Hi guys
I have a whine thats developed at the rear of the car. Sound/pitch increases with speed and is only audible over 30mph. I have changed the diff fluid and sounds exactly the same. Based on other posts im led to believe this would be the output shaft bearings? Is it worth changing out the gearbox fluid or will this have no effect and bearings need changing? I will upload a video of the noise later.
cheers

 

Fluid change isnt going to help this. Mine is a 2001. I had a speed related whiring, but I bought the car like this. I figured it was just a typical sound of the S2000. Made zero sound when at idle, but I got worse until about 30mph and then the volume was constant.

The repair is pretty easy. You just have to removed the shifter and driveshaft, and then loosen the trans mounts. Removed the 8 tail case bolts and the output shaft will be right there.

 

Cheers for the reply, yep same as mine no noise on idle either.
DO I just need to drop the rear of the box then or whole gearbox? I will get a video up too so I can be more certain before taking it to bits.

 

Just the rear end... drop the tranny mount and support the trans with a jack. Tip the motor and trans down and you will have full access to everything. I didnt it on the ground in my garage no problem.

 

have no clue what is being fixed here...look forward to pictures, or update.

 

Revisiting this, im not sure if I want to tackle myself and local garages dont want to touch this for whatever stupid reason...anyway you'll probably say its uneccessary but couldnt I just as well get a replacemnt box? my clutch release bearing is making noise too now

 

The rollers on the bearing have a lot of scoring and even chunks missing in that picture. They should be uper smooth. This type of damage will generally cause a loud whirring noise that increases with the speed of the car (not related to clutch in/out, in gear or out, etc.).

I would only MAYBE attempt doing this if you're sure it's the output shaft bearing and not one of the 2 other secondary shaft bearings (that's my personal opinion). With the output shaft bearing I have seen people be able to use a jaw puller and pull the bearing off of the end of the shaft without having to pull the whole secondary shaft out. They then used brass punches to put the new one back on (so a press wasn't needed).

I watched my mechanic do this repair as he replaced all 3 bearings on the secondary shaft. It was quite a bit more work than I thought it would be but all in all wasn't horrendously complicated.