aarrrgghh! after nursing my poor '96 w97k 5 sp tranny through perpetual leak, double clutching, and slipping out of gear for the better part of 25k miles, i went into the garage and pulled the tranny out of my baby. started shopping around and started getting ballpark quotes for a rebuild ranging from $800-2000 depending on parts needed. chose a reccommended tranny shop and the bill is in ---$1024.95. differential bearings are pitted, 3rd gear itself and the slider are toast. now i am officially pi55ed at the crappy transmissions in the max.
just so you know, i never heard ANY gear whine in any gear at any speed. but look at the bright side, i get to spend more money on a clutch and CV joint while i've got it all apart! oh joy.

 

You ever change the fluid??

 

yeah all of it at about 62k. then topping it off every few months as the leak got worse.

 

If it starts to leakin', you take it in for some tweakin'

always save your car while you can. Sounds to me, that that leak, was a sign of something bigger, not just leaking seals......

my 0.02¢

 

If you're competent enough to remove the tranny, then you can do the rebuild yourself. If all you need is to replace bearings, it shouldn't cost you more than a couple hundred. You do need a place to do it, though, not an apartment complex parking lot, and you need to get a FSM. Also a dial indicator for determining differential bearing shim thicknesses.

 

i thought about that but got scared. if part of the problem was too much preload on the bearings like motorvate.ca says, how would i be able to get that right? is it just having the right shims?
the guy doing the rebuild also showed me the worn 3rd gear and slider. yes, the actual gear was worn and lost some of its diamond shape on the teeth. so i had that going for me.

 

for how long did ur gears whine before the tranny blew? mine is whining but i am gonna wait till it dies and get it rebuilt

 

no real gear whine as far as i could ever hear. typical whine in reverse and very mild in 1st. my only symptom was a leak from the driver side axleshaft/tranny seal. had the leak for ~20k before she started slipping out of 3rd. slipping out of gear was the reason for the teardown.

 

ohh ic...my whines in all the gears and Really loud in reverse

 

Mine whined in first 3 times over 3 or 4 days then bam out it went.