Noisy second on 1922 Cadillac Type 61

[hidden_hunter]

Hey guys,

 

Took the type 61 out for a drive yesterday and noticed that the intermediate gear is much much noisier than low or high gears

 

I’m assuming it will be just down to wear on the gear itself rather than any other part that needs fixing?

[avgwarhawk]

I have found that the gear surfaces will pit. It will make a awful noise. 

 

[Stude Light]

Unless it’s a bad grinding noise, I wouldn’t worry about gear whine too much. The straight cut gears in a sliding gear transmission are typically noisy. Third is a locking collar so the torque path bypasses all the gears in the transmission hence it should be very quiet. That’s the gear you are usually driving in. 
 

Most all the sliding gear transmission cars I’ve driven have one gear noisier than others.

[hidden_hunter]

Thanks for the explanation, makes sense. Doesn’t sound broken per se just noisy

 

 only grinding noise is my bad shifting 🤣

[JV Puleo]

Straight-cut gears work fine but they are noisy. However, they also are easier to engage. Helical gears are quieter but much more complicated to make. When most cars were open the noise wasn't an issue since you could hardly hear it. As closed cars became more common it became more important to quiet them. Cadillac adopted helical transmission gears the year before they adopted syncromesh so those transmissions are miserable to shift (that's what I had years ago).

 

Helical gears for timing were adopted for the same reason. As engines got quieter, the noise became more apparent.

[hidden_hunter]

Mine is early enough to still have straight cut but it’s more the intermediate gear is noisier than low and high

[trimacar]

Also consider the speed at which you shift out of second gear.  These cars were built to run in high gear most of the time, when driving one does not use high revs going through shifts as in a more modern car.  You should be in high gear at 15 mph or sooner, otherwise gears will whine…

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by trimacar (see edit history)

[hidden_hunter]

Yeah would be in the 10-15 mph range when I shift