Hey all, great site, has helped me with many problems without even having to post!
After many hours of searching i cant find any info on this problem so here it goes:

I have a 98 A4 2.8, manual trans. About 5 months ago i started to notice that when first gear is engaged, i can hear a moderatly loud whine/grind sound. Imagine letting a piece of metal hit against bicycle spokes while it was turning. Of course the sound is much more ugly sounding that that. there is also a faint whining sound along with it. This sound is def coming from the trans/engine area. It only happens in first gear, and doesnt happen while revving in neutral. The trans shifts fine and the noise hasnt gotten and better/worst in many months. Its loud enough to be heard when the windows are shut, and by ppl outside the car. any help would be great!

 

same problem here! any info?

 

Here is a website with some good info (other than how your tranny works) I have pasted the part where it says "Popular Problem Checks"

Car makes grinding noise while operating or shifting gears

* one of the roller or thrust bearings has failed
* the gear syncro is worn out not forcing the gear stop before it is engaged causing a grinding gear.
* a counter or main shaft bearing has failed causing misalignment of the gears

Also, check these forums out:

https://www.audiforums.com/forum/sho...ssion+grinding
-this forum suggests a bad synchro which I would also agree with, and the same with your case

Definitely a synchro going bad. I don't think this will kill your tranny anytime soon, since mine has been doing this for a year now (no money to fix it yet). But, I'm hoping I'll be fixing it soon here. Also do a search by typing "gear grinding" on the forum, and you will find dozens of pages with people taking about this issue.

You can either let it go as is and see what happens, or buy a used tranny, or fix the problem in the current tranny (a rebuild possibly).

Good luck. I hope this helps : )

 

this is the most common cause of first gear going out. with the car on and clutch down, try going back and forth between first and reverse- it should be easy. turn the car off and try doing it again- is it easier then when you tried with the car on? this is a good indication of warn synchros. if you dont want to pay to have it fixed try flushing your transmission fluid, maybe even twice. that should make it a little smoother atleast. it wont fix it, but it will get rid of the metal shavings in the fluid and help a little bit.

 

It's most likely worn gear teeth. Nothing but replacing the gear or the transmission will fix it. Mine has done it since I got it. Makes the sound in first gear and only first gear and only when your accelerating not at a stand still or under deceleration.