why do our cars whine in reverse?

T

tweety2300

Member
:
2001 mazda protege mp3
I've always wondered this even if I'm going forward with the clutch pushed in and its in reverse it whines. Its so annoying is there a reason or a fix for this? I know almost all 4 cylinder cars do it
 
If I'm correct, our reverse gear is a straight cut gear so it is naturally loud. Unlike the rest of the gears which are helical cut. Just look up straight cut gears on YouTube and you'll see
 
Reverse gears are straight-cut, whereas the forward gears are helical cut. Straight cut is stronger and cheaper, but you get the characteristic gear whine. Helical cut is virtually silent. It's just all about how the teeth make contact as the gears rotate together.

EDIT: dammit, got ninja'd. lol
 
good to know! my gf makes fun of my car when in reverse so now i can tell her to shut it
 
all cars whine in reverse as far as i know... except for maybe the subarus with the cvt belt driven transmissions...
 
I don't think my mustang did but it wasn't the stock trans. And thanks I've always wondered this but why do the whine going forward with the clutch pushed in nothing in the trans should be moving at that point correct?
 
If it's in gear, the transmission guts are turning with the wheels. Clutch pressed in just disengages the transmission from the engine. So, you'll hear that whining anytime the car is moving with the transmission in reverse. Though it's usually more pronounced when there's a load on the transmission.
 
Wouldn't that be more of a squealing than a whine? My old pontiac didn't either I used to make fun of the whine too. Guess it makes me a hipocrit
 
Justin2129 said:
well it's definitely belt squeal; does it squeal when it's going bad? (i'm new to car stuff)
Click to expand...

Oh, if it's squeal as opposed to whine, then the belt needs to be tightened. It was mentioned earlier that there is a constant whine. Usually belts squeal when starting the car and go away after it's been running.
 
True if its a constant squeling it could be something else if a whine I would say possibly the alternator I have a whine but its a vac leak... if its a constant squeling adjust the belt if it just does it on start up and goes away buy some belt conditioner or a new belt if its cracked
 
Now to get back on topic why don't the automatics whine? Cause my old pontiac and mustang both were and didn't whine but my friedns 94 mustang whined all the time even through 1st-5th. Is it only a manual thing? My moms pontiac vibe doesn't whine either unless you get down on it and that's just the transfercase (awd)
 
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