149K miles on MY95 2.2 and the 4EAT has developed what I would describe as a low howl coming from the front. At first I thought maybe a noise from the driver's side driveshaft. My local mechanic took a look and said the oil was low in the front differential and upon further inspection said the ATF was higher that it should be and looked contaminated.

His diagnosis is a bad seal between the front dif and transmission that caused the oil to migrate and result in low lubrication and the bearing to wear. Solution is a rebuild of the tranny. For now an ATF flush and refill the gearbox. Next oil change he'll check the levels and see if they have changed any.

 

The noise sounds similar to a rear differential gear whine I had in an old van--it begins at about 35mph and rises in pitch (not volume) as speed increases above 35. Gearing does not matter, 2, 3 and "D" make no difference in this sound. However, the whine/howl goes away when no accelerator is used, only when applying gas, and this can be a very light load on the drive train just to take up any "slack". When coasting off the gas the whine is not there.

 

Has anyone come across this before and verify for me if this could be a seal issue? If so I guess I'm in need of some transmission repair.

 

Or any other possibilities?

 

So far after about 2k miles the noise is still the same, but I am keep the car at shorter trips for now.

I have heard of a few seal issues like this. Unfortunately....it does sound like the only permanent fix is to rebuild the transmission.....or try and find a low mileage used one.

 

For now, I'd just keep an eye on both fluids and make sure they are maintaining at the correct level.