Hi All,

My transmission has recently developed a light scraping sound. It is present in all gears, forward & reverse, as well as neutral.

If the truck is stationary, it is only present when the engine is on, clutch is released, and the transmission is in neutral.

On the other hand, if the truck is moving, the only combinations where the noise <u>isn't</u> present is when the engine is off and the transmission is neutral (clutch in or out - it doesn't make the sound either way). See attached chart for breakdown.

I noticed the problem after flushing the transmission fluid. I did this with a new clean transfer pump (did not remove the shifter) and filled until the fluid trickled back out of the fill port. I used Valvoline Mercon V (not the Dex/Merc stuff - see attached photo) as I saw it recommended in a couple other locations. Of course, I was also listening for problems after flushing the fluid, so perhaps it was present before. I can't definitely say either way. I also changed the diff fluid at the same time - but I wouldn't expect this to cause it as the noise can be heard when the truck is stationary - diff not doing anything.

Looking at other threads, this one describes a similar sound (but occurring at different times, as mine is audible in all gears). 5MOD scraping sound in neutral 1st 2nd and 5th The shifter doesn't feel sloppy or loose in any way.

Has anyone had a similar issue? I'm hoping for some direction as to where to look, as well as whether or not it's likely a 'critical' problem. I'm not as familiar with the internals of 'what moves when' in the transmission as I would like, so I'm lost as to where to begin. Thanks for your help!

Haven't come up with anything yet. I picked up some Motorcraft Mercon V. I'll put that in at some point this week and see if it helps at all.

__________________
2011 4x4 V6 ~120k Miles

Mine started making a terrible scraping sound one time. Then at a certain point it wouldn't go into gear at all. Any gear. I bought a clutch kit to replace the clutch and when I dropped the trans it turned out to be the pilot bearing. The bearing cage on the pilot bearing had broken up and was making the scraping sound. In my case it had nothing to do with the trans fluid. It had like 150,000 miles on it at that point.

If the noise is there when the engine is running and foot off the clutch in natural, most likely its the input shaft, or cluster shaft bearing (s). Changing the oil may or may not have caused it, the old oil may have been thicker and kept the noise down, new clean thinner oil maybe brought the noise out.

Thanks guys. Flushing the fluid didn't help a bit. On the bright side, the fluid with only 1k on it still looked pretty decent. I started coming to the same conclusion about bearings after reading some other pages.

The local dealer wasn't able to source an input shaft bearing in a timely manner, so I ended up getting the rebuild kit (w/ sychros) (Timken TRK-247WS) for $200 (still better than the local quotes of $1200 labor + ~450 parts for just the input bearing!). It should be arriving tomorrow mid-day. I'm not sure if the pilot bearing is included - I'll pick one up at a local auto parts store just in case.

Hopefully all goes well this weekend. I'll try to take pictures when I remember, and will update when done. Or, knock on wood, when stuck without a critical part.

-Sean

__________________
2011 4x4 V6 ~120k Miles

So, the last week was interesting. Dropped the transmission 10/30. The input shaft bearing did have a bit of play in it. I replaced all bearings in transmission. Unfortunately, one of the synchro keys for 3rd/4th sprung off into the garage. After a full day of searching through junk for it, I found half of it. Seems it broke on impact. Anyhow, I couldn't seem to order one, and the assembly wasn't readily available. So, I measured the old one and had a new one machined at work. I sent it out to be hardened (for reference, the existing one measured between 35 - 40 HRC depending on location). Finally assembled this past weekend with motorcraft transmission fluid. The transmission feels fantastic, but the noise is still there, completely unchanged. Also, I must have put the 5th gear in backwards (at least, that's what it looks like after the fact from my before/after pictures - will post later). 5th pops out of gear immediately. Looks like I'll be taking it apart to repair my mistake.

Any other suggestions for what the noise could be? I feel better knowing that the bearings are fresh (including pilot bearing) & problem free, but a bit bothered by the noise. Maybe the shift forks? Or perhaps just with everything so clean, the 'normal' noise isn't insulated by gunk? I will admit, I've never driven a stick shift with less than 90k miles on it.

Thanks,
-Sean

__________________
2011 4x4 V6 ~120k Miles