95 accord dx growling

I have a 95 honda acc. w/ automatic. I am about to rip out the trans.
The problem is a loud growling/scrapping noise coming from the right
side. It is quiet until it picks up speed, and quiet in reverse. The
faster you go, the louder it gets. it also growls when you let off the
throttle. I’m thinking diff, or trans output, or bearing. I found
metal dust on the drain plug, and what little atf I drained out was
burnt. Trans. doesnt slip or leak. Any one know if this is a trans
R&R or can it repaired. Also does any one knows a web site I can get a
blow up diagram of this trans. ?

 

does it quieten up when you put more fluid back in?

before you pull the transmission, check a couple more things. regarding
symptoms, it's normal to have some metal dust on the drain plug magnet,
& you can't fully drain the trans. if there's no evidence of leaking,
you're probably not losing fluid. was the fluid below the mark on the
dipstick? on honda you dip the transmission with the engine *off*. and
if transmissions are too low on fluid, they usually can't retain
sufficient hydraulic pressure to shift or stay in gear, so you'd
definitely notice that.

final checks: look at the drive shafts & wheel bearings. if you had a
driveshaft replaced & the tech pounded the shaft out, the wheel bearing
probably got brinneled & that makes a noise like you describe. also,
check it's not something like a damaged motor mount bottoming metal to
metal under load.

if the above don't fix it, you're going to have to pull the
transmission. regarding checking the diff, the easiest thing to do is
jack one drive wheel off the ground & rotate it back & forth. it's
normal that there be a degree of lash on the rotation, but if you have
too much, say a couple of inches, your final drive pinions may be shot,
but that requires a complete disassembly, so you may be better off
getting a used transmission & just replacing the whole unit.

 

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You always get some filings on the magnet. Without knowing the mileage
of the vehicle, or how often you've changed the tranny fluid, much is
speculation. Are you sure it's not just a motor mount making the noise?

'Curly'

 

Thanx bro. It was very cool for you to respond so quickly. Now that
you mentioned it, it does kind of feel like a wheel (bearing) problem.
Would it be quiet in reverse? How can I know for sure. Are the wheel
bearings a sealed unit? Should I just change the bearing and see if it
goes away?

 

it shouldn't be quiet in reverse, but you can't go as fast in reverse,
so just be mindful of how affected by speed the noise is. if it's
making a scraping noise as well as rumbling, it could well be the brake
disk slopping about against the caliper housing and that could be making
noise in one direction, not the other.

tests for bearing include rocking the wheel [hard] from the top. should
be able to feel some play. there's others you can do with the
driveshaft out of the transmission, [not the hub] but that's more work.

to replace the bearing, you should use a bearing press. i /have/ done
field repairs on this kind of bearing without one, but the effort is
substantial and /way/ out of proportion to giving a few bucks to the guy
[or girl] with the right tool.