Driveline noise in 1st gear

[vintage]

I recently purchased a '96 2dr coupe (my first vette) with the LT4 engine and 6spd transmission. It seems to make a "funny" noise as I accelerate in first gear (in crescendo with rpms). It seems to have lots of power and smoothly accelerates. Doesn't feel like the engine is hesitating or missing. Can anyone point me in the right direction:

U-joints?
transmission?
Clutch?
Engine?

Thanks! I already love this car!

 

[69MyWay]

vingage,

Is it a whinning kind of gear turning noise? If so, that is normal. The way the gears are cut in a ZF six, they are noisy by nature. The old fine spline muncie four speeds are the same way.

In fact, the entire ZF trans is a noisy son of a gun. To help control this they installed the dual mass flywheel in the 89 to 96 models. This dampens the engine action to give you a smoother transistion on the gears.

So, if you hear some clanking, and a 1st hear whine, no big worries. However, in the meantime it would not hurt to get the trans serviced. Make 100% sure that it is serviced with only the G.M. recommended 5W-30 special gear oil.

You could put 80W-90 or GL 4 or 5 in there, and make it near silent. However, it will make it difficult to shift in cold conditions, and accelerate wear on the synchros.

 

[David-F]

The fluid you need is P/N 12345349 Synchromesh Tranmission Fluid you'll need 3 quarts. It would be a goon thing to change it anyway, but it is a noisey trans but real strong.

David Fulcher