Interior "fan" noise?

[Hyru]

Was hoping someone could point me in the right direction...
Car is a 2000 GTS with 20,000miles.

The stereo is out for repairs, so no music.... So while driving around today I hear a fan like noise coming from where seems to be the gauge pods area... Im not sure if this sound was there before or not because I usually had the radio on... but now with no radio the noise was pretty evident.

It sounds like a fan and the noise somewhat gets louder when the RPM's rise....
But heres a few weird things I noticed...

- I cant hear it at idle
- Cant hear it when stopped and revving the motor
- When I do hear it... and I take my foot off the gas and hit the clutch, the noise appears to disappear... weird, I know.

Again, I may be over paranoid and this noise may be coming from the missing stereo area, but better safe than sorry.

Ideas?

 

[dave6666]

I think it is called a transmission. Some say tranny though. The source of the noise...

 

[Hyru]

Any ideas why it cant be heard when at idle and revving the motor?
Only heard when the car is moving.
If it is the transmission... what could possibly be the problem, or is it normal?

 

[RobZilla]

My opinion is your hearing some noises coming from behind the dash. Probably nothing to worry about, just the normal beast noises but you can call some of the techs to make sure. Tator would be your best bet.

 

[dave6666]

At idle, the transmission is not turning, short of the input shaft in nuetral, or nothing if the clutch is depressed.

When the car is moving, the transmission is turning. When you hit the clutch when the car is moving, you remove the load from the gears.

Have you done a fluid change in the transmission? Due at 15K miles.

 

[Hyru]

Dave,

I bought the vehicle last week and have put maybe 200miles on it. Had 2 owners previous to it... all records I seen showed mainly oil changes. Will do the transmission fluid change just in case.

Any other guesses?

 

[dave6666]

Dave,

I bought the vehicle last week and have put maybe 200miles on it. Had 2 owners previous to it... all records I seen showed mainly oil changes. Will do the transmission fluid change just in case.

Any other guesses?

Other maintenance areas past due at 20K if they have not been done are:

Plugs and plug wires.

Diff fluid.

Brake fluid.

Power steering fluid.

Coolant.

Do not be skimpy on fluids. That list above including the tranny is a couple hundred bucks if using good and/or correct fluids. Also, a good set of plug wires is about $150.

If you have no records, assume they haven't been done.

And congrats on your new car!

 

[Hyru]

thx dave, shes a beaut. In regards to the fan noise, think its worth getting checked at my local dodge? Or probably jurt paranoia?

 

[dave6666]

thx dave, shes a beaut. In regards to the fan noise, think its worth getting checked at my local dodge? Or probably jurt paranoia?

Probably just paranoia. My car makes a lot of noise. And here's another clue in your mystery... If you are used to constantly having the tunes going, you may not be familiar with the "natural" noises of the car. Look at this radio delete time as a get to know you better time.

Another thing you should check pretty soon is your motor mounts. Very common for them to go bad. Upgrading the tranny crossmember and mount is usually good too, regardless of its condition.

Take a look at joining the VCA while examining your Viper cash. Some portions of this web site are members only, and also club events can be a lot of fun. Not just a couple buddies on a Sunday, but ever been on the Interstate with FIFTY other Vipers?!?

 

[Viper Specialty]

The noise you are hearing is likely the transmission gear noise. When the car is in nuetral and the clutch is enguaged [foot off], the input shaft as well as certain gear clutsters are indeed spinning, even though their hubs on the countershaft are not. You are probably hearing the "whirring" noise of these gear sets. When you press the clutch pedal, the clutch disengauges, the gears stop spinning, and the noise stops.

While this noise is probably amplified and resonating inside the dash since there is a hole right now from the radio, I would suggest at a minimum having the trans gear oil lever checked just in case if it is at all excessive, though without hearing it I certainly wouldnt be able to gauge that.