am wrong, but in any case you could drain the oil and if a piece of a gear tooth comes out of any manual trans that is obviously a major sign of trouble requiring immediate repair.

Good Luck
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I am editing because I can't remember if there is a drain plug on the bottom of the trans? Sorry, if there is only a side fill plug there is no easy to check for metal except to siphon some oil out and look for metal particles. It would seem to me that whether it is a throwout bearing, trans bearings or a chipped tooth the answer is the same in that you have to loosen the rear and pull back the closed drive to remove the transmission for inspection/repair. People who did this over and over got it down to a routine but it is still more work than just disconnecting an open drive shaft.

The is no receptive "click". It is just when it is in motion. It really is not that bad, but enough to concern me. It is a little louder than the granny gear on a Chevy apache. It is the original Tranny. It may be that this tranny just makes this noise in low??? The one thing about the car that I like is that not many 42 fords were made. I will drain it out this weekend and let you know.

Without hearing it in person, I would bet it is just normal gear noise. The old trannys had gear noise especially in the lower gears. If it is a smooth steady sound, I wouldn't worry, If it makes a repeating click or knock then it may have a chipped tooth on a gear. Also, if the noise changes over time, you probably have a problem.

Thanks. It is pretty constant. You being a chevy man... it sounds a little louder than first gear on an M22. I have a 49 ford and it is not that loud. I gues things changed in 49

how about a front input bearing ?