Any ideas on this Loud grinding/growling noise in 5th gear? Any fixes?

[gv550]

Good afternoon everyone, I’m new here and don’t actually own a Spyder, but I have several friends who ride and enjoy them. One is a 2012 RT with electric shift with 30,000 miles that has developed a loud grinding noise in 5th gear. There is no such noise in 4th or 3rd at the same road speeds. The noise diminishes somewhat if I back off the throttle, so it is load dependant. The front pulley and belt have been removed and inspected, all good including the splined output shaft. The owner is hesitant to take it to a dealer, fearing a huge expense and questionable workmanship.
I am a part time motorcycle mechanic and have repaired many bike engines and transmissions but have no experience with the Spyder. My friend has asked me to consider repairing his noisy transmission, so I’m asking here if anyone has heard of this problem and the proper fix.
I have the factory service manual and I have been studying it and the parts diagrams; so far the only explanation I have come up with is a failed needle bearing under the 25 tooth gear on the input shaft. I’m obviously open to any other suggestions and experiences.
The manual lists numerous special tools required to remove the engine and split the cases, has anyone else had this engine apart and got by without the BRP tools?
Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.
Garry

 

[CopperSpyder]

Looks like you stumped us with that problem. Just in 5th gear at same speed as 4th. Noise in 5th but not 4th. I can say if it's in the transmission and you have to take it apart you will have a major project on your hand. There are some videos out there of tear down. Just make sure it is the trans first and not harmonic belt vibration or bearings in the rear pulley or wheel. Good Luck with your research and please let us know what you find out. Wonder about right oil and filter combo and filter installed correctly. So I'll be watching this one and learning. opcorn:

 

[jarrett]

Good afternoon everyone, I’m new here and don’t actually own a Spyder but have several friends that ride and enjoy them. One is a 2012 RT with electric shift with 30,000 miles that has developed a loud grinding noise in 5th gear, there is no such noise in 4th or 3rd at the same road speeds. The noise diminishes somewhat if I back off the throttle so it is load dependant. The front pulley and belt have been removed and inspected, all good including the splined output shaft. The owner is hesitant to take it to a dealer fearing a huge expense and questionable workmanship.
I am a part time motorcycle mechanic and have repaired many bike engines and transmissions but have no experience with the Spyder, my friend has asked me to consider repairing his noisy transmission so I’m asking here if anyone has heard of this problem and the proper fix.
I have the factory service manual and I have been studying it and the parts diagrams, so far the only explanation I have come up with is a failed needle bearing under the 25 tooth gear on the input shaft. I’m obviously open to any other suggestions and experiences.
The manual lists numerous special tools required to remove the engine and split the cases, has anyone else had this engine apart and got by without the BRP tools?
Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.
Garry

Did you figure this out? Mine is doing the same thing.

 

[Gwolf]

Has anyone with that problem changed the oil and then checked for metal flakes or shavings in the oil that was drained out? If you have magnetic plugs, you can check those, and you can be sure the drain pan is clean, and then drag a retrieving magnet around in the bottom of the used oil. Going even farther than just looking, you could send off a sample of the oil to a lab.

If you believe it is in the gears, then look for evidence of misalignment due to bad bearings or some foreign metals that've got into the oil. Metal shavings or flakes in the oil would confirm something is wrong. It would be suspicious if the vehicles had some significant number of miles on them and never had any noticeable shavings in the oil before. Since the noise only occurs in 5th gear, the gearbox would be the number one suspect.

Ps: Often when the manual calls for special tools, some common hand tools can be used or modified to substitute for whatever the manual calls for. They are not going to suggest anything like that in a manual because they would lose a sale, and if someone got hurt using a modified tool, the jury would not consist of shade tree mechanics.