Hello ever helpful H6ers. I have an interesting new noise that I would love your thoughts on.
Background: 2005 3.0r-b, solid kms on the clock (150k), but quite a few upgrades/parts replaced over the years by former owner and then me. Car religiously serviced at S+J and tuned by Kido on one of his Adelaide trips. Gearbox bushes were redone by S+J not that long ago (maybe 12 months).
Anyway, recently out of nowhere I have been hearing a new sound. Ominously, it is associated with the transmission somehow.
Specifically:
1. When just easing the car into first gear, there is a very brief whine similar to the normal sound reverse makes. This is only there occasionally around the 1,500rpm mark for about a second, and doesn't happen every time. My best attempt to reliably reproduce it is to get the car moving forward at a very slow speed (say 3-5km/h), put the clutch in and then slowly ease the car back into gear. Whine is clearly linked to engine RPM, not vehicle speed.
2. Reverse is also slightly whine-ier than it usually is.
3. The above may be slightly more noticeable when turning the steering wheel (although not sure about this, may just be that turning at low speed is typically right in the troublesome rpm range).
4. No sign of this noise in any other gear or at speeds above 'car park' speeds.
5. Definitely not 'normal' 3.0r-b whine, which I know and love. Sound is definitely new.
6. No signs of any actual change in performance. Of course now I am freaking out and imagining that I can feel things being subtly different all the time...
Any thoughts? The car is going in for S+J to have a look at this, but I would really like to have some idea what I'm dealing with before it does.