Had the car since August 09 and the noise hasn't really bothered me but just wondered if it could go bang all of a sudden.

All other gears seem ok apart from 5th. Seems more apparent when driving/accel (no noise when coasting or slowing down).

Any suggestions chaps. Gear box oil changed in December (200ish miles ago)

 

Are you saying that it's whining worse now than it did before, or just that fifth is a little noisier than the others (and always has been)?

It's always next to impossible to accurately diagnose "noises" via the interweb, but in general, provided it isn't getting worse there's probably no reason to worry. If you have a phase 2 classic the possible exception would be if it has started to jump out of fifth when you come off the throttle (or if you can feel the gearstick kicking backwards if you hold your hand against it).

If it is getting worse, then, it's probably a sign of something needing attention, although whether it'll "go bang all of a sudden" is probably still less than likely.

Best suggestion is that, if in doubt, get someone who knows to listen to it. Other thing worth pointing out is that the gearbox oil level is better about an eighth of an inch or so above the top hole.

 

Cheers for the reply Splitpin. No, the noise has not got worse and is only apparent in 5th. No jumping out of gear. I'll get someone to have a listen.

Cheers again.