Gears play an important role in the function of modern automobiles. Specialty gears within the drivetrain are responsible for helping the transmission communicate with the drivetrain itself.

You probably don't give much thought to your car's gears, as these gears normally operate smoothly and quietly. When you have a gear that suddenly starts creating excessive noise, this can be cause for concern. A bit of investigating will help you determine the cause of your gear noise.

1. You recently upgraded your gears.

There are different gears for different applications. Drivers who use their vehicles as commuter cars likely have street gears installed on their drivetrain. These gears are designed for maximum efficiency. If you are in the process of upgrading your vehicle to maximize its performance, you will likely replace the street gears with performance gears.

A performance gear is cut differently than a street gear. The angle of the teeth make a performance gear stronger, allowing it to withstand more pressure. The differences in design can result in a performance gear creating more noise than a street gear.

2. Your gears are not spaced properly.

Performance gears can require different spacing than the street gears that come standard on most automobiles. You will not be able to use the original shims in conjunction with your performance gears, as this will result in improper spacing and cause your gears to generate excessive noise.

You should rely on a pinion depth setting tool to help you achieve the proper spacing and keep the noise produced by your performance gears to a minimum.

3. Your gears are not making contact properly.

If you have ensured that the spacing on your performance gears is correct by using a depth setting tool during installation, the excessive noise you are hearing may be caused by improper gear contact. You can use a marking compound to check the wear pattern on your gears.

Just coat the teeth of the gear with the marking compound and drive your vehicle for a day or so. You should see evidence of the marking compound near the toe of the gear teeth. If the marking compound is more evident near the heel of the gear teeth, you will need to adjust your gears to address contact issues that are causing excessive noise.

Performance gears can help your car go faster and handle better, but they can also generate a lot of noise. Reduce excessive gear noise by ensuring proper spacing and gear contact in the future using the necessary ring and pinion parts.