Brief squeal from transmission under load
 

Hi, Just noticed that when on the gas to pass another vechicle there is a brief squeal sound that comes from I think the transmission while under load changing up a gear. Both in sport mode and standard. Sounds like a belt on a pulley then goes away once the gear has changed.

Any idea's where this would be coming from? How to fix?

Many Thanks

The squirrel in the transmission is tired and lets out a complaint. He needs a change.

It may help you to provide which year and model you have if you expect specific advice or feedback...

Yep sure, Its a X5 2001 Oct build 3.0i with steptronic transmission. Only done 84000 km.

I know exactly what your talking about! I have had the same problem since I got my X. I've posted about it before and never found out what it is. I have only found 1 post on here with someone else mentioning this noise

The thing is, is that my tranny is brand spanking new. Less than 5k on it and it still makes the squeal. Actually makes it a little louder now. Whenever I have brought it somewhere or had my friends listen, they all think I'm nuts because they don't hear it. I can't understand how they can't. Its everytime its about to shift from 2 to 3 or 3 to 4. PLEASE let me know if you figure this out. I'm done trying.

Whenever I hear a noise and bring it to the shop they think I'm crazy or something. Thats what happened with my tranny. I was hearing a whining/scraping niose and everyone said it was normal or couldn't hear it. Two or three weeks later my torque converter went and I had a nice $3,400 bill for a rebuild.

i know exactly what you mean...i hear noises and the mechanics think im going mad and hearing things..i get a little squeal when im in park but when i put it into gear the squeal then goes away..its a very vague squeal but my gearbox feels and drives perfect..

I had what may well be a similar noise on my '05 with the 6sp ZF tranny fitted. Only happened under acceleration when changing from 2nd to 3rd and sounded exactly like clutch slip, and only lasted a split second. UK Dealer could not find the problem and no fault codes ever showed. Tranny failed (torque converter failure) at 42k miles and all the clutch packs all had to be changed along with the oil pump and filter. When I described what I'd reported had been happening from new, the Tranny specialist thought it might be one of the clutch packs within the system during the actual gearchange process, but because of the damage caused by the torque converter failure we've never been absolutely certain. It might have been the internal brake system the box uses to match speeds during the change that I was hearing. It sure sounded like clutch slip, but we'll never know.

It's back at the shop at present due to it taking up to 4 seconds to change between 2nd & 3rd following the rebuild and having very rough changes 1st to 4th (2nd & 3rd the likely culprits again). Dunno what's wrong this time though.

I have the same thing on my 03 4.4. There is a high pitched steam being released like noise in Park, Neutral and while changing in b/t all gears.. P-D, D-R, R-D.

I have not noticed the sound during gear changes though... Once I put it in Drive, the noise goes away. My mechanic said its normal and he's seen a lot of 4.4's that have them. Now I'm thinking what if it is torque converter related... Will a fluid change help?

Here is a ZF trans troubleshooting guide that mentions a "Squawk Noise", page 7, and "2-1 Roll Out" tips. The Squawk Noise may be similar to what you are hearing. The 2-1 Rollout is the "Rear end bang" that some X5'ers have reported here. The guide is from Jaguar, but the failure modes and corrective actions may be still apply to our X5 ZF trans.

It suggests that the noise may be due to coolant contaminating the trans oil or "changes to the slippage characteristic of the trans oil".

Good luck!

Could this be described as a "whoomp" noise? I have noticed this sound on acceleration, typically spirited. Almost sounds like a valve in the middle to rear of the vehicle. Have brought it up on dealer visits, but with the usual unable to duplicate. '05 4.8.

Scott