T18a Transmission Squeal

[fjs0001]

Hey there. I have a 77 Cherokee with a 360 and T18a. It's my first car and I've had it for 20 years. I moved last year and drove it 3.5 hours to my new home, it did fantastic! Now it has started making a loud belt squeal type noise after I release the clutch in lower RPMs. It doesn't do it in neutral, or with the clutch in, while I rev the engine.

I'm guessing I'm going to have to pull the transmission, ugh. I swapped the original t15 for the t18a many years ago and that SOB is HEAVY! I'm not looking forward to it. Anybody have suggestions for me to look at before I start tearing into it?

[tgreese]

I presume you checked the oil. You can stick your finger in the fill plug hole and feel the surface of the oil. I would check the transfer case oil too; oil is shared between them with a Borg-Warner 3-speed but not with the 4-speed.

Does it matter what gear you are in? In neutral, with the clutch released and the engine running, the input shaft, cluster, 1-2-3 gears and reverse idler gear are turning, but the main shaft is not. Have you tried putting the transfer case in neutral to see if the noise changes? I would run through the gears with the TC in neutral, and listen. If the noise does not change with the TC in neutral, then it seems the problem must come from the synchronizers or the rear main bearing. The rear main bearing is usually not a problem... typically the front main bearing is the one that fails.

Top comes off after that, but you typically can't see much other than the workings of the shift top. Not a lot you can do with the transmission in the truck, sorry to say.

First post! Welcome from Boston.

[sierrablue]

Obviously what tgreese said is the easiest stuff to check and I would definitely check the oil level first.

I'm just curious if there's any chance that it's the clutch slipping a little bit, from wearing out/deteriorating and starting to go bad. This also leads me to wonder if it's doing it in all the gears or just the one.

[fjs0001]

Well I had time today to crawl underneath the jeep and it didn't take long to see the problem. My driveshaft was rubbing one of my mufflers. I fixed that and then went ahead and changed my transmission oil. No more noise. I'm so happy that I don't have to fool around with removing the transmission.

[Yeller]

It’s nice when you fear the worst and it’s a simple fix

[sierrablue]

Simple fix for the win! Always love it when it's easier than you'd expect lol