We have a manual 1980 244 with OD. The OD has never worked. Recently there has been a horrible noise coming from the transmission. It shifts and drives fine, just very noisy. One time the car began to shake and smoke came up through shifter tunnel. After stopping and starting again, it was fine, just very noisy still. I had a mechanic check it and he said that there is internal bearing failure inside the OD. Anyone have any experience?

 

you've neglected maintenance on your 35 year old overdrive transmission and its finally breaking down., and you're asking us whats wrong??

 

A bad bearing would be noisy. In general, though, when a transmission makes a horrible noise, you would expect to have to take it all apart to fix it. So you'll see what's wrong with it then. Not much need for diagnosis.

 

Is there any fluid in the tranny? That MAY be the reason but probably not... Too far gone most likely.