car is base model 98 mustang with v6 and 5spd

I always thought it had some sort of transmission trouble since the car fell into my hands (gear whine at 2k+,) and it seems to have exasperated this evening. It now makes it at most-all RPMs. and when I had the car turned off just shifting through the gears, there is a large clicking noise coming from the undercarriage as I move the gear handle up, down, right, left, etc. I can understand the transmission taking a shit and having to replace the car - my new gen 4 Glock is worth more than the car is...

What I don't understand, is that this evening when the problems exaggerated, someone had tried flashed me down with their brights and I had assumed wrongly that they were just being an ass. I don't see how it would have been visible to someone driving behind me, but I had someone watch me drive away, and there wasn't sparks flying. There appears to be a trail/scrape in the parking lot, but nothing is hanging down, and I don't even see any leaks.

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Gearbox or clutch/throw out bearing. Either one is going to be expensive.

MPPD165

With the level of details you've given, and no ability to experience the issue, you're going to get pretty general answers.

I suspect that your problem is that it's a Ford.

Does the whine follow the rpm of the motor in each gear or does it follow the speed of the vehicle?

Does it make the whine as bad in 4th gear?

with a V6.
broken cross member, broken u-joint, broken motor mount, somethings broken. First question is, how long has this issue been like this? 2nd question is How mechanical are you,  do you have the tools & a place to work on it? Then again since you never took the time to trouble shoot the problem, sounds like not to mechanically inclined.

whine follows the RPM of the motor in each gear

If it makes a difference, the gear handle used to rattle at stoplights really bad, but it stopped in the past week or two

Whine following the rpm of the motor means that if you have a problem with the transmission, it is likely on the input side.

Is there any whine if you stick it in neutral and rev it with the clutch out? Often times, an rpm noise like that is an input shaft bearing. It is possible, however, that the gears inside the transmission are fucked.


If the shifter rattled, it may just be an additional problem like worn mounts. If something was physically damaged inside the transmission badly enough to make the shifter rattle, you would likely feel or hear more than whine. Whine is usually associated with worn gears or bearings.

Broken mount.  Causes the stick to lean into the gear( or out off? You can produce whiny sound by trying to force a stick into or out of gear while it is engaged. Ask me how I know) ie stick in contact with the body whilst the tranny/motor 'roll' from torque
Guessing via rattling comment

Definitely Ebola.

W.F.O. When in Doubt Gas it!

Should the person flashing me down just be treated as an isolated incident then? It doesn't seem like a broken mount would explain that. They flashed me down when I would have been in third or fourth,  but I showed my neighbor first and second around the parking lot.

This seems like stating the obvious, but lift the car and make sure everything underneath is solidly attached where it is supposed to be.  Driving around a parking lot is not troubleshooting.  If the undercarriage and suspension and steering components are all good externally, start looking at your internal powertrain/driveline components.

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