Grinding in gear

[basement]

I was riding in the challenger with my wife driving when I finally heard the noise she has been complaining about. With the clutch pedal all the way to the floor and the tranny in gear there was a howling/grinding noise coming from the transmission area, not everytime but about 50%. And if she pulled the shifter out of gear and into neutral  with the clutch still pushed in the noise went away. I was all set to drop the tranny and replace the throwout bearing but now I don't know. I would think if it was a failing throwout bearing the noise would always be present when the clutch was pushed in whether it was in gear or not???

[basement]

Consulted my local mopar guru and it sounded like an output shaft bearing in the tranny. He reasoning was that the sound only occurrs when the car is moving, basically when the drive shaft is rotating. Any thoughts.

[tactransman]

How can the output shaft be turning if the clutch is pressed to the floor? Do you mean push the clutch to the floor while your coasting down the road?

[basement]

Yes, the car is rolling to a stop.

[moper]

Nope. My money's on bearings and/or the countergear and shaft.When the synchro is locked into a gear, the tension from the oil is enought to spin the geartrain, and the input shaft isnt coupled to the crnak by the clutch. Teh output bearing would more than likely make noise 100% of the time. It wouldnt go away. The countershaft/needle bearings will be noisey when not loaded by torque.

[ntstlgl1970]

Is the trans full of oil? That would be a good place to start. If it's intermittent that's pretty weird. Is this the only noise the trans makes? Does it make a difference if the car is cold (first started in the morning) or after it has been driven a while?

[basement]

Yes, the tranny is full of pretty new fluid. Infact drained it last night and it is clean. It seems to be intermittent, or I just haven't figured out exactly how to recreate at it. And the only other symptom is when the car is first driven it's alittle hard to shift into 2nd, but there's no grinding or other weirdness. I'm fix'n to pull the tranny for a possible rebuild (still debating to try it myself so if anyone has reference material for 4-speed manuals, please hook me up) and while it's out I'll replace the throwout and pilot bearing.

[Chryco Psycho]

I am not sure where your problem is but the factory service manual has instructions on rebuilding & Passon has every piece

[JayBee]

I had the same problem with my car last summer. Mind you it's an automatic but I heard an awful grinding noise that would go away when I put it in neutral and coasted. At my friends shop one guy sat in the car jacked up and running while the other was underneath listening, in gear and neutral. They found that it was the output shaft bearing.

[moper]

Difficulties in and out of gears is usually just wear. If the wear is the blocking rings (sncyro rings) then that will go away when it's rebuilt. If it is a combination of rings and gear itself, it get's expensive fast.