Steelman EngineEAR II Electronic Automotive Stethoscope

The EngineEAR II is an electronic stethoscope for tracking a noise back to the exact part making it. A solid aluminum probe on a flexible gooseneck picks up structure-borne sound and feeds it to over-ear mono headphones, so instead of guessing from under the hood you put the tip on a specific case, housing or bearing boss and listen to that one spot.

On the transmission side this is how you separate a front pump whine from a torque converter, or a bad input shaft bearing from a noisy extension housing bushing. Idle the vehicle in park, touch the probe to the bellhousing, then the pump area, then the tailshaft, and the volume tells you where it is. It also picks up worn bearings, noisy lifters and valves, broken gear teeth, clicking fuel injectors and vacuum or air leaks, so it earns its keep well outside the transmission bay.

The decibel meter has seven sound level control settings from 60 to 120 dB, so you can drop the gain on a loud diesel or open it up to chase a faint intermittent. The probe wears a non-conductive rubber boot, which matters when you are reaching past a coil pack, a solenoid harness or a TCM connector - it will not short anything it brushes. Everything stores in a foam-padded case.