[DoctorDex]

There is something wrong with my intermediate shaft that may or may not be linked to this backlash issue.

I recently installed some solid mounts which give the advantage of being able to hear ever little noise the tranny is not supposed to be making. People with healthy tranny's and solid mounts don't complain of hearing these noises, so I know my tranny must be sick.

Here is what happens:

When the car is cold, no noise. Once I put the car through its paces and the tranny is hot, I can hear a metal on metal sound, similar to the sound of a grinding wheel lightly touching metal, which is heard mostly in the lower rpms (<2000 rpm). Above 2000 rpm the sound frequency increases to a point where it is drowned out by engine noise. The sound is most noticeable in 5th gear cruising between 1600 - 2000 rpm. The noise doesn't occur when revving in neutral. The noise is not related to clutch position.

I am not sure what exactly is making the noise, but I have a hunch it might be the fifth gear lightly rubbing on the VCU-planetary case; perhaps because of worn intermediate shaft bearing race on the end cover? Is this possible? When I last had my end cover off, my intermediate shaft bearing race looked as though it had significant wear, but I didn't bother to replace it as it hadn't given me any trouble (to my knowledge).

With regards to the backlash issue, one would think this would cause increased lash because the intermediate shaft would not be pressed up tightly against the input shaft and the gear teeth would not mesh as tightly. Or would this not matter because of the design of the worm gears?