03 p71 tranny problem...maybe?

I do a lot of driving with the radio off and just listen to the engine. I made an attempt to install a valvebody and seperator plate from BOC, but got stuck at step 2 or 3...remove the electrical connectors. Anyway the electrical connectors on my tranny are just a one piece unit, instead of 4 seperate ones discussed in my directions. I aborted mission since it looks really expensive to replace if I break the electronics in the tranny. I took some pictures, re-used my tranny filter, re-install pan and refill tranny.

So I was driving around later this evening...just nice and quiet, and takin'er easy. I am hearing a new noise in my car that I thought was maybe a tool that I had forgot under the hood and hitting the hood. The noise was when I came to a gentle stop, and then again when I gently accellerate from a stop. Kinda sounds like something metal making a single tap on the hood. So I checked it out and found nothing. I bounced the car and heard nothing.

When I got into my neighbourhood I started experinmenting with driving to recreate the sound. Happens everytime I am coasting around 40km/h-25mph and I let off the gas, and gently accellerate again.

So I got home and got my dad to sit in my car with foot on brake and cycle from reverse to drive while I watch with a flashilght. Sound is definately coming from tranny, not the u-joints, or rear diff. Cycling the tranny from reverse to drive the tranny is definately making a tap-ker-tap kinda sound. It's not a sharp sound, or a dull sound. It makes the sound as the tailshaft is torqing/loading from the gear shifting.

I have never heard that sound before. Would it make that kinda sound if the tranny filter fell off in the tranny pan? Is this sound normal? Is this sound saying time for a rebuild/replace? Could it be a result of damage to tranny from excessive tranny line pressure from a tune on my SCT X3?