Transmission whine

[mmkkpro]

Howdy guys, I GOT TAGS AND INSURANCE TODAY!!!!!!
I have a question about the transmission. It whines in 1st,2nd,3rd, no noise at idle and it shifts like butter and easy to get into reverse. It sounded like a racing trans with straight cut gears.
I actually get to drive her now for real, I turned the full power key on and got in it and it screams, some of you guys may remember the sound a q-jet carb would make when you flipped the breather cover over, it sounds similar to that, like she is eating a lot of air, feels and sounds very good. I'm very excited to drive this old girl after so much work. Thanks. :dancing

[Ccmano]

The 90-94 Black Tag ZF transmissions do have a bit of whine or even a growl in the lower rpm ranges under load. The later Blue Tag transmissions which were phased in, in1994, had changes to the cut of the gears to reduce this tendency. Unless there is something obvious going on like low trans fluid I wouldn’t be too concerned. If it concerns you find another ZF equipped Corvette of similar vintage and drive it for comparison.
H
:cheers:

[mmkkpro]

Hey guys, I checked the fluid,clean and full. Here are the tags on the side, one says remanufactured for General Motors.

[Ccmano]

Hey guys, I checked the fluid,clean and full. Here are the tags on the side, one says remanufactured for General Motors.

That’s a Black tag, more likely to whine as stated above.
H
:cheers:

[Ccmano]

Hey guys, I checked the fluid,clean and full. Here are the tags on the side, one says remanufactured for General Motors.

Boy, that is one corroded trans case. Where has that car been?
H
:cheers:

[mmkkpro]

It's been in South Carolina it's whole life.
Upon further investigation I'm thinking it's the rear gear. In gear on the gas noise is low, off the gas in gear it whines(pretty bad too). Driving it with my head out the window sounds like it's coming from the back. I don't think it would be a rear axle bearing because it would do it coasting in neutral. Will keep you guys posted, may be a 4:10 gear in my future. Thanks for the reply much appreciated.

[DRM500RUBYZR-1]

Dollars to Donuts you are correct.
Certainly sounds like the rear differential.
Might likely means that a previous owner already has changed the ring and pinion.
Usually, absent damage, they are quiet from the factory.
Mine whines and it was installed by DRM, so it is likely done correctly.
They whine.
I have grown so accustomed to it, I actually enjoy it now.
Enjoy your ZR-1!
:cheers:
Marty

[WARP TEN]

It's been in South Carolina it's whole life.

Agree, a lot of corrosion. Where could that have come from? Parked on South Market Street in Charleston at high tide?:) Good luck on finding out what the noise is. I am with Marty on this one---more likely the rear end than the trans, especially if it has been changed. --Bob

[viper107]

letting off the gas with a whine is a too tight set up!! accelerating and getting a whine is a loose set up! it isnt right

[Jagdpanzer]

Knock on wood all Viper 4.10s I’ve set up none have reported to be whiners.
When I installed the Eaton TrueTrac diff a while back I let Tom talk me into trying out a set of 4.09 gears made by US he thought highly of.
set up was perfect but they whined to much for me in both lite accel and during coasting. This winter switched to later style Viper 4:10s with 7/16” ring gear bolts.


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[ZWILD1]

My first 91 ZR1 had 4.10 gears and it was quiet. Now as to that stupid Valet key you should by pass it so you have full power all the time. Marc Haibeck recommends driving with the key in full power all the time. You can get carbon build up on the secondary valves as they are not getting fuel over them. He also recommends that you drive so you can have the secondary system open and working. Read this and other articles at ZR1 Specialist . Lots of good info.

http://zr1specialist.com/HAT%20Web/articles/Running%20the%20Secondaries.pdf

[mmkkpro]

:cheers:Good morning, update on possible differential noise. I changed the fluid last night, used Mobile synthetic for limited slip, just got done driving her 15 miles or so and it quieted down about 80% I'd say. Still some noise but I think that may be the tranny. The old oil was nasty. Used a hand pump from Harbor Freight, worked well.
Also I was having a blue smoke issue with engine hot, I suspected MM oil that was put in the cylinders for storage had seeped into exhaust. I removed the complete exhaust system and happy to report no smoke at all now. I stood the exhaust up tail pipes down against the wall and oil is draining out.
Next I decided to test secondaries, got the car nice and hot, switched valet to full power, from a roll it stumbled a bit the first time so I tried again and it seemed to work well, ran her up to 6500 rpm, and it felt good and sounded awesome.
Thanks for all the help, I still have lots to do but have made much progress thanks to you guys, time to go drive this bad boy.

[WARP TEN]

:cheers:Good morning, update on possible differential noise. I changed the fluid last night, used Mobile synthetic for limited slip, just got done driving her 15 miles or so and it quieted down about 80% I'd say. Still some noise but I think that may be the tranny. The old oil was nasty. Used a hand pump from Harbor Freight, worked well.
Also I was having a blue smoke issue with engine hot, I suspected MM oil that was put in the cylinders for storage had seeped into exhaust. I removed the complete exhaust system and happy to report no smoke at all now. I stood the exhaust up tail pipes down against the wall and oil is draining out.
Next I decided to test secondaries, got the car nice and hot, switched valet to full power, from a roll it stumbled a bit the first time so I tried again and it seemed to work well, ran her up to 6500 rpm, and it felt good and sounded awesome.
Thanks for all the help, I still have lots to do but have made much progress thanks to you guys, time to go drive this bad boy.

Congratulations! Sounds like you've got it figured out and you can go out and enjoy it. Stick with this forum for the best of advice as you go forward. --Bob