Gentle whine in third gear

[hannick]

No it's not my passengers whining about the stunning acceleration

I have just bought my second 9000 Aero (1995). The car has done 66,000 miles and previously spent it's entire life in London.

Driving along in third gear I can hear a quiet whine from the gearlever which is not apparent in any other gear.

As a city car, I suspect it spent a lot of it's time in third gear, so what are the warning signals I need to look for, should I get it attended to now rather than wait for it to get worse ?

Thanks in anticipation of your comments.

Nicko

[hannick]

Just in case you all think I am a bit ignorant, I did read the previous posts of a few days ago from another member where they report a buzzing noise in third under hard acceleration, but my noise is a whine, heard under normal driving conditions.
I now suspect having received no replies to my post that this may be an issue I should have researched a bit deeper in the archives first, so will now do so. Regards to all

[cdcarlsson]

Hi Broken Turbo,

Welcome to Saabscene!

On earlier 9000's the pinion bearings tended to give way usually affecting fourth and fifth gears IIRC. This gave a noise like a whine that varied with road speed. I had it twice on a 9000i so it doesn't have to be a powerful engine to cause it.
However I can't remember anyone mentioning this to be a cause of third gear problems, but if your right about the car spending a lot of time in third then....

Nick.

[StephenA]

Could it just be that 3rd is a bit worn so there is some noise coming from the synchromesh. If is it gear wear then there is not a lot you can do unless you go for a rebuild which is not exactly cheap.

Steve

[mark e]

Partial throttle third gear whine is predominant in many 9000 boxes. I've lived with it for over 2 years now and have had 2 gear-crunching torque induced rebuilds... but neither of them has been related to the whine. One was, however, caused by the failure of the circlip that holds 4th gear in place- the main known weakness of the box. It's all down to tolerancing etc. Sometimes adjusting the preload will help.

[greenphotos]

I've got a similar noise from mine, it's quite fain though. I'm getting my Box rebuilt and a new clutch fitted on Tuesday so I'll let you know if it dissapears!

Mark