My car makes a schreeching sound (like a dentist drill) when I get in to 5th gear. If I push the clutch in while I’m driving it, the schreeching sound continues. I just had my tires rotated and asked the mechanic to check the wheel bearings. They said they seemed fine and took it for a test drive. They said it could be the transmission. Also, I drive the car 150 miles per day (75 miles each way) and the engine gets hot the day after I fill it up but only on the return trip. This may be a separate issue but I’m wondering if anyone knows what this could be.
The noise MAY be coming from worn drive belts, worn tension pulley or perhaps even from the alternator pulley bearing.
Year and mileage on car?
- Mileage was 179,000 when I bought it a few years ago when the odometer had “frozen.”
You are driving a 25 year old Volvo with probably 300,000 + miles on it that overheats every other day and you are concerned about a squealing noise? That is like the captain of the Titanic asking how to secure the deck chairs so they won’t be washed away when it sinks.
Fair enough. But it’s what I have to drive at the moment (I’m saving for a used MINI or Honda Element). As the Captain of this Titanic, I need to keep this Titanic going for another 6 months, and, unlike the Captain of the Titanic, I am not ignoring all possible signs of jeopardy.
So, as apt as your analogy might be, I’m looking for help, not condemnation. I’ve been surviving for about 3 years with this car by paying attention and saving my money to pay cash for a new(er) car. I hope you can understand my peril.
Are you saying that it is losing antifreeze? If so then why are you losing fluid? Is there a leak? If the fluid is low it will overheat. If no leak and the car is getting hot while moving at highway speeds, thermostat or water pump. If it is sitting in traffic, fan or temp sensor. Screech could be a stuck caliper, but it would seem weird that it was only in fifth gear. If it does not squeal at any time other than that, I would say tranny.
It was losing antifreeze and I had a new water pump put in it. It’s leaking a little bit of power steering fluid but I’m keeping an eye on it as I do all of the fluids.
The screech only happens in 5th gear.
Because it is manual, will I lose 5th gear when the transmission goes out? What will happen when it goes out? Will I still have the other gears?
First you said it was at 60-70 mph. But then you said it was in 5th gear. So is it speed or is it 5th gear?
What if you’re doing 60-70 and temporarily put it in neutral?
What if you’re doing 50 and shift to 5th gear?
It screeches when its in 5th gear. I doubt I could drive in 4th at 60-70 mph. Maybe at 60 mph, but probably not at 70 mph.
If I’m doing 60-70 and press in the clutch, the screeching sound continues but slows down as the car slows down.
If I’m doing 50 and shift into 5th gear, the car does not want to go into 5th gear, particularly if the engine is cold. It sounds as though it stays in 4th gear. If, however, the car is warmed up, it will go into 5th gear at 50 mph.
At 50 the car either goes into 5th or it doesn’t. This is a purely mechanical thing. So what “sounds” like its in 4th? And if its warm and in 5th gear at 50mph does it make any noise?
I’m just trying to get to to figure out whether or not its about the speed of the car or 5th gear.
You can do 70 in 4th gear.
I can put the car into 5th when its cold at 50 mph and it will still sound as if it was in 4th gear. Then, at higher speeds, it will lurch into 5th gear (after I already depressed the button back at 50 mph).
If its warm and in 5th gear at 50 mph, I don’t hear the schreeching.
So, I just took it out for a spin to do 70 in 4th.
It took about 20 minutes to make the schreeching sound in 5th gear. I put it into 4th gear at between 60-70 and the sound still occured. The schreeching tends to come and go, but sometimes it is continuous.
Thanks for your help!
Its in the drive train. Sounds like transmission