Forward sounds like reverse.

[NielsGalan]

Hey Guys.

I've had this thing for a while. Has never bothered me, but upon acceleration I've had a high pitch "winding" sound, especially in 1st and 2nd gears.

Hitherto I've assumed that it might be the turbo leaking a bit, taking too much air in, or something. (I don't know **** about engines). When I rev the engine this sound doesn't occur.

This sound is getting really pronounced now, so I asked by brother to have a listen, and he said, that it sounds like something from the gearbox. And he is on to something. It actually sounds exactly like when going in reverse!

Now the question is, can this be possible? Can the first few gears somehow seize the reverse gear and make that "spin" causing this sound? Maybe a change of transmission oil can fix this?

I have a manual transmission, should you be in doubt.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Take off the inlet pipe to your turbo,hold the shaft and try to move it laterally. If it moves more than a few thou its time for a recon turbo. Before that try a new filter and oil, use an additive to get all the crud out of the system. Mine whistles a bit in low gears too but has hung on.

[Ross]

I think reverse has straight cut gears, hence the whine. The forward speed gears are helical so as not to whine. Excessive wear will cause them to whine as well.
Does the sound change with load vs. coasting?
Start by flushing and refilling the box with the heaviest oil allowed.

[rob101]

lower gears also have a lower helical pitch angle, which makes them whine more than the higher gears.