So I've heard it called many things, but I have an Aisin AR-5 transmission, GM RPO MA5, as removed from a 2005 GMC Canyon pickup. I swapped the front throwout bearing support for a Jeep throwout bearing support, and swapped the bell housing to the Dodge Dakota 2.5L bellhousing. This allows me to bolt it directly to the 3.4L Camaro V6 in my S-10 pickup.
The transmission sat with no oil, input shaft down, for about a year while I moved the shifter position forward on the tailshaft case. Absolutely no mods to the gearset, or shift rods were done. I have never opened the main gear case, I've only ever had the tailshaft housing off and the front bearing cover removed. All shifter mods are external to the case.
After installing the transmission, for the first two weeks it was quiet, shifted smooth, except for going into first gear-it felt like I could not quite get the shifter to come over to the side far enough to slip into the gate for first gear. That has since gotten quite a bit better. The third week, I changed the gear oil out from the first fill with GM Synchromesh, to GM Synchromesh. It was the only GL-3 rated gear lube available locally. (says right on the side of the case "USE GL-3 OIL")
Week four, shifting into reverse from a dead stop, and as I'm coming up off the clutch, the most horrible squalling, rusty-bearing, nasty noise comes out of the transmission. I could feel vibration in the shifter, and in the clutch pedal. It did not exhibit any kind of extra pressure to shift into reverse, nor did it appear to bother the truck at all as far as moving. Never did it again that day.
Two days later, it happens again. Now, a week later, it happens at random, in any gear but 5th, and only in this order:
Engine running, truck sitting still.
Push clutch pedal in, clutch disengages-no noise.
Shift into gear. No noise.
Release clutch-most of the time, the noise happens as soon as the throwout bearing touches the clutch fingers.
You'd think, it's the throwout bearing. The new, less than 500 mile throwout bearing. HOWEVER!
It does not do it all the time.
Pushing the clutch pedal again does not always stop the noise...but sometimes it does.
If it has not made the noise that day, you will likey not hear the noise at all during normal driving. But if it DID make that noise when you first started the truck, then there's a 50/50 chance that on a 1-2, 2-3, or 3-4 gear change, you will get that rubbing, bad bearing noise for a split second just as the synchro is spinning up the gear.
I have only heard it do it in 5th gear once. It is by far, the worst in reverse, or if you do a 3-2 downshift with the clutch pedal pressed, and you're coasting down.
The noise sounds *exactly* like if you had a shaft in your hand, and a trans gear that did NOT have a needle bearing to spin on, and you spun the gear on the shaft fast with a flick of your hand. It's that spinning, vibrating, buzzing noise. You know the one.
It's frustrating, to spend the time to get rid of the gravel-box T5 so I could run 8lbs of boost on the truck, just to not be able to run 8lbs of boost on the truck...
Hope someone here can help me with what the noise is. I bought a second transmission, so I can rebuild it...but can't find a rebuild kit that isn't for an R154!
