Ford Fiesta 1.3 Flight Car

[Fieta 51 plate butler]

All I asked for is advice , I didn't mean to cause a war!! I was wondering if they was am easy fix to this problem or will it cause further damage to the car?!?

I can't see it bring the Speakers tho, because the radio been turned off (dlockers)

I am no engineer in cars and was trying save 0000s on this,

All you who have posted have been very helpful but this as turned in abit of debate ,

[dLockers]

Visibly check all of the drive shafts for anything obvious, torn gaiters etc.

Italian tune up (take it for a spirited drive, it may be rust or some other crud)

Other than that, a high pitched whine isn't really much to go on I'm afraid. If the radio is off, odds are it's not the Speakers - it's just a very common interference problem that describes your exact symptoms.

If you are clutching in and it goes away it could be the flywheel, clutch itself or yes - gearbox. I doubt it though.

It could be that the engine is making the noise under load at specific frequencies.

It could be that the wheel bearings are making when under load, at specific speeds.

There is a million and one things it could be.

[Danny87]

Taking it for an 'Italian' style drive is the last thing Carl wants by the sounds of it, he's worried about doing damage to his car so I don't think he would be all that happy. Plus, it will solve nothing and potentially make it worse.

Wheel bearings - possible, have you got access to a jack? Give the wheels a shake when it's off the ground, if the wheel bearings are particularly bad you'll hear when you turn the hubs.

It's most likely the layshaft or input shaft bearings, these are particularly noisy in these generations of gearboxes Ford uses. If you Google you'll find loads of people with similar issues.

You won't cause any damage on these cars, I have had the same noise on mine since I've bought it. Someone told me it was the clutch release bearing, but he was one of these 'done a few things on his car and thinks he's a mountain of knowledge' sort of people, there's too many of those unfortunately.

If it were the clutch release bearing the noise would be worse when you push down on the clutch, as that's when the clutch release bearing is under pressure.

EDIT: I forgot to post that if you want to check the gearbox oil level there's a plug on the side facing the front of the car. This is worth a try, make sure you're parked on level ground and use an 8mm allen key on the plug. Top up until oil flows out, use the oil Jamie gave details on in one of the first posts. You will find it will either do nothing or quieten the noise down quite a lot. Just one of those things which is worth a try, and is essentially easy peasy!

[dLockers]

lol at fixation on gearbox oil.

[Danny87]

Carl, if you are in any doubt then as dLockers does take it to a mechanic as that way you'll know for sure what the problem is.

[dLockers]

Carl, if you are in any doubt then as dLockers does take it to a mechanic as that way you'll know for sure what the problem is.

lol, love the sly remark. I've probably forgotten more than you know

[Stoney871]

lol, love the sly remark. I've probably forgotten more than you know

Do you have a cat that is particularly blacker than anyone elses?

:P

[Fieta 51 plate butler]

I have found the Allen key opening for the gearbox, maybe I will take this off first to see if owt comes out, also I have notice is the whining noise gets alot more high pitched if I put it into first gear with the clutch pedal down at 20-30mph, so at 15-30 mph with the cutch pedal down 1st gear , really high pitched only down in speed of course because out of gear ratio , 2nd gear pitch at most at 22 mph with speed up or down , 3rd gear only slight noise at the same speeds , 4th gear nothing at all, hope this info helps with my test I taken to get to the bottom of this , thanks Carl

[Danny87]

Hi Carl and thanks for popping back to explain your symptoms in some more detail, great work :) I think we have plenty to go on and my run down of the noise goes this way...

Firstly this is exactly the noise I experience from my Fiesta, lots of Fiesta and Ka owners mention similar sounds/noises from their gearbox because Ford used the same gearbox across a variety of models and for a long time. I believe the gearbox design dates back to the OHV 'Kent' engine used in the Fiesta MK1. Anyway..

I don't think the noise is related to the flywheel or clutch assembly. If it were, then the noise would change relative to the engine RPMs, NOT the gear selected (and speed).

The noise is most probably the layshaft or input shaft. Depending on the gear selected, the speed of the layshaft will change according to the input shaft. It's rather complicated, but simply..(Just examples!!)

1st gear - one rotation of the input shaft is 5 rotations of the layshaft

2nd gear - one rotation of the input shaft is 4 rotations of the layshaft

3rd gear - one rotation of the input shaft is 3 rotations of the layshaft

4th gear - one rotation of the input shaft is 2 rotations of the layshaft

5th gear - one rotation of the input shaft is one rotation of the layshaft

So when you're in the lower gears the layshaft is turning faster relative to the input shaft at 20mph than it would in the higher gears. So any noise from the bearings would be a lot more noticable at these speeds and in certain gears.

That's what I think is going on, now you could replace the gearbox but you would probably find the noise is still there, maybe just quieter. It's honestly the design of these gearboxes, if you Google search "Ford Fiesta Gearbox Noise" you'll see what I mean, some people have spent ££££s on new clutches, flywheels and refurbished gearboxes and much to their dissapointment the noise hasn't gone.

The allen key plug you've found is the top up/level plug. Park your car on level ground (very important) and remove this plug. There's a little thin washer, it should be okay to be reused once. Buy the oil which Jamie kindly listed and top up your gearbox oil, keep going until it leaks out - that's when it's at the correct level. You will probably find the noise is quieter and especially when warm you won't hear it at all, but that's down to the viscosity of the oil being slightly thinner when the gearbox heats up.

I have probably made mistakes as it's been a while since I did my NVQ3 and LGV training! But the basic principle is here and nobody's perfect :D

Best of luck mate!!

Dan

[Fieta 51 plate butler]

thanks danny for the advice, i think your spot on what as gone on with the whining, at least i know the car wont breck down with this, i seen to understand in what your saying, i will re top up and leave it to run like this,

Carl